Hi all,
I’m a 23 y/o male (small in stature and quite mild-mannered - you’ll see why this is relevant later) who finished university December just gone.
I’ve found a wonderful job at an independent special school for kids 9+ with learning difficulties and individual needs. It has all its places funded by the local authority and is very well-equipped, with a garden, sensory equipment, and plenty of much more experienced staff than me! Currently I’m helping with classes but in the future I’ll be given my own 1-to-1 learners to support.
As it’s independent, I don’t actually have a teaching qualification (so legally I’m an education tutor) - just some fairly long-term experience working as a volunteer with SEND kids, tutoring in university, and a lot of safeguarding training. My degree is in MFL and I’m now looking towards getting something like a PGCE in the future.
So far I’ve been navigating a few of the kids who very suddenly wanted to be attached at the hip - interestingly, a few whose IEPs said they didn’t like male teachers (the vast vast majority of the staff are female). We think it’s because I’m only 5’6” that they’re seeing me as a much more approachable male figure. This is a great start which the school wants to use to our advantage: for example, they’re slowly introducing me to each child who has rejected other male teachers to see if they respond any better to me. As such I’m meeting more kids more quickly than usually happens here.
The other staff there are wonderful and have been giving me a crash course on being a TA, but I wanted to ask a place like this if you, as parents, have any advice for me - is there anything you’d want a fresh TA to be particularly attentive about with your kids, SEN or not? Anything you’ve maybe thought before about trainee teachers or assistants and wished you could say it? I’m open to everything - I’m trying to take in as much as possible!
Thanks for absolutely anything you can offer!
*sorry for saying ‘teacher’ in the title when I’m not one yet, I just thought it was too much to explain in one sentence!