Teaching assistants film 21 november 2013
Lynne Gavin
Head teacher, Pakeman primary school
When we’re recruiting TA’s were looking for people with good levels of literacy and numeracy but also people who are going to put our children at the heart of everything that they do.
Charlotte Brady
Teaching assistant
I decided because I love working with children and I have a young daughter and it fits in with her. I love helping the children learn and further themselves.
Maria Farress
Teaching assistant
I think the skills that I bring include being able to work one to one with the chidren and explain concepts to them that they perhaps haven’t understood
In the whole class teaching and as a TA you get that extra bit of time to spend with them to consolidate their learning.
Valerie Flavell
Teaching assistant
Well actually I feel that I have lots of special roles. Basically I help the children in the higher maths groups and also I’m very good at arts and crafts and activities like that so when we have school productions I usually end up doing all the costumes.
Janet Kaizik
Nursery nurse
Our main thing in the nursery when they first start is to help them with their social skills and parting from their parents. And by the time they leave the nursery the majority of them are writing their names, they speak English and they can count up to ten. So you can see a big difference from when they first start.
Angela Pottinger
Teaching assistant
The most challenging part of my job is for me is making sure the child I look after in my class is ok because he has diabetes and making sure that I am working with the teacher to make sure that the childrens levels do go up and
to make sure they have their homework, just to make sure the class is running as it should be at a high level.
Kathy Loader
Special education needs worker
I absolutely loved being a teaching assistant. I worked in a year 5/6 class and it was really good to feel that I had an impact on their learning.
Tay Ismail
Teaching assistant
The favourite thing in my job is seeing children achieve something that they thought they couldn’t achieve.
Valerie Flavell
Teaching assistant
I really enjoy working with the children and having that one to one interaction with them and trying to build up a relationship with them. It makes it very satisfying when you allow them to achieve something which they haven’t been able to do as a whole class participant.
Lucy Braithwaite
Teacher
If there were no teaching assistants in this school it would affect everybodies
Job. It would make my life a lot harder it would make the teachers lives a lot harder but I think it would affect the kids mostly because I don’t think the level of care and support would be at the level that it is now and they wouldn’t be pushed or supported in the way that they are with TAs and it just wouldn’t be the same place I think.