Mobilise Account of Practice

School Name & Contact Details
QUEEN ELIZABETH’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL
WEST STREET
HORNCASTLE
LINCS
LN9 5AD
Contact:
Recommendation Exemplified
IV Ensure TAs are fully prepared for their role in the classroom
Context
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School is a selective 11-18 school. There is a small team of teaching assistants who work with students who have additional needs but the school also employs teaching assistants to work within departments in a variety of supportive roles. The team of teaching assistants supporting students in class has a range of skills and expertise. Timetables try wherever possible to take account of this but, being a selective school, the academic side is not always the aspect students need support with. Sometimes it is the nature of the relationship between the teaching assistant and the individual student which prioritises who goes where.
Account of Practice
Here at QEGS a group of interested staff and TAs have met regularly during the year to discuss the Mobilise project and to look at how current practice can be informed by quality research. Finding time for teachers and TAs to converse in a large secondary school where both teaching staff and teaching assistants can have many commitments is tricky. The focus group decided to concentrate their efforts on drawing up a policy around what should be expected practice and developing alongside one page document which would give more specific information.
We started by looking at the EEF TA Agreement Template but felt that much of it was stating things which didn’t need to be on a TA lesson plan every time one was handed out. Eg make sure lesson objectives are written in books. We felt that this should be part of the normal expectations. We did an audit of forms already in use across the school and following a few amendments staff trialled different versions. The effectiveness of these in terms of use for staff and teaching assistants was then discussed and further adaptations made. As part of this process some teaching staff spent time working as a teaching assistant in a subject they had little expertise in. This helped to give them a much greater insight into how it feels to be a teaching assistant and to reflect on what kind of information they would have wanted / needed on the document to help them perform their role to a high standard.
Our Strategic Improvement Plan stated at the beginning of the year that we wanted to “Use the pre-printed TA/teacher agreement to create a tailor made version for our needs”, an agreement which “communicates what a TA needs to do to support the work of the teacher and provides feedback to the teacher to inform their planning”. We feel that we have achieved this. The next step is for it to be rolled out across the school and to monitor its effectiveness.
The policy document which will run alongside is still being finalised. Even after last week’s PLC6 I found myself thinking about examples of good practice around marking which came out of the meeting which could be added ………..!
Reflection
The staff in the focus group – teaching and support staff – have really engaged in the process. Being involved in the project has made the TAs feel more valued in their role and has certainly made some teaching staff more aware of just how difficult the role can be without clear guidance. It has also led to new ways of working between teachers and TAs which has not previously been considered. It is important that next year we do not slip back and continue to move forward working together as a team to “maximise the impact of teaching assistants” and achieve positive outcomes for students.
Next steps: We plan to roll the new TA / teacher lesson plan across the whole school next year. It may be that quality assurance during the year throws up issues with the format and further revisions need to be made, we will have to see. We have ideas for how to improve our communication with parents about what to expect from a TA at secondary school as it will be very different from primary, and to involve students in this process too. We have also identified new ways in which we can incorporate the use of the scaffolding framework.

Scroll down for Supporting Evidence – lesson plan proforma.

Supporting Evidence
QEGS LESSON PLAN FOR IN CLASS SUPPORT
SEATING PLANS PROVIDED AS STANDARD WITH STUDENT DATA.
T.A (name) / Lesson date (s): / Period (s) / Room: / Class:
Topic: / Summary of learning Objectives:
Support required: / Nature of Support: ( tick as approp) / Comment
Student names:
Whole class: / 1:1
Small group
Whole class
Other
TA & class/student
seating arrangement: / 1:1 / Circulate / Other
Other assistance: / Eg. write homework in planner/scribe
Feedback from Teaching Assistant
e.g progress made / areas of difficulty and anything else to be aware of. / Teaching Assistant Comments: