Pupils with statements spend the

equivalent of a day per week out of class

Pupils with support make less progress

than others

Pupils with support receive less whole class teaching than

those without

Pupils with support interact with their peers much less

frequently

Pupils with support interact with CTAs more than they do

teachers

Please choose a sweet and find your table!

Welcome – and a Happy New Year!The shape of the day:

9.00 – 9.15: Welcome and Introduction to the SEND Code of Practice (PK)9.15-9. 10.50: Exploring the role of the CTA. Barriers and solutions to

their effective use (FL and PK)10.50 – 11.10: Break11.10- 12.00: Making better use of CTAs. Some guiding principles (FL/PK).

Voices of experience (BF and WR)12.00 – 1.00: Lunch1.00 – 3.00: Either Working in Departments (Assessment focus)Or TEEP training Or Effective use of the Behaviour Policy

January 6th 2015Maximising the Impact of CTAs

STARTER ACTIVITYRead the statements on your table,

discuss, and decide whether they are true or false.

Aims of the session

• To explore our use of CTAs

• To understand what good classroom practice involving CTAs looks like

• To identify ways that our own practice can be improved to maximise the impact of CTAs and the progress of students.

The SEND (Special Needs & Disability) Code of Practice

1st September 2014

School Action & School Action Plus

Abolished –replaced with a single category – SEN Support.

All children should be transferred by September 2015

The need for high quality teaching is emphasised. Accountable for progress of all pupils

Schools are required to keep records of individual children’s progress and evaluating any SEN provision provided.

We will be using Pupil Passports – a one page profile – instead of IEPs

Pupil Passport

There will be no significant changes to the definition of SEN

It will continue to be largely defined as those who:

Have a greater difficulty in learning than the majority of other children

Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities provided in the area

The main change is around provision for young people over 16.

Under new Code – they will be regarded as having special educational needs and rights in the same way as they would under 16.

Education, Health & Care (EHC) Plans

Will replace statements and will be applicable to students up to the age of 25.

The plan is a legal document, setting out the support that a child needs - like a statement.

Young people going to university or becoming employed – will NOT be eligible for a plan.

Who will get an EHC Plan? Any child or young person who

currently has a statement will have a Plan.

The “trigger” for the new Plan will be education. This means that if a young person has a health or social care need, they will not get a Plan unless these needs impact on their education.

What will Plans include?They will be focussed on the

outcomes an individual child is expected to achieve.

Targets will be specific and set out what support is needed to achieve those outcomes.

They will reflect the views of the young person.

Who will prepare the EHC Plans?LAs are being encouraged to

adopt a “key working” approach whereby the family has a single point of contact. This may or may not be someone from school.

Families can also receive support from an “independent supporter” from the voluntary or private sector, who may attend parents’ evenings.

How will an EHC Plan be monitored?

Schools will need to have at least 3 times per year when they have contact with parents (one can be the Annual Review)

Staff will be asked to contribute to these reviews.

If a family moves then the EHC Plan can be “transferred” and the LA in the new area will be required to provide the same support as in their previous home area. Until a review has taken place we would be legally obliged to comply with the existing plan.

If the young person is over 16, it is expected that they will take a leading role in their EHC Plan.

When a young person reaches 16 Under the new system, the

young person will become responsible for their Plan and local authorities are expected to engage directly with them unless the child does not have the “mental capacity” to make informed decisions.

There are obviously implications for the Sixth Form Team here.

Personal BudgetsThere is provision within the

SEND Code for money “attached” to young people to be paid directly to parents however there must be an EHC Plan in place and this is likely to happen in only exceptional circumstances

The Local OfferAll LAs are expected to publish a

“Local Offer”, which is intended to provide information about the provision it expects to be available to children with SEN and disabilities in their area.

For Copleston, this means information about:

Special educational provision available within the school, including resource provisions.

Details of teaching approaches, how the curriculum will be adapted, arrangements for assessment and monitoring, how effectiveness will be measured, extra-curricular activities and so on

Arrangements for identifying SENOpportunities for apprenticeships and

trainingAccess to health care provision, including

SALT and mental health services

The Local Offer should also signpost to information provided by schools on their arrangements for pupils with SEN.

Copleston’s information can be found on the front page of the school’s website.

What are the implications for us as teaching staff?All teachers will need to ensure that they

are fully informed about the needs of all pupils in their classes, whether Wave 1, 2 or 3. This includes having access to a copy of the Pupil Profile.

All teachers must ensure that they comply with the provisions of EHC Plans.

Teachers need to follow the guidance given for specific learning needs, which can be found on FROG.

What are the implications for us as teaching staff?

Teachers are responsible for producing differentiated materials for students in their classes to address their learning needs.

Deploy your CTA effectively to enable you to provide Quality First Teaching.

The roleof CTAs in classrooms

Work in 3s. (5 mins)

When you have a CTA in your classroom, what are the main things they do?

Select 9 of the statements in the envelope and organise them into Diamond 9 formation.

Plenary

• Compare your top three with the top three of the trio on your table. Agree a top three.

• Share with the other six on your table.

Some facts about deployment of CTAs (nationally)

• CTA support tends to be an alternative to, rather than a supplement to, that provided by a teacher

• When pupils work with CTAs, they have less interaction with the teacher and their peers than other students

• CTAs are often seen as SEN “experts”, and this means that they are often left to differentiate tasks for students, and to provide the teaching input for them

There are three key issues that affect the impact that TAs have

1. Deployment: How TAs are deployed in schools, and, once in classrooms, how they are used by teachers

2. Practice: How TAs carry out their work in the classroom – the role that they perform

3. Preparedness: The level of preparation for the lesson that TAs have. The level of training provided for teachers. Lack of time for feedback.

The reality of being a CTA

“There is an assumption when you are in alesson that you should know. You come into alesson, you have 20 minutes of teaching withthe pupils and if you didn’t know before thelesson, then you should do then...”

A CTA’s Perspective

The following comments have all been shared byCopleston CTAs about their experiences in ourclassrooms…

Problems faced by CTAs

• Negative staff perceptions• Negative pupil perceptions• Lack of respect for CTAs amongst pupils• Lack of preparation for the lessons they attend• Lack of continuity• Lack of opportunity to offer feedback to the

teacher• Lack of direction by the teacher in lessons

Different approaches...

There is a range of approaches that CTAs can take in the classroom

What would you see a CTA performing each of the different roles actually doing in the classroom?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the approaches?

Velcro

Helicopter

Bridge

Teachers are accountable for the progress of all students in their

classes. They cannot pass responsibility for the progress of weaker pupils to someone else,

i.e. a CTA

Guiding Principles

• The CTA is there to modify the learning environment for all pupils, NOT to be chained to the pupil with “special needs”.

• We must combat the “Miss X is there for pupil Y” mentality, and deploy CTAs more widely and imaginatively in the classroom.

• Work in the same 3’s.

• Reconsider your diamond 9 to identify the most useful strategies to enable you to deploy your CTA more effectively in the classroom, allowing you to interact with all of the pupils…

Main messagesThe role of the CTA is to enable you to discharge your responsibility to teach all of the students in your class.

CTAs need guidance from you about what you want them to do in your lessons.

If you do not direct them, CTAs will continue to do what they have always done…

Planning (Preparedness)

• Think about your TA when you are planning lessons - where/how could you include them? Include this in your lesson plan.

• Discussion before - or produce key notes (the answers) you want the students to come up with

• Key terms defined• Send the power point before the lesson. Give

exemplar essays. Communicate your long term plan.• Give ‘cue cards’ to your TA with extra help, sentence

starters, clues• Seating plan with highlighted students to target• Build on their strengths

Managing Behaviour (Deployment)

• Equal Status- I refer to the TA as having another teacher in the room.

• Behaviour- let your TA help you manage behaviour and back them up! Share your rules and expectations, then support them in enforcing them and making decisions

• Raise the profile of your TA- allow them to deliver sections to groups, or the whole class. Allow them to manage tasks while you target.

Delivery (Deployment)

• Swap the teacher/TA roles.• TA ‘patrols’ the classroom- you target students who are

struggling.• Table with moving seating plan- students move on and off the

table with the TA. Avoiding ‘stigma’.• Splitting the class with TA in charge of half for specific tasks.• Giving a piece of work back, marked with a target for the

student & TA to work on together.• Telling your TA when NOT to provide answers or support-

allowing the students to struggle and learn (preparedness)• Learning- not task completion.• Give your TA specific direction, which pupils to work with, what

support you want them to provide, when etc. Mix it up so that they are not always sat next to the same student all year.

Follow Up(Preparedness)

• Provide feedback for your TA. • Ask your TA for feedback about your

explanations/lessons/ student understanding - can be valuable for improving your teaching.

• Use this to inform planning for next lesson.

Maximising the

use of your CTA

TS8c

Learn

ing

Support

:

Tracy Pilkington & Teresa Gorham.They are very

happy to give support where possible.

Pla

n f

or

invo

lvem

ent:

What would you like your CTA to do during your lesson?Have you actively

planned for this?

Follo

w o

n:

Is your CTA included in your seating plan?

Help

them

where

nece

ssary

:

Have you got the answers or desired outcomes

prepared for your CTA? Could they be

questioning students?

CTA

as

a

pro

gre

ss

check

er: Have you considered using

your CTA as a progress checker?

Your

CTA

may

be

all

seein

g:

Your CTA will probably notice the little things that you miss…

Use

their

know

ledge

of

cert

ain

stu

dents

: Your CTA should know how to get the best out of your SEND students…

Follo

w o

n: CTAs see numerous teaching styles…

which approach works best for certain students.

Any

Quest

ions:

And finally…

• Staff survey