HLTA National Assessment Partnership Survey: January 2019

Introduction

In December 2018 the HLTA National Assessment Partnership (HNAP) invited members of its Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) networks to contribute to a survey focussing on three particular HLTA Standards:

Standard 31: Advance learning when working with whole classes without the presence of the assigned teacher

Standard 10: Have sufficient understanding of their area(s) of expertise to support the development, learning and progress of children and young people

Standard 7: Improve their own knowledge and practice including responding to advice and feedback.

This report provides detail of the responses received and what we as HNAP believe to be the key findings and recommendations to schools from this. 944 individuals responded to the survey. We recognise that the outcomes are not the result of ‘academic enquiry’ and do not take into account the views and perspectives of other stakeholders such as teachers and school leaders. However, our aims are:

To provide a voice for HLTAs, helping to gain an understanding of current practice in and across schools and other educational settings;

To provide schools with information that will help them to consider the CPD needs of TAs and HLTAs in line with school improvement planning.

We extend our gratitude to all those who responded and hope that the findings can be helpful to schools as they seek to identify developing best practice in the effective training and deployment of all TAs and especially HLTAs.

HNAP Recommendations to schools

Whilst we acknowledge that our survey has only collected the information and points of view from the perspective of the voice of the HLTA and not teachers and school leaders, our evaluation of the outcomes leads us make the following recommendations to schools, academies and other relevant settings:

Summary of recommendations

The identification of individual need

Recommendation 1 Put systems and processes in place to monitor and evaluate exactly where TAs and HLTAs are in terms of their performance and capability, related to knowledge, understanding, skills and behaviours.

Recommendation 2 Use the HLTA or the Teaching Assistant Professional Standards and diagnostic tools to help achieve this.

Recommendation 3 Listen to TAs and HLTAs about their strengths, challenges, needs and aspirations for the future.

The effective professional development of TAs and HLTAs

Recommendation 4 Have a clear plan to help develop TAs and HLTAs to where they need to be.

Recommendation 5 Use a designated leader or team including high quality HLTAs to support and be accountable for, the success of this plan.

Recommendation 6 Provide opportunities for TAs and HLTAs to develop with other TAs and HLTAs from the same school and across different schools, creating networks of HLTAs across TSA, MAT or other school networks to share good practice and solve challenges, including keeping up to date with relevant research

Recommendation 7 Support HLTAs to develop their whole class teaching skills once they have gained the status or are deployed as HLTAs.

Recommendation 8 Think long term to develop an area of expertise for all TAs and to extend the area of expertise for HLTAs.

Recommendation 9 Work with HLTAs to identify progression routes to teacher status for those who wish to pursue teaching as a career.

Developing a whole school approach

Recommendation 10 Match TA and HLTA development to school needs and priorities.

Recommendation 11 Consider how HLTAs can share their area of expertise to support planning and preparation of other TAs and teachers.

Recommendation 12 Evaluate the effectiveness of team work within the school staff structure and, where appropriate, role model and implement developments.

Question 1: Please indicate the government region within which you work

Question 2: Your TA/HLTA status and current role

Question 3: Where do you work?

Question 4: Please tell us about your experiences related to whole class teaching and learning that you lead. If you do not lead whole class learning, please move straight on to question 13. On average, what percentage of your time is spent leading whole class learning?

Question 5: How has the amount of time you spend leading whole class learning changed over the last 6 months?

Question 6: How often is your whole class teaching role changed in terms of who and what you teach?

Question 7: HLTA Views - For each statement that follows, please choose the most appropriate response with respect to your whole class teaching, rather than general.

Question 8: When leading whole class learning

Question 9: How often do you receive feedback from formal observations of whole class teaching?

Question 10: How often do you receive feedback from informal observations of whole class teaching?

Question 11: Please explain, in order, the three biggest challenges you face when leading whole class learning

Question 12: If you could choose three professional development opportunities to develop your whole class teaching, what would these be?

The responses to this question were closely related to the challenges identified in question 11 and are best presented through a word cloud that highlights the key words. The letter N represents where participants entered N.A. for non-applicable

Question 13: Please select your area of expertise from the list below. This should be the area of expertise you chose for standard 10 as part of the HLTA assessment. If you were assessed against two areas of expertise, for this survey, please select the one you use most in school. If you are deployed as an HLTA or TA and have never been assessed against an Area of Expertise, please proceed straight to question 16

Question 14: Please select the most appropriate response for each of these statements

Question 15: Please indicate your view on the following statements

Question 16: Does your school have a designated leader to facilitate training and monitor practice of TAs and HLTAs within you school?

Question 17: If your school does have a designated leader to facilitate training and monitor practice, what would you say are the benefits of this approach?

The main positive themes identified were:

• Consistency of approach to individual and across school

• Expertise and experience of CPD lead

• Personal Focus

• Ongoing support available when needed

• Target setting and review, PM, appraisal, observations

• Representative voice to teachers, SMT and Headteacher

• Overview and recommendation of training and CPD opportunities

• Makes TAs/HLTAs feel valued

• Supports whole school approach

Two examples of each are provided below

Consistency of approach to individual and across school

• The benefits involve the person knowing each member of staff and their AoE. Their monitoring and feedback are consistent and every member of support staff are offered the same training to enable an across the school approach.

• We all are monitored to the same expectations. Equal and fair expectations.

Expertise and experience of CPD lead

• The designated leader knows the staff individually and recognises their areas for development; allowing for better training opportunities.

• Open approach for staff to communicate advice on areas of strength or recommend further strategies/training for improvement.

Personal Focus

• There is someone there to seek advice from and who will observe in lessons if you feel you have a particular issue with a class/pupil. They will then offer advice and support to overcome any problems.

• Someone is looking at me and my development personally and not as a cohort of colleagues, our needs are individual while still being team focused.

Ongoing support available when needed

• Being able to communicate any difficulties I may be having and being able to go to someone who has been in the same situation therefore is aware of my anxieties and can offer ideas and support.

• Someone to go to and query things with and discuss any issues.

Target setting and review, PM, appraisal, observations

• Opportunities to identity strengths /weaknesses/areas for development in a formal, annual discussion forum.

• New headship has seen a move towards creating a career structure for TAs. Appraisal systems and observations are being put in place and this should provide more CPD opportunities.

Representative voice to teachers, SMT and Headteacher

• She is aware of our wants/needs and is a voice for us within the management team.

• We have a senior HLTA who cascades information from management to us improving communication and we can voice any concerns or suggestions also.

Overview and recommendation of training and CPD opportunities

• Awareness of training and able to either book courses or forward information and make you aware of forthcoming training rather than finding time to look for training yourself.

• This is beneficial because this person knows exactly what training everyone has had and what training is needed.

Makes TAs/HLTAs feel valued

• LSAs/HLTAs feel a valued part of the whole school community, respected and supported

• Makes me feel valued

Supports whole school approach

• TAs feel that they are developing their skills in a way that is useful to the school and themselves. We feel that the school recognises that our CPD needs are different to teachers

• Personal and professional development help to cement relationships and also to strengthen teaching and the various approaches to it. It is always beneficial to form these relationships within the working environment.

It was noted that not all responses were positive, with a degree of frustration evident in cases where individuals felt that the potential benefits were not being realised in their particular schools.

Question 18: If your school does not have a designated leader to facilitate training and monitor practice, what do you think the benefits might be of this approach?

The responses to this question were similar to the benefits stated by individuals who did have a designated leader. They were more general than specific and are best presented through a word cloud that highlights the key words. The letter N represents where participants entered N.A. for non-applicable

Question 19: Please answer these final few questions to complete the survey

Question 20: Any other comments regarding whole class teaching, area of expertise or CPD?

319 responses were collected. Whilst there were a number of positive additional comments related to enjoyment of the role, positive impact and effective school support, it is also the case that there was a significant sense of frustration expressed across the themes of:

Time to plan and prepare for whole class teaching Progression routes for HLTAs including the degree requirement to proceed to teacher training Lack of appropriate pay scale recognition for work carried out as an HLTA, especially when

taking the role of class teacher for significant periods of time The impact of funding on opportunities for CPD Lack of opportunity to develop and expand use of the area of expertise The profile and recognition of HLTA status The amount of time being asked to deliver whole class lessons as an HLTA

Thank you for taking the time to read and consider the outcomes of our survey. For more information about the HLTA National Assessment Partnership, please

visit www.hlta.org.uk