This is a great course for all teaching assistants, especially those new to the role or new to a school, and helpful for supporting and training colleagues. Here we look at the expectations around how teaching assistants engage with other adults, within the school community and those visiting. We take a look at how we need to be mindful of what knowledge can be shared and when, and how to engage effectively with other, being mindful of the sensitivity of some situations and conversations. 

There is no right or wrong time to apply for your first subject leader role, nor a tick-list of experiences you must acquire prior to applying.  Sometimes, you just know you’re ready; often, you don’t know until you try.  But when you contemplate taking that leap, there are many things you can do to prepare.

This course is perfect for Subject Leaders and Heads of Department leading any discipline and is ideal for those new to the role and those just seeking their first middle leadership position.  It is a practical course, anchored in the day-to-day reality of running a department.  It follows a focused, logical sequence, and is full of real-life learning.  

 

This pathway course is for those new or experienced leading a team of support staff in school and will help you reach your potential within your role.  The course has four parts:

• Leadership skills
• Being an effective team player
• Looking after yourself whilst looking after others
• Promoting the wellbeing of your team

This course is suitable for independent study or for team CPD.  You'll receive a certificate showing 3 hours CPD on completion of the course. 

In this pathway, Matt Bromley explores the importance of teachers and the quality of their teaching on student outcomes.  He shares some of the habits adopted by effective teachers, defines the complex process of ‘learning’, and explains the difference between ‘performance’ and ‘learning’.  He then sets out his three steps to long-term learning that can help teachers to plan and deliver effective lessons and help students to ensure that what they learn today, they can remember and apply tomorrow.     

This pathway covers four key areas:

• Teaching and learning
• Sensory memory
• Working memory
• Long-term memory

As well as being useful for individual CPD for teachers, this course could form the basis of whole-school INSET.

A trauma informed response is one where we create an environment where children who’ve experienced trauma or adversity feel safe, can emotionally regulate and are more able to engage with life and learning.  This approach can reduce exclusions and increase engagement with learning both within and beyond the classrooms as children are supported to move beyond a fear response into a calmer state where learning becomes a possibility and anger and anxiety responses become better regulated.

During this course, we consider the warning signs that a child is struggling with their wellbeing and how we can create a supportive environment to help them explore their worries.  This course was written initially for parents and carers but provides useful ideas for any adult who works with or cares for children.

The expectations around how we support staff and pupils in the area of teaching and learning are very much in the spotlight, as research is looking at what impact they are making. Here we look at the professional standards in this area and unpick the key elements that need to be demonstrated.  This is a great course for all teaching assistants, especially those new to the role or new to a school, and helpful for supporting and training colleagues. There are also helpful ideas in here that anyone working with or caring for children may find useful.

This in-depth course is perfect for Heads of Department leading any subject discipline and is ideal for those new to the role and those just seeking their first middle leadership position. 

It is a practical course, anchored in the day-to-day reality of running a department and it follows a focused, logical sequence, and is full of real-life learning.  During this course you'll cover the following:

• Stepping up to head of department
• Leading and managing
• People and provision
• Curriculum and assessment
• Learning and improvement

This is a playback of a past live webinar.  Many girls on the autistic spectrum fly by under the radar.  During this session we’ll explore how autism presents in girls, why we so often miss it and what tell-tale signs we could be looking out for as well as thinking about what to do next if we suspect a girl might be on the spectrum.

Here we look at 5 ways to maintain wellbeing during the school day around our roles and activities. Although term time is fraught and days are busy, by taking just a few moments to ‘notice’ or ‘connecting’ with others, you can change your own behaviours into good wellbeing habits which will not only benefit you but impact on those around you.  This course is especially suitable for anyone supporting pupils with special or additional needs, but there are useful ideas in here for everyone! 

The course is for all vocational teachers from any subject as well as managers and teachers of English who are interested to see how they can support the development of English language skills across a programme of study.

This is a course for anyone new to dyslexia and wanting to find out more about it. It aims to give you the basics so that you can start to identify pupils who may be displaying tendencies and work with those pupils to support their needs. We’ll therefore give you advice and simple ideas you can put into practice straight away and approaches to adapt and trial. It may be that the pupil needs further support so we’ll talk about what other avenues you may want to pursue. Great for teachers new to the profession, support staff or anyone wanting to check their understanding and support pupils to have the best possible outcomes.

The aim of this course is for those new or experienced leading a team of support staff in school. It focuses on how to be a team player, as often the transition to a leader from being a team member yourself, can be fraught with challenges. Here we look at different methods of enabling a team to be effective and choosing a method of working with the team, which supports your aims and keeps you in control. We look at how keeping a child centred approach, enables you to monitor impact and challenge performance. 

Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs are needs that can be an obstacle to formal learning in a similar way to other SENDs, and yet the differentiation for learning is sometimes hazy. In addition, some pupils with SEMH also have other SENDs – how do you account for both in your classroom? 

This course gives you an overview of practical approaches and solutions to supporting the needs of these young people – how to prevent behaviour getting in the way of learning and how to support the pupils’ strengths to help them understand that education can be for them too. 

This online course explores the issues and offer some practical solutions for FE college leaders to implement immediately.

The teaching profession is a leaky sieve and the prevalence of unfulfilled teaching posts as well as a growth in the numbers of unqualified teachers in our colleges is proving to be both costly and damaging. One in 10 teachers left the profession in 2016. Of these, an increasing proportion left the profession for other sectors rather than retiring, suggesting working conditions rather than age were driving them out. So, why are teachers quitting the profession in record numbers? Although there are myriad reasons, topping the table in every survey is workload... 

For example, a report by CooperGibson Research on behalf of the Department for Education entitled ‘Factors affecting teacher retention: qualitative investigation’ published in March 2018, found that workload remained the most important factor influencing teachers’ decisions to leave the professionand most solutions to address retention were linked in some way to workload.

So, the theory is simple: reduce teacher workload and solve the teacher retention crisis.  But how can we reduce teacher workload without adversely affecting student outcomes?  And is it just about cutting workload or might it also be about changing the nature of the work that teachers are expected to do?

 

Ready to move up and take on more responsibility? Our “Step Up to the Role of Higher Level Teaching Assistant” course is designed to boost your skills and confidence, helping you transition smoothly into a more influential role at your school. Discover practical tips and proven strategies that will empower you to support your classroom more effectively, all while advancing your professional journey.

The aim of this course is for those new or experienced leading a team of support staff in school. It’s about standing back from the day to day actions and engagements to reflect on the kind of leader you really want to be. Looking at the qualities of great leaders, you will be encouraged to reflect on your own existing skills and skills you may want to develop. Some of the pitfalls such as losing confidence in yourself or struggling with the challenging conversations are also addressed, giving you food for thought and clear areas for personal development.

This is a great course for all teaching assistants, especially those new to the role or new to a school, and helpful for supporting and training colleagues.  It addresses the professional standards for teaching assistants and provides you with the skills, knowledge and understanding you'll need to maximise your impact in your role, and enable you to enjoy it too!

The course covers:

• Personal and professional conduct
• Knowledge and understanding
• Teaching and learning
• Working with others 

This course is suitable for solo study or for delivery by a team leader to a group.  At the end of each section, a module sharing extra advice and guidance is provided for team leaders wishing to cascade this training to their teams.

Sleep is absolutely vital for positive physical and emotional wellbeing. This course will give you an understanding of how sleep works and why it’s so important. We will look at some of the potential barriers to getting a good quality night’s sleep and then give you some practical strategies and tips to help improve sleep. If you are a parent this course will also help you to understand a bit more about supporting your child to get a good night’s sleep.

The biggest jump from TA to HLTA for most is the introduction of ‘Professional Skills’, that is the expectations around planning, teaching and learning, monitoring and assessment. Whereas TAs are very much directed by teachers, stepping up to working with and contributing to these areas can be daunting. Here we take this section of the professional standards for HLTAs and look at which approaches, theories and structure can help guide you in making the best decisions when monitoring and assessing. This course is therefore aimed at TAs aspiring to become HLTAs, or HLTAs wishing to develop their knowledge in this area.