Effective In-Class Support

The Management of Support Staff in Mainstream and Special Schools

Stephanie Lorenz

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136619694
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

First Published in 1999. Schools are increasingly responding to the challenge of resourcing special educational needs by employing a variety of support staff to help children with SEN access as much of the curriculum as possible. They may be qualified teachers, nursery nurses or therapists, unqualified learning support assistants or parent volunteers. The purpose of this book is to provide SENCOs and classroom teachers with a practical guide to managing and supporting their in-class support. Emphasis is put on defining the roles and responsibilities of support staff, developing partnership and establishing effective communication between the class teacher and the support worker. Photocopiable proformas and checklists are provided for INSET and to help schools plan and appraise the work of support staff.

Chapter 1

Introduction

A history of support

For the majority of children in most schools, be they primary secondary or special, the experience of being ‘taught’ for at least part of the week by more than one adult is a commonplace occurrence.

• Special schools have traditionally employed care staff to attend to the welfare needs of pupils and to work alongside teachers in the classroom.

• Nursery schools and classes are almost invariably staffed by a mixture of teachers and nursery nurses, who work cooperatively to meet the needs of young children.

• In the primary school, the presence of parents and other volunteers hearing children read and supporting them in a range of practical activities is now a regular feature of school life.

• With the help of government funding many second language learners in multiracial schools have benefited from the support of bilingual support staff in the classroom. By 1993, some 14,000 additional teachers and non-teaching staff were being employed by Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to give pupils from the ethnic minorities equality of access to the National Curriculum (OFSTED 1994).

• In the special needs area, Thomas (1990) lists a whole range of people who might be found working alongside the class teacher in a mainstream school:

(i)	special school teachers working in an outreach capacity, sharing their skills with mainstream staff;
(ii)	welfare assistants supporting statemented children;
(iii)	peripatetic teachers co-teaching with mainstream colleagues;
(iv)	secondary remedial teachers offering in-class support to individual students or helping subject staff adapt their approaches to meet the needs of the least able.

During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a significant attitude change within the field of remedial education, crystallised in the recommendations of the Bullock Report (DES 1975) and the Warnock Report (DES 1978). Members of both committees shared the view that remedial or special educational provision in mainstream schools should be more closely related to the child's overall learning experiences. Withdrawal was considered to be a ‘bad thing’ as it was seen to stigmatise students and result in their receiving a restricted curriculum. Skills acquired in a structured setting were rarely transferred back into the classroom and expectations of remedial students was generally low (Edwards 1985). Thus schools were encouraged to move away from remedial classes and small withdrawal groups towards in-class support.

During the same period there was a parallel development in the use of ancillary staff. As early as 1967, the Plowden Report (DES 1967) identified a group of non-teaching staff in mainstream schools, who had a key role to play in supporting teachers in the classroom. The ‘primary school survey’ in Scotland (Duthie 1970) indicated appropriate tasks which classroom auxiliaries might undertake, proposed policies for employing them and discussed possible problems. By 1978, the Warnock Report (DES 1978) was noting the presence of support staff carrying out educational programmes a s directed by the teacher, as well as providing care for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in the mainstream.

In the special school sector, the presence of nursery nurses and care assistants, working alongside teachers in the classroom, has been the norm for even longer. The transformation of training centres into special schools for pupils with severe learning difficulties, following the 1970 Education Act (DES 1970) resulted in many former care staff being retained to support children in the classroom. However, there is no doubt that the practice of employing welfare staff was established well before this, for example in schools for pupils with physical disabilities which had existed from the early years of the century.

The recommended ratio of teaching and non-teaching staff to special school pupils with differing levels of need, was laid down by the government in Circular 11/90 (DES 1990), although many LEAs are still failing to achieve these ratios. More recently, with the advent of local management, a number of special school heads have been choosing to increase the ratio of support staff to teachers, thus improving the adultchild ratio without incurring additional costs. Further, as Male (1996b) comments, in some special schools qualified nursery nurses are being replaced by unqualified support assistants.

Although many people (e.g. Marland 1978) have argued that a further increase in the use of auxiliary staff would be a cost-effective way of increasing the productivity of teachers, there has, until quite recently, been more interest in the development of parental involvement schemes than in the use of paid support staff in schools. Nevertheless, the implementation of the 1981 Education Act (DES 1981) led to a rapid increase in the number of ancillary staff being taken on to support the growing population of children with identified special needs in mainstream classes (Goacher et al. 1988).

Clayton et al.(1989) recorded an increase of 382 per cent in the number of support assistant hours allocated to pupils with SEN in mainstream schools in Wiltshire between 1983 and 1989. At the same time, inclusive practices in some LEAs resulted in the arrival of children with more severe difficulties than before. With them came specialist teachers and support assistants managed by central support services (O'Grady 1990) or providing outreach from special schools.

More recently, tight financial controls, growing class sizes, heavy curriculum and assessment demands and ever more children deemed to have special educational needs, have resulted in increasing numbers of classroom assistants being employed by schools themselves, particularly in the primary sector. As one head teacher, quoted by Moyles (1997) comments, ‘No teacher minds having an extra two or three children in the class if they can have full-time support’.

According to recent government statistics (DfE 1994b), the number of educational support staff in primary schools rose from 13,641 in 1991 to 21,914 in 1994, while the number of primary teachers fell from 176,295 to 175,270. Although no comparable figures exist for the secondary sector, the Green Paper Excellence for All Children(DfEE 1997a) gives a figure of over 24,000 learning support assistants in mainstream primary and secondary schools and almost 16,000 in maintained special schools. A recent HMI Report (DES 1992) even found some large secondary schools who were considering phasing out the third deputy head in order to employ more ancillary staff.

Aims of support

In considering what is meant by support, Dyer (1988) tries to analyse the tasks performed by support workers. He classifies support under three main headings:

1. direct one-to-one pupil support,

2. teacher/pupil support, and

3. support in curriculum delivery.

In most primary schools, and increasingly at secondary level, one-to-one pupil support is provided by learning support assistants employed specifically for the purpose. Pothecary and McCarthy (1996) define this role in terms of:

• being familiar with one pupil's needs;

• running individual programmes;

• raising self-esteem;

• encouraging autonomy;

• having the time to foster self-determination;

• supporting a group while keeping one pupil's needs paramount;

• furthering the development of individual education plans (IEP) targets;

• adapting materials, and

• supporting work in subject areas.

In the secondary school, direct support may also be offered by a special needs teacher who has a particular range of relevant skills not possessed by the class or subject teacher. Such teachers may be part of the school's own support department or may come from an LEA support service. This level of support tends to be concentrated on those pupils with statements of special educational need and the role of the support teacher is often restricted by the demands of the statement.

However, this model has some of the same drawbacks as withdrawal and in many LEAs is being phased out in favour of more flexible teacher/pupil support, where the support worker supports both the pupils and the teacher. Again, different types of support worker can be involved and, as a consequence, the nature of the partnership will vary from one setting to another. Students can be offered support in a variety of ways (see Figure 1.1).

SUPPORTING CHILDREN

1. As members of the whole class:

(a) responding to individual requests

(b) managing behaviour

(c) providing praise and encouragement

2. As members of a small group in class:

(a) keeping pupils on task

(b) explaining task requirements

(c) supporting written work

3. As individuals in class:

(a) acting as a scribe

(b) delivering a structured programme

(c) emotional or behavioural support

4. As members of a small withdrawal group:

(a) delivering differentiated or structured curricular materials, e.g. corrective reading

(b) discussing problems

(c) delivering specific group programmes, e.g. social skills activities

5. As individuals on a withdrawal basis:

(a) delivering structured learning programmes

(b) delivering specific therapy programmes or medical procedures

(c) individual counselling

Figure 1.1

Where this is being provided by an unqualified support assistant or a volunteer parent, the lead will come from the class or subject teacher, with the helper providing an extra pair of hands, eyes or ears. Teachers able to call on qualified nursery nurses or support assistants with additional training, such as the Certificate in Learning Support or a Specialist Teaching Assistant (STA) course, can share more of the load. In such cases, the role can include the preparation of teaching materials and the observation and recording of pupil behaviours, as well as greater involvement in the planning process.

As McNamara and Moreton (1993) note, ‘children with special needs cannot simply be placed in a mainstream setting in the hope that normality will rub off on them’. To help ensure that their self-esteem is raised and their learning maximised, a properly planned programme of support is required. Before this can be done, it is vital that schools are clear about why they believe that support will make a difference and what form that support should take. In some settings, two adults are required to manage the class as a whole. At other times, there is a small group of pupils that need additional help. However, it must not be forgotten that in some circumstances support can in fact be counterpro-ductive, stigmatising children or compounding their low self-esteem.

In determining the support needs of individuals or small groups, it is important to consult not only the professionals involved, but also the parents and the children themselves. As Wade and Moore (1993) stress, learning has more to do with the understandings and interpretations of students than with the intentions of their teachers. They emphasise the importance of allowing children to be actively involved in expressing their needs and in negotiating and setting objectives. In this way they are likely to have a more certain knowledge of their own strengths and weaknesses and thus to be more likely to value their successes.

In reviewing the development of in-class support in the secondary school, Bibby (1990) comments that one of the main reasons why schools began to move away from withdrawal models of remediation was the perceptions of the students concerned, who reported being picked on and called names. On the other hand, insensitive in-class support can be equally stigmatising and many pupils, particularly those of secondary age, resent being minded, preferring to seek help when they need it. This is particularly true in disadvantaged areas where students appear to be more sensitive to the risk of being singled out by too much individual attention (Duffield 1998).

Support staff in classrooms have an important role to play not only in supporting students but also in supporting teachers (see Figure 1.2). By so doing they can improve the educational opportunities for the entire class. For some teachers, the greatest support is afforded by colleagues who can devote time to modify teaching materials, prepare specific activities before the start of the lesson or keep a detailed record of behaviour and learning outcomes as the lesson progresses. Others value sharing the load of classroom management and feel more in control when they are offered an extra pair of eyes and ears to spot problems before they get out of hand.

SUPPORTING TEACHERS

1. In teaching the class:

(a) covering for absence or course attendance

(b) team teaching

(c) taking one group, e.g. the most able

2. In managing the class:

(a) providing an extra pair of eyes and ears

(b) taking a share of student demands for help

(c) offering support and a...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Meeting Children's Needs
• Chapter 3 Support in the Primary School
• Chapter 4 Support at Secondary Level
• Chapter 5 Support in the Special School
• Chapter 6 Putting Support on the Agenda
• Chapter 7 Support Systems for Support Staff
• References
• Index