A Handbook for Special Needs Assistants

Working in Partnership with Teachers

Glenys Fox

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781136617218
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The aim of this book is to enable special needs assistants to work more effectively in supporting pupils with special needs, teachers and the school as a whole.

CHAPTER 1

Special educational needs

What is meant by Special Educational Need?

The 1981 Education Act states that:

‘A child has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty which may be a result of a physical or sensory disability, an emotional or behavioural problem or developmental delay’ (1981 Education Act, Section I).

This significant Act helped to change ideas about children with difficulties. Before the 1981 Act, children had been categorised and labelled according to their ‘handicap’.

The 1981 Act:

-changed the focus away from labelling the child;

-placed the focus on the extent to which a learning difficulty stops a child from learning with other children of the same age;

-placed the focus on the child's special educational needs in terms of the special educational provision required to help them learn;

-stressed that ‘special educational needs’ is a relative term which arises from the interaction between a child and his or her environment.

The idea of a child's needs being related to the school's ability to meet the needs was a new perspective which helped teachers to see that a child's difficulties do not always start from within the child. Sometimes, difficulties are caused because the school cannot provide the learning tasks or levels of support which are necessary to meet the needs, and sometimes needs are in fact created because the school is not able to be flexible. Thus the interaction between the child and his or her environment is now considered crucial in any discussion about special educational needs.

Children who have special educational needs are now described often in terms of learning difficulties, emotional and behavioural difficulties, physical disabilities, sensory impairment, language difficulties or communication impairment. Sometimes children may have special needs arising from a combination of these factors.

Why do we need Special Needs Assistants?

The 1981 Act states that:

‘Where possible, all children with special educational needs should be educated in ordinary schools’, and

‘For integration to be effective, pupils with special needs must be engaged in all or most of the activities of the school. Some pupils with special educational needs require extra help if they are to benefit from the experiences available to all pupils’.

Special needs assistants (SNAs) often provide this ‘extra help’ which makes it possible for children to go to ordinary schools. Since the 1981 Act, many children who might previously have been educated in special schools have been maintained in ordinary (i.e. mainstream) schools. The majority of these pupils require some additional support in order to make the best use of the opportunities offered to them in mainstream schools. We need SNAs to support these children in schools, children who, without this support, would not cope with the demands of ordinary school life.

Since 1981, the number of such assistants has grown considerably, e.g. Hampshire has nearly 2000 special needs assistants and special school assistants working in local authority schools. Special schools have always employed classroom assistants to support those pupils whose needs are most severe and who benefit from small class sizes and high levels of adult support.

What is a ‘Statement’?

Many SNAs now work for some of their time with pupils who have a ‘Statement of Special Educational Need’. This is a document issued by the local education authority which details what the special needs of the child are considered to be and what should be provided in order to meet those needs.

The Warnock Report (1978) - a report about special needs which influenced the philosophy of the 1981 Act - estimated that about 20 per cent (1 in 5) of all pupils will have some kind of special educational need at some time during their school life, ranging from very mild to very severe. It was also estimated that only 2 per cent (1 in 50) pupils would have such severe and complex difficulties that additional resources or special schooling would be necessary in order to meet their needs. If significant additional resources or special schooling are required, a statement is issued about the needs of the child. There are an estimated 1.2 million pupils in local authority schools in England and Wales who have special educational needs and, of these, nearly 170,000 have a formal statement of need.

Most children with special educational needs can have their needs met fully from the resources already available in all mainstream schools. There is a gradual and detailed process of assessment and response which involves the following stages:

-assessment by the class teacher;

-consultation and support from the school's special needs co-ordinator and other staff (the SNA is often involved in this consultation and support);

-advice from educational psychologists and/or special needs support teachers;

-direct involvement with the child by educational psychologists and possibly specialist support teachers.

At each of these stages there is a need to record and review what is being done, and to inform the parents.

Following these stages of assessment, if it is considered that additional resources are necessary to meet the child's needs, then Formal Assessment is initiated. Reports about the child are collated from:

-the parents-PARENTAL ADVICE

-the school-EDUCATIONAL ADVICE

-the school medical officer - MEDICAL ADVICE

-the educational psychologist - PSYCHOLOGICAL ADVICE.

Reports may also be sought from:

-social services

-specialist teachers

-education welfare services

-speech therapist

-physiotherapist

-child psychiatrist,

if the child is known to these services.

This advice is carefully considered and, should the advice indicate, a Statement of Special Educational Need is issued.

CHAPTER 2

The role of the special needs assistant

What are my responsibilities?

It is important to realise that the class teacher has the responsibility for the education of all children in his or her class, and the head teacher has responsibility for all the children in the school.

The child with special needs with whom you may be employed to work is likely to need specialised learning or behaviour programmes. The class teacher has the responsibility to ensure that appropriate programmes are being planned, followed and monitored. You are expected to work under the guidance of the class teacher to meet the needs of the child.

There may be occasions when you are expected to work on your own with one or more children. In this situation you need to behave as a responsible adult in ensuring the well-being of each child.

What if something goes wrong?

Every employee of the local authority is covered by a general employment insurance policy held by that authority. By law, you are deemed a ‘responsible adult’ and the duties performed by you are delegated to you by the head teacher. If something does go wrong, you should discuss the situation with the teacher who is responsible for your work and with the head teacher. In the case of any accident, it must be recorded in the school's incident/accident book. In the case of injury to a child, your first priority is to see that the child is given first aid and that the class teacher is informed.

If, during the course of your work with a child, some disclosure of physical or sexual abuse is made, then you have a duty, under the Child Protection laws, to inform the head teacher who will take any action necessary. The 1989 Children Act states that the child's welfare is paramount and safeguarding and promoting it is a priority.

Schools have clear routines to be followed in the case of injury or abuse and it is your responsibility to ensure that you know what these procedures are. If you are not sure, the class teacher you normally work with can direct you to the information.

You may consider that membership of a union will be useful in providing you with back-up support, should things go badly wrong.

What is my role in the school?

The role of the special needs assistant will vary from school to school, depending on the organisation and on the individual child, or groups of children, concerned. It is important that you know what your duties are from the start in relation to different pupils.

You need to know whether you are working mainly with one child or are expected to work with small groups, or sometimes with the whole class. An up-to-date job description is certainly necessary in providing you with a description of your duties (a possible job description is provided in Appendix A).

It is frequently the case that SNAs are ‘thrown in at the deep end’, with no clear idea of what is expected of them. This leads to feelings of confusion and of being undervalued.

This can be prevented by:

-a clear job description (see Appendix A);

-communication between the class teacher and the SNA, so that the SNA is clear about:

i)the ground rules for working with the teacher;

ii)the individual plan for the pupil.

What are the ground rules ?

These are the guidelines for you to use in working with a particular teacher. Teachers will have their own ideas and you need to ask about these before you start, so that you can reduce confusion and provide a consistent approach. Also, you need to know what authority you have when working in the classroom. The more you understand the workings of the class and the way the teacher operates, the easier it will be for you to work within the class and to support the children with special needs.

Here are some suggestions of questions to ask in order to determine ‘ground rules’:

(1)How shall I be introduced to the class?

It is important that you are, in fa...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Special educational needs
• 2. The role of the special needs assistant
• 3. Giving support
• 4. The role of the teacher in working with the special needs assistant
• 5. What special needs will I meet?
• 6. The special needs of special needs assistants
• Some final comments
• Appendix A: A job description suggestion for a special needs assistant
• Appendix B: The roles of supporting professionals.