Building Connections Through Collaboration

Being part of the TA Community has been greatly beneficial to both me personally and to our SEND team at The Nicholas Hammond Academy. I have learnt how other teaching assistants work in similar settings, which interventions they run and the impact they have had. I have also had the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons with them to enable us to adapt our interventions accordingly. It has given me confidence and built up my enthusiasm to ask questions about best practice as I know my colleagues within the TA Community will help me through sharing their own experience.

 

We have discussed various courses to develop our practice and, as a result, two of our teaching assistants have finished level 3 Dyslexia Awareness course, which we wouldn’t have been aware of without the connection with others within the TA community.  This has boosted their knowledge and has enabled them to be more supportive to students in the classroom and to offer more bespoke interventions.

 

Engaging with the TA community has allowed me to be part of a wider team, which has been very important to me as it helps me look at ideas and problems from a different perspective.  I often go back on the notes I’ve written from the TA meetings, which give me new routes to explore, and I know I can always reach out to other teaching assistants, who may have more experience in the project, intervention, or different resources.  It also allows me to pass on new information to our team at The Nicholas Hammond Academy, which opens up new doors for our colleagues and most importantly our students.

Congratulations Jackie!

Jackie Rawson, author of this blog, has recently been shortlisted for Teaching Assistant of the Year at the 2024 Tes Awards! Find out more about her amazing achievement here.