The following features, which are used to judge the quality of TA and Apprentice at Woodlane, were created with the input of staff and pupils:

Relationships and Communication

• The Teaching Assistant and Teacher demonstrate effective communication in the classroom to enable Teaching Assistants to provide appropriate support and challenge to pupils whilst developing independence over time.
• The Teaching Assistant is friendly, interactive and supportive, setting a positive tone for the lesson, ensuring the classroom environment is welcoming and engaging. The wellbeing of pupils is considered at every stage.

Supporting Pupil Understanding

• During ‘Teacher Talk’, the Teaching Assistant supports pupil(s) as required, models good listening skills and uses a range of strategies to support pupil knowledge retention, e.g. Mind Maps, lists, notes etc.
• The Teaching Assistant encourages pupil participation in 1:1/class discussion and checks pupils’ understanding systematically throughout the lesson.
• Reasonable adjustments and adaptations are made to provide individual pupil support, e.g. assistive technology, modified materials such as enlarging work, behaviour support etc.
• During learning tasks/activities, the Teaching Assistant utilises a variety of appropriate strategies to check understanding and promote discussion. This may include personalised or more generalised strategies, including;
• Visual checks on pupil progress.
• Rephrasing information provided by the teacher.
• Using a task planner to schedule steps and plan learning.
• Visual prompts on a pupil’s desk.
• Verbal & Visual SALT strategies, e.g. Makaton, Communicate in Print, mind maps, declarative language, aided language boards, levelled questioning, adequate thinking time.
• Adapting work within the lesson (or prior), e.g. chunking – separating longer tasks into smaller manageable steps etc.

Literacy support is provided that helps pupils decode information and encourages reading. Support does not provide pupils with the answer directly but prompts them to recall or discover an answer. Literacy support should be directed by the Class Teacher and may take the form of:

• Word banks or sound mats.
• Strategies and resources to prompt discussion
• Reading assistance, phonics support or sentence starters.
• Scribing for the child where this is requested/necessary due to their needs.
• Appropriate SALT resources specific to the needs of each child etc. 

Ensuring High Levels of Progress

• The Teaching Assistant understands pupil starting points and recognises who may need more support or challenge. Prior knowledge is checked, enabling pupils to acquire new knowledge, and skills build on what has been taught before to work towards the learning objectives.

• Questioning is used regularly to ensure pupils have made the progress expected.

• Verbal or written feedback given is effective and ensures pupils make progress independent of the Teaching Assistant’s presence, e.g. SMART targets are set and these are returned to 5 minutes into a task to check progress.

• Challenge is used effectively throughout the lesson and pupils are not left waiting for opportunities to develop their skills further, e.g. encouraged to produce extended responses (verbally and in writing).
• Pupil progress is checked at the end of the lesson to consolidate. Reference to learning objectives is made.
• Misconceptions are addressed with pupils and support is adapted to correct these.
• All pupils make substantial progress from their individual starting points (relevant to the pupils targeted). 

• Unexpected behaviour is dealt with proportionately by the Teaching Assistant (under the Class Teacher’s guidance) and appropriate strategies are used. These may include:

• If appropriate, poor behaviour is addressed calmly and quietly in the classroom in the first instance.
• Pupils are offered appropriate sensory or regulatory strategies by the Teaching Assistant within the classroom as early intervention.
• Where necessary, and in collaboration with the Class Teacher, warnings are issued.
• Where necessary to avoid class disruption, a timeout (or similar) is offered and supported by the Teaching Assistant. A pupil leaving the classroom is always discussed with the class teacher.
• Where behaviour is seen to escalate, swift decisions are made based on class expectations. The class are not overly disrupted by the behaviour of others etc.