Teaching Assistant Review

In my role I assist the teacher and work as a team with other TAs to manage behaviour and work 1 to 1 with a pupil or in a small group to teach subject such as maths, English and science. It also involves teaching the children social skills and how to get along with one another.

I certainly have both learnt new skills and developed existing skills. I have learnt how to manage difficult behaviour, how to deescalate a situation and help pupils regulate their emotions. I have developed my understanding of maths and English and have learnt how to help pupils learn how to decode words in phonics.

I have really enjoyed the experience, working alongside other ATA apprentices and feeling heard and cared about by my tutor and line manager. They wanted me to do well and were always available if I needed them. They keep the stress to a bare minimum making it easier to thrive.

It is very well structured in the sense of having meetings planned well in advance to allow time to speak to the placement beforehand with plenty of notice. Having webinars set up during school holidays or after school had finished allowed me to really listen and take in the information.

I received a great deal of support from my employer, both my line manager and my tutor, they were always available whenever I needed them to talk about anything I was struggling with. They never put too much stress on and this allowed me to learn in a calm setting.

I received a lot of support from my training provider with the workload, we did lots of mock professional discussions and any written work my tutor always gave me lots of helpful resources, links to websites and PowerPoints, my tutor was always available whether it was over email or phone call if I needed to ask any questions.

I believe it has given me greater understanding of how a child’s brain works and their development in particular which has helped me understand and therefore help the pupils more in my role. Without the ‘theory’ side of things the ‘practical’ wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is.

No - there wasn’t any extra-curricular activities however with Inspire ATA being so widely spread this doesn’t come as a surprise. There are some extra-curricular activities at my placement which I am more than welcome to get involved in which in turn makes up for no activities set by the employer

Yes

I believe Inspire ATA to be the best apprenticeship provider, the organisation and the motivation received by both employer and training provider was impeccable. I would definitely recommend to anyone who beloved an apprenticeship is their next step, look into the apprenticeships ATA are offering and choose them as your apprenticeship provider!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, everyone is so lovely, if you have any issues with your placement your line manager will help with that and be your voice if necessary. Make sure to get your work done on time, the time given is always more than enough and it makes everything less stressful!