DfEE Green Paper (22/10/1997) - Learning support assistants (LSAs)

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6 Developing skills

Learning support assistants (LSAs)

12. Learning support assistants (LSAs) have many different job titles across the country. They are non-teaching assistants employed to work with children with SEN in mainstream and special schools. Their tasks include helping pupils with reading difficulties, supporting speech therapy programmes, and helping pupils to access the curriculum.

13. In January 1997 over 24,000 LSAs (full-time equivalent) were working in mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. Almost 16,000 LSAs were in maintained special schools. Numbers have risen sharply in recent years, probably in response to the increase in the number of pupils with statements being educated in mainstream schools.

14. The contribution of LSAs is central to successful SEN practice in mainstream and special schools. The reliance which many schools place on LSAs makes training and career development essential. But training opportunities and patterns of employment are patchy, and need to be improved if we are to realise the full potential of their contribution.

15. OFSTED has found that fewer than half of LEAs provide appropriate training for learning support staff. Some LEAs have, however, developed accredited courses with higher education institutions and Training and Enterprise Councils. Health authorities may also have an important role in training LSAs to support children with substantial and complex difficulties, including "medical" needs.

Case study - Training for special needs assistants in Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets LEA, in partnership with its schools, has worked with the London East Training and Enterprise Council (LETEC) to develop a one-term training course for special needs assistants. Participants must have been registered unemployed for at least six months or be returners to work; often they have been working on a voluntary basis in schools. The course gives trainees the practical skills and knowledge needed to help children with SEN in mainstream classrooms. It focuses on support strategies for a range of different needs, on encouraging children to become independent and on developing their self-esteem. Participants spend two half days a week in schools, supervised by a teacher. About 90% are successful in finding work after completing the course

The LEA has also been working with UNISON on an open learning course, Return to Learn, which will give special needs assistants an opportunity to improve their study skills. During the ten month course, which is accredited through the National Open College Network, participants explore areas of writing and analysing and working with figures. Personal tutors provide feedback and advice, and a study group encourages participants to learn together. LETEC funding will make it possible to offer assistants day-time release to attend this course. It is hoped that participants will use the course as a stepping stone to higher level courses, such as the Open University Specialist Teacher Assistant Certificate.

16. Where LEAs are the employers of LSAs, or hold a register of LSAs on which schools draw, it is easier to offer structured training. The involvement of the LEA also makes possible greater cont inuity in employment, and so increases the extent to which expertise can be built up. But LSAs' careers might be enhanced by a national structure including some or all of the following:

national guidelines or a framework of good practice for LEAs and schools to follow;
an expectation that LEAs would make available accredited training for all LSAs and oversee quality assurance;
nationally devised modules for all LSA training courses within an NVQ framework - perhaps including a mandatory induction/foundation course, with additional modules to reflect the needs of pupils.

17. Excellence in schools said that we would consult LEAs about developing a programme of courses and qualifications for all non-teaching assistants. Training for LSAs would form part of that programme. At the same time, training for teachers needs to equip them to work with other adults in the classroom.

QUESTION: What action should we take to improve the training and career structure of learning support assistants?

31/08/2000