Learning_Support

I will evaluate my role as a learning support worker (lsw). Analyse the theories and concepts relating to the learning support worker. Demonstrate my understanding of school polices and ethical procedures. Then provide a reflective account on how I contribute to the educational experience of the children I support. The theory behind the learning support worker is that we were introduced in to settings to provide support for children who have an educational need or more specific 1 to 1 needs. The learning support worker also aids children who attend settings that have more complex disabilities as well as an educational need. ‘As a TA you are the forefront of supporting the learning of the pupils you work with’ (Graf, M Birch, A 2009 pg 1) My role as a learning support worker has changed since I first started in school as I was only voluntary. Although I was still expected to work under the guidance of my teacher my responsibilities where minimal. During the last 6 months my responsibilities have increased and I am now employed as a learning support worker within my setting. ‘I am expected to work under the guidance of my teacher or line manager. I’m expected to support pupils learning using pivats and where possible aim to be in line with the national curriculum. Pivats are used in my setting to assess the personal achievement of the pupil. (Information provided by mentor during discussion 17th October 2010) To comply with the schools polices and procedures. Also to support children outside the classroom ‘(taken from job description pg 1) ‘ The management, role and training of learning support assistants’ This research was conducted by Dr peter Farrell, Dr Maggie balshaw and dr flitz polat from the centre of educational needs at Manchester university. (www.education.gov.uk 1999) ‘There has been a dramatic increase in the number of learning support Assistants (LSAs) in mainstream and special schools.’ The website shows the research done in to the roles, management and training of the learning support assistant. The research carried out suggested that there was an increase in learning support assistants; therefore it raised various questions about not only the role of these workers. But also the management, training of these workers and how this can be delivered. This research was use full to me when I researched the role of the learning support worker. It highlighted just how important our roles are and how we can effectively with the correct training be an asset to providing support to pupils, teachers and schools. In my setting I am also expected to comply with the schools polices and procedures along with the ethical procedures. Data protection act 1998 ‘ the purpose of the act is to protect the rights of the individual about whom the data is obtained , stored ,processed or supplied rather than those of people or organisations who control personal data’ (www.city.ac.uk 16th December 2010 ) Complying with confidentiality and data protection is an absolute must when in my setting. I implement this policy by keeping updated with any recent changes in legislation. Also on a daily basis I put this in to force when I am writing home school books, taking the register and discussing pupils with other agencies or colleagues. School records are kept in a locked cabinet in the heads office and can only be accessed by authorised personal. Human rights act 1998 ‘you have a responsibility to respect others rights and they must respect yours’ (www.direct.gov.uk 2nd January 2010) In acting in accordance with the human rights act 1998 during my time in school. I provide support for the pupils in my setting by been conscious of the human rights of pupils in school and implement them daily. To help them achieve their best in education we also help develop life skills and promote independence. For example we support the 6th formers in handling money, attending work experience environments plus basic skills like health and hygiene. Every child matters the aim of this programme is ‘to give all children the support they need:’ ● be healthy ● Stay safe ●enjoy and achieve ●make a positive contribution ●achieve economic well being (www.dcsf.gov.uk 15th December 2010) I implement every child matters on a daily basis when supporting pupils on community visits. It is important to encourage the pupil’s personal learning so they make a positive contribution to their work. I do this by giving support when engaging in tasks ensuring they stay safe and enjoy and achieve the task in hand. Promoting healthy eating in school is part of the schools ethos to be a greener school. We provide fruit that is grown in school daily. In our cookery lessons I support the personal hygiene of the pupils by helping with hand washing, tying hair back and putting aprons on pupils. Collecting the correct cooking utensils and cookware. Supporting the more able pupils to get these independently. We use our ‘intensive interaction policy’ (taken from school policy pg1) with most of our pupils it gives them a sense of achievement especially those pupils whose social and communication skills are limited. ‘Aimed at facilitating communication by working on the fundamentals of early communication’ (taken from intensive interaction policy used in my setting) We implement this policy by getting the pupils to share, have physical contact with the ingredients. Playing an active role where applicable in the cooking of the food and also with serving the food to others. The aim of safeguarding children ‘protecting children from harm and promoting their welfare depends on a shared responsibility and effective joint working between different agencies’ (www.publications.education.gov.uk March 2010) I adhere to safeguarding children I work with by attending safeguarding courses and keeping up with regular training. Within school I record any incidents in a communication book which is accessed only by colleagues I work with. This means colleagues, I or the line manager can establish any patterns that may emerge and if any concerns are raised. In this situation we would take all documentation to the child protection officer who would then deal with the incident accordingly. The child protection officer in my school is the head teacher. The head teacher will also decide if any other agencies such as parents, carers, social services or police need to be informed. The sen code of practise is guidance ‘on polices and procedures aimed at enabling pupils with special educational needs to reach their full potential, to be included fully in their school communities and make a successful transition to adulthood’ (www.teachernet.gov.uk 15th December 2010) As my school is a special needs setting all of our pupils are statement children. This means that all pupils undertake an educational assessment before attending the setting. (Information received from discussion with line manager 18th November 2010) Within my setting we aim to achieve to let the pupils achieve their full potential by giving them a structured educational environment with the freedom of choice. We also develop life skills in school to help them transfer this to adulthood. We do this by supporting the pupils in various community settings. For example a shopping trip using public transport. Every child in my school is assessed using pivats . Pivats are; ‘Assessment programme used nationally to measure pupils progress through p scales and up to national curriculum level 4’ (www.lancashire.gov.uk 14th December 2010) Control of substances hazardous to health (coshh) this applies in my setting as we use nappies, medication and needles. I adhere to this regulation by disposing of these materials appropriately. For example unused or tampered with medication or needles are put in to a secure yellow bin. Nappies and other bodily waste are put in to yellow bin bags to be disposed of by the local authority. In my setting I work in various different classes. I also work with pupils who vary in age and ability. Recently however I have been working with a young man on a 1-1 support basis. The young man in question has ‘severe behavioural problems’ (taken from witness statement to correlate my role as a learning support worker) I support him during lessons, community visits and break times. He is a sociable young man who likes to talk in my opinion, but in the same breath he needs to be engaged in a task that interests him to keep his behaviour to a minimum. During my time with this young man I built up a good report by expressing an interest in his likes and dislikes. By doing this I would engage him in conversation which he generally does not do. By engaging him in conversation he is also developing his communication and social skills. In turn I also encouraged this young man to apply his interests to his school work which means he is now producing some work for assessment. I felt like I had achieved a really positive outcome with this young man because in my opinion his contribution to his school work has improved since having regular 1-1 support. I also prepared activities of interest for the pupil in question to make sure he met his personal targets. This included number work by playing cards. Including hand and eye co-ordination by drawing his favourite characters for him to cut out and colour. During my time in school I have also worked with children in a group setting providing support during curriculum activates such as physical education, numeracy and literacy. Also in my setting we use sensory which is a big part of our pupils learning. We include sensory sessions in most of our lessons this is to ensure all pupils are included in lessons and forefill their potential learning goals. During my time in school I also work closely with the class teacher by making sure I am up to date with any planning she has done. We have any 1-1 sessions to provide that week and help prepare activities for such lessons. I also speak to my teacher at the end of every lesson to see if I can improve or implement anything in any lessons that I have not covered. The reason for this is that it improves my performance and also highlights any issues that I need to work on. During lunch times and break times I provide support to all pupils within the school in the playground and on the school field. I encourage the children to play independently if able and asset others that are less able it important that children develop social relationships so the can take these valuable lessons with them in to adult hood. References Http://www.city.ac.uk/data Http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychild Http://publications.education.gov.uk Http://www.direct.gov.uk Http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh Http://www.teachernet.gov.uk Http://lancashire.gov.uk Http://www.education.gov.uk/research The teaching assistants guide to understanding and supporting learning Graf M, Birch, A 2009 London Newyork Information provided by discussion with mentor 17th October 2010