Assisting ICT

We are two trained nursery nurses working as classroom assistants for Cheshire Local Education Authority. As part of our job we are expected to teach computer skills to children. Government recommendations say the New Opportunities Fund must include training for teachers in ICT skills, and there are at least 33 companies offering this training to schools, with the training funded according to the number of teachers per school. But there is no funding for classroom assistants. Our staff works as a team and we have the full support of our head teacher. he contacted two companies, both following the same guidelines, which are offering this training to schools in Cheshire. The first company said that if our school pays a Pounds50 fee for each classroom assistant plus Pounds5 for each certificate, the end accreditation will be the same. However the second company will not offer the same accreditation to classroom assistants - despite the possibility that they may have completed the same 18 modules a teaching member of staff has undertaken.