Nursery World - New SEN resource helps schools

When is it better to be a bridge builder than a helicopter or Velcro? When you're a teaching assistant supporting a child with Down's syndrome, according to a comprehensive resource pack for schools produced by the Down's Syndrome Association. The Education Support Pack for Schools recommends that a teaching assistant avoids being a 'helicopter', hovering over the child in case he or she has any problems. Instead the assistant should also give the child opportunities to interact with others to form friendships without close adult supervision - 'no Velcro'd assistants please'. Ideally, the teaching assistant should act as a bridge between the child and the mainstream curriculum, rather than providing them with very different work.

The Education Support Pack for Schools recommends that a teaching assistant avoids being a 'helicopter', hovering over the child in case he or she has any problems. Instead the assistant should also give the child opportunities to interact with others to form friendships without close adult supervision - 'no Velcro'd assistants please'. Ideally, the teaching assistant should act as a bridge between the child and the mainstream curriculum, rather than providing them with very different work.

The pack is aimed at mainstream primary and secondary schools that include, or are thinking of including, children with Down's syndrome, but also includes information that will be of interest to early years practitioners.

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