Nursery World - Study days (13)

Launched last year, the NVQ for teaching assistants lays down a specific role and recognises how much support these practitioners now supply in the classroom. The qualification spans four key support aspects of a classroom assistant's work, covering the pupil, teacher, curriculum and school. Importantly, it provides a career structure, giving employers a clear picture of the skills a teaching assistant possesses.

Importantly, it provides a career structure, giving employers a clear picture of the skills a teaching assistant possesses.

Former solicitor Michelle Austin, who completed the course in 2004, felt it provided a balance of practical and theory. She had started out working in childcare as a volunteer, progressing to a paid classroom assistant working with Key Stage 1 and 2 children. Her subsequent role in a pre-school, involving one-to-one sessions with a child with special needs, led to her position as a part-time learning support assistant at Christ Church Primary School in Ware.

She says, 'I approached the Ware Assessment Centre, at Hertford Regional College, and discussed my options with the staff there and decided the course was my preferred choice because it focused on the National Occupational Standards, and was more practical than theory-based.'

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