Nursery World - Teachers welcome assistants' support

The majority of teachers welcome the back-up role that teaching assistants play in the classroom but reject their use as substitute teachers, a survey for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has found. The survey of just under 4,000 teachers in England and Wales on the availability and deployment of teaching assistants found that 80.5 per cent of teachers saw benefits in teaching assistants giving support to pupils. But just under nine in ten (89.1 per cent) said they did not want classroom assistants to cover for teacher absences and shortages, as has been envisaged by the Government, although one in four thought they could be used to supervise work while the teacher was out of the classroom.

The survey of just under 4,000 teachers in England and Wales on the availability and deployment of teaching assistants found that 80.5 per cent of teachers saw benefits in teaching assistants giving support to pupils. But just under nine in ten (89.1 per cent) said they did not want classroom assistants to cover for teacher absences and shortages, as has been envisaged by the Government, although one in four thought they could be used to supervise work while the teacher was out of the classroom.

But the survey of 3,822 teachers also found that more than one in ten have no access to support from teaching assistants. Of those who do, 85 per cent have that support for children with special needs or pupils for whom English is a second language.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included