Many schools have listened to the requests of both teaching assistants and teachers and finally given them a block of time within which to discuss the children and plan together. But, when the age and experience difference is great between you, this can lead to awkwardness.
So, to reduce those excruciating moments when nobody knows where to look, let alone what to say, and it feels like you are bossing your mum around, you need to make a plan (which shouldn’t be difficult, seeing as this is what teachers like to do).
I don’t mean planning what subjects you are going to teach and in what order, or what your displays of tray labels are going to look like, but a plan to shape the meeting. An agenda.
Having a young whippersnapper suddenly telling you what to do can be disconcerting for an experienced TA: so think carefully about what you are going to say. With children you can say, “Today, we are going to learn about triangles,” and expect them to fall into line, but it is not the same with adults.
Share your vision
Remember to ask what your TA thinks - and pick their brains. Share your vision for all the children in your class - and ask your TA for theirs, too.
If you have a TA working in your class as a one-to-one support for an individual student, you will need to get informed. It can be tempting, especially if the TA has worked with the child for a while, to rely upon their knowledge and expertise. But you must never forget that you are the teacher, not them - and it is upon your shoulders that the responsibility ultimately falls.
Find out what you can about the child and their learning needs. Get hold of their EHCP or statement. Get to know those outcomes and get thinking - and involve your TA in thinking - about how you are going to reach them.
In between those formal planning meetings, work out a simple way of communicating. The school day is so busy that significant moments slide by in a matter of seconds; a notebook, something shared, to make jottings or to-do lists, can be a lifesaver.
Above all, be reassured. Sometimes it can take a while for you to find a comfortable way of working together. Sometimes, it can take a bit of time to bring someone round to your way of thinking. But it can be done. It can happen that on the day you leave, weighed down with gifts, flowers and good luck cards, you will get a hug and the whispered comment, the cloaked compliment, that means so much: “I thought you were mad when you first came here, but it works, it really does!”
Nancy Gedge is a consultant teacher for the Driver Youth Trust, which works with schools and teachers on SEND. She is the TES SEND specialist, and author of Inclusion for Primary School Teachers. She tweets @nancygedge
