Case study: Creating an inspiring reading environment

Drawing on research evidence, Nafferton Primary School has gone all-out to create a reading environment to inspire its pupils and make them want to pick up a book. Lucy May and David Murray explain how

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Coronavirus: Crisis management and school closure – issues to consider

Schools are closing across the UK in the face of the coronavirus emergency. As they prepare to shut their doors, Matt Bromley looks at some of the issues headteachers will need to think about, including practical considerations, supporting staff, the continuation of learning, and safeguarding

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CPD: Five things schools should…

Are you planning next year’s CPD programme for your schools? Maria Cunningham suggests five things the evidence says you should leave out

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Teaching assistants: The right ethos, good CPD and effective deployment

Getting the best from your school’s teaching assistants means creating the right school ethos, proper training and effective deployment. Hannah Foster offers some practical advice and reflections

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Looking after your teaching voice

As a teacher, losing your voice can be debilitating and is an ever-present risk given how much we talk day-to-day. Do you look after your voice? Nikki Doig offers some practical tips

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The four Cs of effective teaching assistants

Professional collaboration between teachers and teaching assistants is crucial to high-quality lessons and teaching. Matt Bromley outlines his four Cs for creating outstanding working relationships

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Addressing secondary traumatic stress

Secondary trauma occurs when the act of supporting a traumatised young person becomes traumatic in itself – and it is a danger that teachers should be aware of. Darren Martindale advises

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Staff wellbeing: Showing your vulnerability

Julian Stanley talks about the importance of schools leaders showing vulnerability and the positive impact this can have on staff

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Coaching: More than just a queue of questions

Investing more time in coaching approaches to professional development could pay dividends for your schools, says assistant principal Laura Mackay. She offers some tenets of good practice

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Teaching assistants’ role in managing behaviour

Research has shown that fear of ‘overstepping the mark’ can stop teaching assistants from managing behaviour. Dr Emma Clarke outlines some of the issues uncovered during her research and suggests ways in which schools, teachers and teaching assistants can support effective behaviour management

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Case study: Graduate teaching assistants

Properly trained and deployed teaching assistants can have a huge impact on pupil outcomes. Furthermore, the use of graduate teaching assistants can also support your school’s recruitment and training strategy, as Tom Donohoe explains

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Effective CPD for school support staff

Teacher development is a clear priority for the most effective schools, but how do you ensure that your support staff are not missing out on crucial CPD? Bridget Clay advises

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Case study: Making the most of our TAs

Low pay and low status? Teaching assistants have been accused of have little impact on pupil attainment, but what if schools developed the role and provided better training and progression routes? Sal McKeown looks at the possibilities

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Conducting a teaching assistant audit

Are your school’s teaching assistants effective? Or perhaps we should ask: do you train, deploy and manage them effectively. Daniel Sobel says that poor use of TAs can harm student outcomes. He explains how to carry out an effective audit of your TA provision

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Effective roles for teaching assistants in whole-class work

The teaching assistant’s role in intervention or group work is well understood, but what impact can they have on whole-class teaching and learning? Philip Hughes offers some advice

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Getting the best out of your teaching assistants

How do you get the best out of your teaching assistants? Colin McLean speaks to a Bristol primary headteacher about making your teaching assistants a key part of your school’s success

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Protecting your staff’s wellbeing

We are all rightly concerned with the mental health and wellbeing of our pupils – but what about the staff? John Dabell discusses why staff wellbeing should be top of your agenda and offers some quick ideas

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Emerging trends for school business managers

A report looking at how the role of the school business manager is evolving has highlighted some emerging trends. Nicky Gillhespy explains

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Maximising the impact of teaching assistants

Charged with transforming the impact of her school's large team of teaching assistants, Louisa Roberts focused on enhancing CPD, revising appraisals, and clarifying their roles…

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The risks of social networking

Social media has brought a new way of communicating into our schools. It has also brought a risk of us sharing too much. Suzanne O'Connell seeks expert advice for school leaders

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Deploying your teaching assistants effectively

There was a time when the teaching assistant was just a teacher's helper. Now so much more is expected from this professional role. Suzanne O'Connell finds out about emerging best practice and the advice schools are being given

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A challenging year ahead for school food

On top of the challenge of expanding free school meals to all key stage 1 children, schools now face new school food standards in January. Suzanne O’Connell looks at the challenges ahead for school food.

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Ask Brenda: The lunchtime professional

The lunch hour can be a critical time of day for behaviour. What are your golden rules for the role of lunchtime or dinner supervisors?

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Ask Brenda – Front-of-house efficiency

I have just started at a new school and am concerned about how I get best practice in the office. The staff are lovely but they need advice so that they are the best possible “first point of contact” for the school. How best can I approach this?

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The true value of teaching assistants

Professor Peter Blatchford, Dr Anthony Russell and Rob Webster – researchers on the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff in Schools (DISS) project – discuss their work into the impact TAs have on pupil outcomes and teacher workloads