Investigating the role of the HLTA in supporting learning in English schools

Is the employment of pastoral support staff (PSS) working with students with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs changing the role and responsibilities of teachers in London and South East England?

“…Edmund and Price (2009) suggested that such action could blur the different professional positions within schools. Graves and Williams (2017) also warn that with the rising numbers of non-qualified teaching staff in schools, there is a danger that the most vulnerable students with the most severe needs will spend most of their time receiving both academic and pastoral support from non-teachers.…”

Supporting all children to reach their potential: practitioner perspectives on creating an inclusive school environment

“…To support children with a wide range of differing needs within mainstream settings, there has been an increase in numbers of support staff which Graves and Williams (2017) suggest is driven by inclusion policies. Support staff include, TAs and Learning Mentors (Blatchford et al 2011;Webster et al 2010).…”

“…Training for staff that support children with SEN and a range of needs is widely discussed within literature (Graves and Williams 2017;Graves 2014). Whilst identifies a perceived need for adequate preservice training relating to SEN, they suggest that there should also be continuing professional development (CPD).…”

Deploying teaching assistants to support learning: from models to typologies

“…Webster et al (2011) argue that learners typically supported by TAs require access to those with the highest skill levels. Concerns have therefore been raised about how well the deployment of TAs to support inclusion is working in practice (Butt & Lowe, 2012;Devecchi et al, 2012;Webster et al, 2013;Radford et al, 2014;Radford et al, 2015;Butt, 2016;Graves and Williams, 2017;Lehane, 2016). Lyons et al (2016;p.889) highlight the importance of "a shared commitment to inclusion" yet Devecchi et al (2012) suggest that difficulties in working relationships sometimes arise around the extent to which teachers feel responsible for or sufficiently equipped to support learners with additional needs.…”

“…The role was initially contentious as despite assurances that HLTAs are not teachers it was seen to further blur these boundaries (Woodward & Peart, 2005;Hancock et al, 2010;Graves, 2012). Equally as Graves and Williams (2017) note there is a risk of blurring the boundaries between TAs who are HLTAs and those who are not. To add to the complexity, non HLTAs are sometimes called upon to work separately with learners in designated learning support areas on tasks that are different from those completed by their peers inside the classroom (Blatchford et al, 2009).…”