Tda 2.6

Assessment Task- TDA 2.6 Help improve own and team practice in schools.

3. Understand the work of a team.

This essay will demonstrate my knowledge about working as a team, the importance of it and who forms the team at the school where I work. I will look at the aims of my school and where I fit into that as a voluntary Teaching Assistant and I will also show how other members of the team all work together to reach the same goal.

One person alone could not complete the entire workload a school requires to function. To teach, to feed, to make safe, to make a happy place all needs the work of a very dedicated team who work together to achieve the same goal, at Priestsic Primary and Nursery school where I work this is:

“To create a safe, healthy and stimulating environment in which the children feel secure and are willing and eager to spend their time.”

And this team is also encouraged to:

“allow the children to reach as high a level as their ability allows increasing their pleasure, understanding and confidence.”

Priestsic Primary School-Teaching Assistant Student Booklet 2010.

This is all achieved by individuals who work together, sharing ideas and knowledge to make a really good team a great one. The school staff are not the only ones encouraged to practice teamwork

“Children are encouraged to work as part of a team and to respect other people’s beliefs and feelings.”

Priestsics Home School Agreement 2010

This message is enforced in the Schools Home School Agreement which is given out to parents at the start of a child coming to school. There is no doubt that my school values teamwork in everyone who is associated with it. The morale of the school is very high and I have seen for myself that everyone I ask a question of, they are willing to help and if they don’t know an answer they will find someone for me who does. It is enjoyable to be at a school where everyone is happy to help each other and it is absolutely motivational and if I feel this way as a partial outsider, then the children must also feel very proud that they belong to a school with staff members who really care about them and their education.

The purpose and objectives of the team in which I work is to be focussed and knowledgeable about literacy and Maths. The teacher in the class that I work in is the Literacy co-ordinator for the Year and the teacher in the opposite side of the classroom is the Maths co-ordinator so the two teachers work very closely together, they complement each other. One takes charge of the Literacy activities and the other devises the Maths activities and they share these within the classrooms. My working environment is split into two sides with a dividing curtain, my teacher has 30 children and the other teacher has 30 children and together they make up Year Two at the school.

The two teachers are constantly consulting each other about Maths and Literacy matters and they share ideas between themselves. I work with both of the teachers and they will often give me a group of children to work with who perhaps need more support and they will introduce activities to me by explaining what they are and if I need to give specific help to someone they will give me the time to do this. The qualified Teaching Assistants in the class will help the teachers set up the activities and help with the planning and then I help, when I go in , executing the practicalities like setting out tables or making displays.

“members of the team will need to understand their role and how it fits with the role of other members of the team…”

Burnham and Baker 2010

When I first began my placement at Priestsic Primary and Nursery School I was given a “Teaching Assistant Student booklet” and it defines my role by stating:

What will be expected of you:

The children spend quite a lot of time sat on the carpet, particularly during numeracy and literacy. You will be expected to either support particular children or to be sat in the classroom preparing resources/displays.

It goes on to say that

You may also be expected to:

Sharpen pencils

File children’s work

Supervise children’s milk time.

This is my role as a student and it is what I do whenever I go into my placement. The qualified Teaching Assistant works very closely with me whose role it is to:

• Work under the direct instruction of teaching/senior staff, usually in the classroom.

• To attend to the pupils personal needs.

• To prepare the classroom as directed.

nottinghamshirecountycouncil.gov.uk.

I usually help the Teaching Assistant with her role so as to free up the teacher so she can carry out her role, which includes:

• Teaching all areas of the primary curriculum

• Organising the classroom and learning resources to create a positive learning environment.

• Plan, prepare and present lessons that cater for the needs of the whole ability range within the class and to

• Work with others to plan and co-ordinate work.

TES.co.uk

So the teacher, Teaching Assistant and Student Teaching Assistant all work very closely together in the classroom to support the children, we also rely on the help of the midday supervisors to look after the children at mealtimes, they ensure that they sit and eat nicely that the children clear up after themselves and they ensure acceptable standards of behaviour are maintained in the playground afterwards. If they do not they inform the teacher and necessary action will be taken, such as that child missing the next playtime.

Teachers also need the help of the Administration staff who answer the telephone and act as a first point of contact for the school. They send out any necessary letters, they monitor and control visitors with the help of the Site Manager who is responsible for who comes onto the site and the security of the building. Our Site Manager at the school will also help the Teacher if she needs chairs or tables getting for displays, he cleans up any spillages and he changes the toilet rolls and is responsible for the general groundwork of the school.

All of these people who help form the team at school are ultimately responsible to the Head teacher whose role it is to:

• Lead and manage the school

• To ensure the achievement of educational standards

• To promote and safeguard the welfare of the children.

• To work in partnership with the governing body, staff and parents generating the ethos and values which will underpin the school.

TES.co.uk

Every single person who works at a school has an important job to do even the cleaners who make a great job of keeping the classrooms clean and tidy. Without the skills set of all these people the school would not function properly and so for that reason I respect everyone who I work with. I might not know about a hazardous substance so I would have to rely on the expertise of a cleaner or the Site Manager to tell me if I could use it or not. I do not understand the workings of the curriculum so I would need the help of the teacher to explain it to me. I think that it is absolutely vital to respect the skills and expertise of other practitioners, especially at the moment when I am so new to the school working environment. I never take anyone for granted and always listen to what they have to say. Everyone is different and even if two people have done the same course to come back and teach a class they will have different ways of doing so. I would personally never dream of going into school and try to tell somebody what to do because I feel that I don’t have the knowledge yet to do so, as described by Burnham and Baker 2010;

“If a member of your team has been working in schools for a long time and a new person comes in and tells them that things should be done in a different way, it will cause bad feeling and resentment.”

I could not agree more with this statement and feel that you would gain more respect by showing that you are open to ideas and suggestions from other members of staff. It is invaluable to me to have done so from first going into school, I have learnt so much from different people and I have found that everyone treats me the same way in which I treat them, friendly, honestly and respectfully.

I thoroughly enjoy working as part of a team that makes up a school. Although I am still learning about where everybody fits in I feel that every time I go into my school I learn something new about peoples roles and how they work in the successful team that is Priestsic Primary and Nursery school. Everyone values each other and no one is selfish, the staff share ideas and work together professionally to maintain the schools aim

“To create a safe, healthy and stimulating environment in which the children feel secure and are willing and eager to spend their time.”

Teamwork is not only important in schools it is probably the most important thing in schools where Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Midday Supervisors, Admin staff, Cleaners, the Site Manager and the Head teacher all work together to make the school a happy, safe, educational place to be.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Priestsic Primary School – Teaching Assistant Student Booklet 2010.

Priestsics Home School Agreement 2010.

Burnham and Baker 2010.

nottinghamshirecountycouncil.gov.uk.

TES.co.uk

Bibliography: Priestsic Primary School – Teaching Assistant Student Booklet 2010. Priestsics Home School Agreement 2010. Burnham and Baker 2010. nottinghamshirecountycouncil.gov.uk. TES.co.uk