More 

In this section I have linked in my top five favourite websites for general SEND Resources.

1. lovereading4kids a book site that allows you to select books by reading age.  

2. SEND Teacher (Loads of FREE customisible resources for a range of topics)

3. Autism Communication Trust (a fantastic framework for teachers standards)

4. SEND Gateway (Resources for teachers by teachers)

5. Young Minds (a fantastic resource for schools and students to get information on Mental Health)

Are Learning Support Assistants being used instead of Quality First Teaching?

The absolute goal of supporting students is to try to help them be as independent a learner as they possibly can utilising QFT, technology and training in support of that goal.

This website is designed to give advice on what Quality First Teaching in the classroom should look like. I firmly believe that with this advice in place, many students would be able to access learning independently and without a learning support assistant. A learning support assistants role should be to enhance and extend opportunities to learn, this could be by reviewing additional materials in order to over-learn a topic, or consolidating learning that has already taken place by reviewing content to support students with weaknesses in processing or working memory.

In the classroom a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) could also be used to extend Quality First Teaching (QFT) where there are a number of SEND students who require prompting or support accessing language and instructions which would be difficult for one teacher to manage. They could also be used to help a disabled student physically access a lesson, by either scribing, helping them move or access equipment etc. 

In answer to the initial question,  the Learning Support Assistants are in essence delivering Quality First Teaching but they should only be used strategically in addition or to enhance what the teacher is already doing. Far too often I see Learning Support Assistants being used as Quality First 'Teachers', this can be detrimental to students growth as an independent learner as they become over reliant on additional adult help to access the learning and teachers become less involved in the process of supporting their students. I absolutely believe that LSAs can be a valuable resource in the classroom, but the teacher need to be really clear about how they are using Learning Support Assistants in addition or as part of their Quality First Teaching support plans. 

Have your say in the 'Have your say!" section of the website. Do you think LSA are being used in the right way in the majority of classrooms? Are teachers over reliant on LSAs to manage SEND in their classrooms? Or do you  think we have it just right?