Teaching Assistants

The Government recognises the value of teaching assistants in helping schools achieve higher standards particularly in literacy and numeracy. The Teachers' Green Paper proposed steps to improve the training and career development of teaching assistants. These were strongly supported by schools.

We are now taking the following action:

increasing by 20,000 the number of FTE teaching assistants working in primary and secondary schools in England by 2002. Up to 2,000 additional assistants are being recruited this financial year as part of the Additional Literacy Support programme; an extra £130m in the next financial year will allow LEAs to recruit up to 15,000 more assistants, with the remainder to be recruited by March 2002.

working with the Local Government NTO to develop a national framework of training and qualifications in consultation with Local Education Authorities, QCA and other bodies. This will clarify the role of the teaching assistant and signpost the training and qualifications which will help them demonstrate their abilities and develop their careers. Consultation will start in the autumn.

preparing introductory training materials for recently recruited teaching assistants for use by LEAs from September 2000. The training will help ensure that new recruits have a clear understanding of their new roles and responsibilities and will improve the quality of professional support available to teachers.

developing good practice materials on the effective deployment of teaching assistants by heads and teachers. The materials will reinforce the key messages of the introductory training and will also promote further training for more experienced assistants. The materials will be available in the autumn. Many schools already recognise their teaching assistants as a key resource in the learning activities of the school. These proposals should spread that good practice more widely and open up exciting new development opportunities for assistants.

Funding and coverage

Overall, a total of £350m is being made available over this and the next two years to meet the cost of recruiting and training the equivalent of 20,000 new teaching assistants. The three-year breakdown is: 1999-2000 - £20m; 2000-01 - £130m; 2001-02 - £200m.

This year's funds will be allocated via a new Standards Funds grant. We wrote to LEAs with the full details on 27 October. The grant will be sufficient to cover between 9,000-15,000 FTE additional assistants - the precise number will depend on how LEAs and schools profile their recruitment across the year. That represents an average of 60-100 assistants in each LEA area. In the 40 most deprived LEAs, these funds will be supplemented by an additional £13m to recruit around 1,800 FTE extra adults for reception classes; this follows Margaret Hodge's 2 August announcement to reduce adult:child ratios to a maximum of 1:15 reception classes in those areas.
 

Working Environment Fund

£40 million has been allocated to the Working Environment Fund, £20m in 1999-00 and £20m in 2000-01. It is intended that this funding should be used to improve the conditions of the staffroom or other areas used exclusively by teaching and non-teaching staff.

Why spend money on staff rooms when schools have so many other priorities?

Teachers should have a professional environment in which to work. The 5.4billion being invested in schools capital from 1999-2002 will greatly improve the circumstances in which they work. This fund complements the major work on schools by ensuring that teachers, as professionals, have professional working conditions in which to prepare study and relax when not in the classroom.

What will it support? It will help schools to purchase essential items to upgrade the teachers working environment. For example, general redecoration, small refurbishments and equipment.

What if we haven't got a staff room? This fund will not allow for the building of staff rooms. However, if you have another area that teachers congregate for meetings and or at break times then there is no reason why the funds cannot be used to improve this area.

Can we supplement the fund with our own money? Indeed. If you have already planned to improve your staff room then any money you had intended for use for this purpose can be added to the money received through the working environment fund.

How will this money be allocated? The fund will be administered by Local Education Authorities. A supplement to the Standards Fund Circular 16/99 was sent to Local Education Authorities at the end of October to assist them in allocating money to schools. You can view this supplement at http://www.dfee.gov.uk/circulars/16_99/index.htm . You may wish to contact your Local Education Authority regarding your particular case.

Half of the funds will be used to give schools a flat-rate allocation of between £500-2,000 depending on size. The rest will be allocated by LEAs to schools which need it most. The fund has been provided to help schools to purchase essential items to upgrade the teachers working environment. For example, general redecoration, small refurbishment's and equipment.
 

Small School Support Fund

The Small School Support Fund (SSSF) contributes to the wider agenda for raising educational standards and forms an element of the 'support' proposals set out in the Green Paper 'teachers: meeting the challenge of change'. £40 million has been allocated to the SSSF: £20 million in 2000-01 and £20m in 2001-02. The SSSF aims to support small maintained schools in developing innovative ways of collaborating or sharing support (either with each other, with larger schools, other educational establishments, or with other community services) in order to find efficient and cost-effective ways to raise educational standards.

What is a small school?

For the purposes of the SSSF, a small school is any maintained school with 200 or fewer full-time equivalent pupils. This includes nursery school and pupil referral units.

How much money goes to each small school and will they receive all of it?

Over 9000 schools are expected to benefit from SSSF money. Average entitlement will be approximately £2,200 per annum. DfEE has decided to allow Local Education Authorities to retain up to 10% of SSSF money (up to a maximum of £15,000) to fund consultations and discussions to generate ideas/approaches to be piloted; for co-ordinating, monitoring and evaluating projects; and for disseminating good practice which emerges.

What can schools spend the money on?

Small schools will have flexibility to decide on the innovative approaches they wish to pilot and with who they wish to work. This will allow them to address their own individual circumstances.

At one end of the spectrum schools might choose to pilot joint planning or training initiatives; at the other, schools may decide to take steps to formal federation. A wealth of possibilities exists in the middle ground in areas such as financial support, facilities management, family friendly services, technical support, joint purchasing, curriculum planning and specialist staff exchange. The criteria for eligible expenditure are deliberately widely drawn to allow for a wide variety of new approaches to collaboration to be piloted.

What about extra administrative support?
There is a separate Standards Fund grant aimed specifically at providing small schools with more administrative support and thereby reducing the burden of basic administration placed on teachers, deputy headteachers and headteachers in those schools. Admin Support Fund

How will this money be allocated?
The fund will be administered by Local Education Authorities. A supplement to the Standards Fund Circular 16/99 was sent to Local Education Authorities at the end of October. This gave fuller details of eligible expenditure and the objectives of the SSSF. A letter to Local Education Authorities on 17 December 1999 informed them of their individual funding allocations.

When can schools get the money? SSSF funds will come on stream in September 2000 and will be available until March 2002.
 

Administrative Support for Small Schools

£80m is being made available between 1999-2001 under the Administrative Support Fund for Small Schools where administrative tasks are felt most acutely. Primary schools with 200 or fewer pupils on roll; secondary schools with 600 or fewer pupils on roll, and special schools with 75 or fewer pupils on roll are eligible to receive the grant. The way in which the grant can be used has been extended to include the employment of more administrative staff, the provision of ICT equipment and training they need to do their jobs, the supply cover costs to release heads and teachers for them to do their professional paperwork and the purchase of bursarial services.