SNJ in Conversation: Teaching Assistants, their role and how schools can use them effectively

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For children with special educational needs, a skilled teaching assistant can be the difference between them being able to progress in school or not.

They’re vital for teachers supporting children with SEND in the classroom, whether or not the child has an Education, Health and Care plan. For those children lucky enough to have had continued support during lockdown, remotely or in class, we’ve seen the difference their continued support makes.

But often class teachers have had no training in deploying them to the best effect, and quality training for TAs can be hard to find. There’s also no minimum standards for a teaching assistant, so there is little to measure skills or progress against.

For this new episode of SNJ in Conversation, I was joined by two experts in the use of teaching assistants. Assistant Professor Rob Webster of UCL’s Institute of Education, and SNJ columnist, Bren Prendergast, who’s a specialist teacher and trainer discuss research into TAs and what needs to happen to improve training

TAs, their role and how schools can use them effectively

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Theme tune by Luca Tirraoro

Also read:

• All SNJ in Conversation episodes
• Are Teaching Assistants bad for children with SEND?
• “Show me the evidence” Part 1: Why parents are pivotal to driving evidence-based practice in SEND
• “Show me the evidence” Part 2: The questions parents should ask about SEND assessment and provision
• DfE Research: Mainstream Teaching Assistant cuts negatively impacting SEND pupils
• SEND with Daulby: Unseen teaching tweaks that make all the difference
• Savage cuts to support staff leave deaf children in England fighting for their futures
• Coronavirus: Managing risk to get our special school ready for reintegration

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Tania Tirraoro

Founder, Co-Director at Special Needs Jungle

Founder & co-director of Special Needs Jungle. (She/Her) Autistic parent of two young autistic adults Devoted Grandma. National SEND advisor, journalist & author. Tania also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
She is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.

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Latest posts by Tania Tirraoro (see all)

• Oops, we did it again… The Government must now listen to more than 100,000 people who do not want to lose SEND rights - October 1, 2026
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