HLTA award supports best practice

Teaching Assistant, Karen Bird, from St. Thomas Aquinas school in Kings Norton, recently completed her training at UCB as part of the Birmingham HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) consortium and was assessed as achieving the national standards by Best Practice Network, becoming their 4,000 successful candidate.

Karen said: "I feel very proud to have Higher Level Teaching Assistant status as it has given me the confidence and ability to recognise the additional input that I can bring to the classroom environment. The assessment process involved a lot of hard work but I was well supported by the school and I now have an improved knowledge of the structure and planning that goes into lessons to improve the quality of education for our pupils".

Karen joins a growing national number of more than 25,000 higher level teaching assistants who work to support teachers and pupils in extending the range of learning in and out of the classroom.

Jim Foley, Headteacher, St Thomas Aquinas said: "We are delighted that Karen has achieved HLTA status. She is the fourth to do so in our school and she exemplifies all that is best in the work of support staff throughout the education service."

Dean Boyce, HLTA Programme Leader at Best Practice Network said: "I would like to congratulate Karen on achieving HLTA and on helping us to achieve this milestone of 4,000 assessments".

Flo Butler from Birmingham Local Authority said: "The effective deployment of HLTAs has proved to be a key factor in helping to raise achievement in schools and in supporting the Every Child and Every Colleague Matters agendas. We are very fortunate to have such well trained and highly motivated teaching and support staff working in our schools."

HLTA does not cost anything for individuals or their schools. Training costs are Government-funded. Teaching Assistants can apply to follow the programme through their local authority.