Roles and responsibilities

In your work as an assistant you will be working as part of the learning support team in the school. The head teacher is responsible for all the teaching and learning which takes place in the school but delegates some of this responsibility to class teachers and the special needs coordinator (SENCO). Support arrangements vary from school to school. In large secondary schools, assistants normally are managed by the SENCO who explains roles and responsibilities in respect of particular children or groups of children. In a primary school, or special school, the SENCO may have less of a role in managing your direct work. If you work closely with one particular class teacher then he or she is likely to play a major part in guiding your day-to-day work.