ABSTRACT
Support staff may be called by different names in different authorities: teaching assistants (TAs), and special support assistants. Their role is to help teachers and to work with other professionals such as speech and language therapists and parents to support children's learning. The relationship between teacher and TA is important to get right, but not always easy. Whatever the TA's educational training and experience, the arts, especially music lessons, present certain challenges. However confident they feel, TAs will need guidance from the teacher about their role in the music lesson and the ways in which they can support pupils. TAs should be aware that music does not have specific goals as such. Music lessons should be voyages of discovery, with a general aim. With pupils on the autistic spectrum assistants have possibly the hardest job of all of them, and possibly the fun. As inclusion becomes a reality in schools, some support staff may be permanently attached to their charges.
