Higher Level Teaching Assistant status celebrated at annual event
Published Wednesday 13th July 2011
The annual celebration event for teaching assistants in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire schools was held recently at The University of Northampton.
The event celebrated teaching assistants who have gained HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) status in the previous 12 months.
For the new HLTAs and their guests, this was an opportunity to celebrate their achievements and all of the hard work that the candidates had put in to gain the status. It was fitting that so many of them were accompanied by family members or school leaders who had supported them throughout the process. Everyone was very positive about the experience and enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with friends and the HLTA trainers who had prepared them for their assessments.
Ken Bland, HLTA Programme Leader, School of Education, spoke about the achievements of HLTAs in both counties and gave certificates to the successful candidates.
The final and most important consequence is that we have created a flexible, professional body of staff who are all capable of working individually and in concert for the greater good of the children in this school.
I hope they feel that they are important to the school and that they are valued as co-professionals, working unstintingly in that cause. Nobody here is doing a job. Everybody is serving others and I for one would not wish it to go back to being any other way.
Kryss Durling, Head Teacher of Park Junior School, Kettering, Northamptonshire
Altogether 175 teaching assistants have gained HLTA status in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire in the 12 months to May 2011, having been supported in the process by 152 different schools and study centres. Since 2003, when HLTA was introduced, 1,233 teaching assistants have gained the status in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. Nationally the figure stands at over 38,000. These HLTAs are working across all phases of the curriculum, in primary, secondary and special schools, enhancing the educational experience of hundreds of children.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the HLTA status should contact Emma Stephenson on 01604 893527 or at hlta@northampton.ac.uk.