Helping you find a career in the learning support assistant industry
Learning support assistants (or learning assistant) help children in the classroom to get the most out of their education. As a learning support assistant you may be there to help in a particularly large class, but most of the time this role exists to provide 1:1 support for a young person with special educational needs (SEN). Sometimes this role is referred to as a special needs teaching assistant.
There are a variety of reasons that a young person may need extra support in a classroom. They may have a disability, health issues, behavioral issues or difficult external circumstances that make classroom learning more channeling. A learning support assistant provides extra care to help with these disruptions.
More generally, learning support assistants may also help the teacher with maintaining a good classroom environment by putting up displays, tidying up, or even helping smooth over a disagreement between students.
To be a good learning support assistant you must be empathetic and sensitive to the additional challenges that a young person may be facing that affects their learning. At the same time, you must be fair and able to be stern when necessary.