Why have I been asked to complete this survey?
Your school is seeking to improve the use of its valuable teaching assistants. As a first step in this process, it is important to know how things are currently, so all teaching and TA staff in your school are being asked for their views. This survey is not about finding out how well you do your job. It is designed to provide a picture of existing practice, and to identify what works well and which areas may need improvement. Please use this anonymous survey to have your say on how TAs are used in your school.
Who developed the survey?
The survey has been developed by the Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants (MITA) team, who support schools to make best use of its TAs. The questions have been developed and field-tested over several years, and proven to provide schools with useful information on which to positively develop the role of TAs. A version of this survey is contained within the TA Deployment Review Guide, which is downloadable from nasen's SEND Gateway.
I'm a member of support staff, but I have a different job title. Should I complete the survey?
For the purposes of this survey, we use the term 'teaching assistant' to cover similar support roles, such as learning support assistant, classroom assistant, special needs assistant and higher level TA. We also include within this definition cover supervisors and early years practitioners (e.g. nursery nurses), even though they are slightly different roles. This is simply to make the process of data collection and analysis more straightforward.
Will anyone be able to identify me by the answers I give?
No. Responses are collated together and anonymised. This way, no one will be able to match up responses to individuals. In fact, the survey does not even ask for your name. We hope this will encourage you to be open and honest when responding to the questions.
How long will the survey take to complete?
It should take about 5 minutes to complete the survey. In most cases, you will be presented with a set of short statements or options and asked to tick the one that best matches your own experience or view.
What if the options do not fit with my own experiences?
There are a limited number of options for each question, so it is possible some will not fit exactly with your own experiences - but that's OK. Just select the option that fits best for you. If you want to say a bit more about your circumstances, experiences or views on a particular question or issue, there is a space at the end for you to make additional comments.
What will happen to my responses?
Your survey responses will be securely stored and will not be shared with anyone or used for any other purpose without the permission of the survey administrator at your school. Once again, your identify is protected, as the survey does not ask for your name.
How can I find out more about the survey?
In the first instance, please refer any questions about the survey to your survey administrator. This will be the person in your school who emailed you the survey link.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.