The national occupational standards (NOS) for supporting teaching and learning in schools were developed in 2006 following the review of the teaching and classroom assistant national occupational standards. They were approved in 2007 and the name of the standards was changed to reflect their greater scope.
As well as the traditional teaching assistant role, the standards cover key activities carried out by those supporting teaching and learning in schools under most of the circumstances they are likely to encounter.
There are units that will be suitable for a range of roles such as:
- teaching assistants
- cover supervision
- pastoral support
- bilingual support
- subject support
- special educational needs and additional support.
The NOS support transfer and progression across the children’s workforce by including units imported from other NOS developed for other parts of the children’s workforce where the functions are the same. The summary on the front page of each unit will help you contextualise the unit for the roles.
The NOS for STL do not directly reference current policy and initiatives; this is because they must apply to all the home countries and remain fit-for-purpose as things change over time. The standards reflect the six themes of the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce.
The NOS assist school leaders and support staff with performing their day-to-day activities effectively, including carrying out skills reviews, writing job decriptions, performance appraisals and CPD planning.
Online guidance has been designed to help school leaders and support staff line managers use the standards to support a range of training and development activities.
A booklet has been developed to compliment the online guidance and explain how school leaders can use the standards to manage the different stages of support staff recruitment, development and progression more effectively.
The booklet also contains a summary of the standards and a pull out wall chart which allows school leaders and support staff to view the standards quickly and easily, by occupational role.
A poster has been developed to promote the value and impact of NOS and how they can help school leaders develop the capacity and capability of the whole school team.
The booklet, wall chart and poster can be downloaded or ordered through the TDA publications library or by calling the TDA publication line 0845 6060 323 quoting:
- Booklet – TDA0563 (Please note the booklet contains the pull out wall chart)
- Wall chart – TDA0563A
- Poster – TDA0577
