Support staff working smarter

They can be undervalued, overlooked and made to feel like glorified babysitters. But Rose Northcott says support staff are keen to prove their worth.


A new report is out that shows how schools can work “smarter” with support staff to boost student learning and deliver greater job satisfaction.
Numbering well over 20,000 across 2477 state schools, support staff account for almost one third of the school workforce and cost about $400 million annually.
Their numbers and the diversity of their work have increased hugely in recent years for reasons including the Special Education 2000 policy, the need for more sophisticated data management, the broadening of the curriculum, and increased emphasis on pastoral care of students.
This growing need for non-teaching staff in schools is putting pressure on stretched operational budgets and has motivated the education sector to find ways of improving support staff productivity.
This work is being led by the Support Staff Workforce Working Group, set up in 2009 and made up of representatives from NZEI, New Zealand School Trustees Association and the Ministry of Education.

Integrated systems
Their new report School Support Staff – Collectively Making Resources Count provides in-depth information about school practices and management of support staff, including interviews with principal and support staff and best practice case studies.
It reveals schools that are optimising the effectiveness and efficiency of support staff – teacher aides, librarians, administrators, IT support people – have integrated them into school systems. Their support staff are focused on student learning, and schools have management processes and systems that support the contribution and professional development of support staff.
The report found that the overwhelming majority of support staff love their jobs, despite the drawbacks. The major source of job satisfaction is their sense of pleasure in working with young people and contributing to their learning, which means they are highly motivated to make a difference in their schools.
Drawbacks cited included the lack of professional development and career progression, and not being kept well informed (pay and conditions and job security are outside the Working Group’s terms of reference).
Support staff also said they don’t always feel appropriately valued within their schools – they can feel like outsiders in an “us/them” culture. 
“How much I help is entirely up to how individual teachers wish to use their teacher aide time. I have a couple of classes where students are most definitely helped … but the majority of my time is merely a babysitting role,” said one respondent.

Best practice
One school that has overcome these drawbacks is Te Kura Maori o Nga Tapuwae, an Auckland Kura-a-Iwi that has designed support staff roles carefully, recruited well, and developed clear systems for induction, performance appraisal and professional development. 
Led from the top, Te Kura Maori o Nga Tapuwae has developed a culture where support staff are an integral part of the team. They are expected to attend all school meetings, and all kaiarahi i te reo (Maori language specialists) are expected to do teaching and learning professional development.
“Our approach provides a seamless education for everyone,” explains Principal Arihia Stirling. “All staff sing from the same song and this helps the children learn better.
“The most important part of using support staff effectively is the way they are involved in classroom programmes and how teachers communicate with them,” says Arihia. 
Lauren Pompey, previously a kaiarahi i te reo - support staff and now Arihia’s Personal Assistant, says kaiarahi i te reo are an integral part of the school environment.
“You are integrated into the whole learning and structure of the school. Support staff meet with the teachers weekly to find out what’s coming up and go through their support plan for the week.
“The way support staff are treated absolutely helps with career development,” says Lauren. “Many of our support staff are highly qualified and eventually go on and train as teachers.”



When 3-to-1 is better than 1-to-1
Several years ago in response to a new high needs child entering the school, Kapanui School in Waikanae decided that instead of assigning one teacher aide to one child, it would share the responsibility amongst two or three throughout the day.
“It has been very positive and beneficial to both the students and the teacher aides,” says SENCO Heather Randall. “We find the children are engaged for longer periods. Different teacher aides have different strengths and the child benefits. The change of personnel can also diffuse potentially charged situations.”
Kapanui teacher Aides Carol McCaffrey and Rosina Va’a say sharing a child gives them more variety and job satisfaction and also reduces the stress of working one-on-one with a high needs child.
Rosina, who has been at the school for 16 years, finds the new system a much better way of working. “If a teacher aide is away there is no panic as we all know the child and they know us. It also reduces the child’s dependence on one person, which could be a problem in the past.”
Teacher aides at Kapanui are involved in problem-solving, something that Carol McCaffrey says makes them feel valued and improves their efficiency.
One example is the Yellow Card System, described by Heather Randall as “real number 8 wire fencing stuff”.
It came about because teacher aides were feeling frustrated that sometimes they would turn up to a class and the teacher and children wouldn’t be there and they could spend a lot of time trying to find the class and what they should be doing.
Now when a teacher aide has unexpected time available they get a Yellow Card from the staff room, go to the classroom and work with the child. The card has a specific learning intention for the child, and a box in the classroom has all the information and resources they need.
“It means that rather than wondering what to do, or tidying up the book room, the teacher aid is giving support to a student who may not get it otherwise,” says Heather.

Read the report, and related resources, online at http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Managing-your-school/School-support-staff.

Key points
Support staff can feel under-used and under-valued.
But they are also highly motivated to make a difference.
A new report shows how schools can improve support staff jobs and school productivity.