Teaching assistants
Mercia Partnership has added N.V.Q. Teaching Assistants Level 2 to its suite of qualifications. This award helps acknowledge the important work undertaken by Teaching Assistants in primary education.
We have actively promoted this programme across the region as part of our Train to Gain initiative, which helps learners achieve their first level 2 qualifications. We are now accepting high quality work from learners performing this vital support role. The Teaching Assistants at Woodlands School, Skelmersdale, for example, have made excellent early progress and are already talking about progressing to level 3! With the help of the teachers, Mercia assessors have identified a variety of evidence opportunities, which the T.A.s had regarded as, ‘just part of the job’. Well, now, we can make sure they can receive recognition for doing that job and achieve a valuable qualification at the same time.
Many of the T.A.s on the programme are taking advantage of the Skills for Life qualifications Mercia can offer. By improving their own numeracy and literacy skills, the T.A.s are finding that they can engage with the pupils more confidently and support teachers in delivering the syllabus more effectively. They also know that they can depend on the support of one of the highest achieving providers of adult Skills for Life training in the North West. As one T.A. said, ‘I was a little bit wary of the course at first as I hadn’t done anything like it since school. However, the tutors put me at ease, answering all of the questions I had.’
