Working at MacIntyre - a case study
Learning Support Assistant (Teaching Assistant)
What’s it like being a Learning Support Assistant at MacIntyre’s school in Wingrave near Aylesbury? Well we asked Kirsty, who joined us in September 2024 to tell us her experience, and how she’s found her first year.
What did you do before joining MacIntyre?
Well how long have you got? I’ve been in retail and in e-commerce. I worked at Argos head office on production of their famous catalogues. I’m a qualified beauty therapist and at one point I had my own business. Lots of things. And of course I have the big job of being mum to my two lovely children!
So what made you think about being a teaching assistant?
I stumbled across MacIntyre’s advert, and there was something about the way it was worded that made me think ‘I can do this’. Although I’d never worked in education before, the advert referred to transferable skills, especially around building relationships. I realised it could be a great fit. Partly of course because it’s a term-time role which suits my family commitments, and partly because I knew I would get the training I needed to grow into the role. So I went ahead and I’m so glad I did.
What training have you had so far?
Of course all the normal practical day-to-day things you would expect like manual handling, safe medication, fire safety, epilepsy awareness etc. But there’s a lot of training around positive behaviour support, we’ve done play therapy training (which was great fun), and I’m finding our approach using Intensive Interaction hugely helpful.
The children and young people at our School can find it difficult to express themselves. Most are Autistic and all have severe learning difficulties. Some are non-verbal, so what we learn around the importance of body language and giving children time and space is really helpful.”
People sometimes shy away from the thought of working with children who have disabilities. What would you say to this?
It can be challenging, but also really rewarding. When young people can’t express themselves, they get frustrated. Occasionally this can mean they will be physically challenging, will push and shove. Sometimes my friends ask me why I do the job, but this is only a small part of it. The ability to build relationships with children, to get to know them and help them learn is incredible. To know you’re making an impact which will last throughout someone’s life.
The techniques I’ve learned help me in my personal life as well, with my own children and other relationships. There’s something about using calm body language and giving people space to express themselves that removes the need for conflict.”
So what would a typical day look like for you?
Our days vary a lot and aren’t always in the classroom. Each child gets a lot of individual attention. We would typically have around six children in a class, supported by a qualified Teacher, a Senior Learning Support Assistant, and a team of about five Learning Support Assistants.
We start at 8 am, sometimes going to the residential homes on site to help children get ready for school, sometimes preparing the classroom.
We have a variety of group and single activities, tailored to each young person’s individual curriculum. Although a lot of the activities may appear to be play, they all support education. A good example of this is Lego, which really helps build fine motor skills. Puzzles and other problem-solving games are often on the agenda. It’s vital to keep young people safe, so we find appropriate ways to approach relationships and sex education, including online safety.
But as I mentioned we’re not always in the classroom, and a lot of learning takes place in the community. Sometimes this involved physical activities such as swimming, or ways of learning social interactions, such as shopping. We’re in a rural village in the middle of the countryside, and the children learn a lot about nature.
Excitingly, some young people are doing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, and others volunteer in the community, for example at the local Church. We also work with the organisation Horses Helping People, where young people can build confidence and develop self-awareness by observing the reactions of the horses. Keeping the stables clean and caring for the horses builds responsibility.
The school day ends at 3 pm, and the staff team then spends time reviewing the day, clearing up the classroom, and making plans for the next day. Our shift end times vary from day to day but on average we go home at 4.15 pm.”
What do you enjoy most about the job?
Working with the children. Seeing them grow and develop. Building relationships with them. And I have a brilliant bunch of colleagues. We work closely together, we understand each other and we learn from each other. It’s great to be able to call on expertise on site, for example from our specialist therapy team. We are all working with the same end in mind: to give every single child the very best education, ready for their adult lives.
What would you say to someone thinking of this career
Try it! You won’t know until you try. You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain. You don’t need experience, you’ll get training and opportunities to advance. OK it’s true this job doesn’t suit everyone, but if it does, you’ll be like me, wishing you’d done it years ago.
Thanks to Kirsty for this wonderful insight into her work.
A word from our Head of Education
To finish we asked Catherine Clifford, Head of Education at the School, what she would say about the role of a Learning Support Assistant.
I would start by reflecting on the job title. Usually, people in these roles are called Teaching Assistants. We wanted the job title to reflect a more mutual learning process than a top-down teaching approach. It’s a small distinction, but our best Learning Support Assistants do exactly what the job title implies: they support young people to make their own discoveries in the learning process.
And I must say that our LSAs are in many ways the backbone of our School. They provide space and security for children, most of whom live away from their family homes, to develop relationships and social skills as part of their education.
A career at MacIntyre
If this has made you consider a role as a Learning Support Assistant, go to our current advertisement or call our central recruitment team on 01908 357016 to find out more.
If this role isn't your cup of tea or you don't live near enough, you can find out all about working at MacIntyre on our Careers page.
