Send warning as 67% of teaching assistants covering classes for teachers

NEARLY two in five school support staff have covered classes in place of teachers, a Unison report says.

The figure rises to two in three for teaching assistants, according to a survey of more than 8,000 support staff in England.

The union warned of the impacts on the government’s special educational needs & disabilities (Send) plans in its Covering the Gaps report published today.

Unison head of education Mike Short warned that children and young people are losing out as a result of support staff being used to plug classroom staffing gaps.