Celebrating Teacher Assistants

The Little Gnome who had to Stay Home

Our Early Childhood and Primary staff are using GLO and Zoom in innovative and creative ways and for appropriate amounts of time for each age group. From Little Kindy to Class 6, children and their teachers are connecting and learning over the internet. Catherine Pilko, our Senior Teacher at Castlecrag Campus, told her Little Kindergarten class the story of “The Little Gnome Who Had to Stay Home” on a zoom session last week. Written by Susan Perrow in the early days of the pandemic, Catherine has now added her own special touch – a magical ‘glowing window’ where our friend the gnome, can find his friends even though he has to stay home. I commend the story to you as a soul-filling reminder of the warmth and connection that lives (with the elephant) in our zoom rooms.  We thought it time to recognise the unsung heroes of our school – Teacher Assistants.

Lynne Clifton, Michelle Cabena, Kathy Thangathurai and students at Middle Cove during lockdown period

Teacher Assistants play a vital role at Glenaeon. They are a huge support to our incredible teachers. Getting classrooms ready for lessons, arranging materials, equipment and supplies. Tidying up and clearing away after practical learning.

But there is also the interaction that occurs – supporting teachers by working intuitively, and a capacity to provide pastoral care and support to students through relationships built on trust. This support means that students are listened to, are supervised closely, better understood individually and helped to learn and overcome any learning challenges or difficulties. They are working hard either in the classroom or behind the scenes.

The Assistant is able to provide another layer of support, supervision, and look after anyone who may be upset, or needing an extra bit of encouragement or attention.

They take a load off the teacher in terms of class administration to ensure things runs smoothly, giving the students the best learning experience possible.

At Glenaeon, we have 13 Teacher Assistants on staff and in this edition of AEON we want to say thank you, in recognition of their wonderful contribution to school life.

Our thanks to: » Andrey Tregubov » Angela Bacot » Edgar Maier » Elizabeth Cooper » Grace Aloisio » Kathy Thangathurai » Linda Peter » Melanie Harper » Merryn Hamilton » Michelle Cabena » Michelle Chambers » Monique Anderson » Zac Stanning

Michelle Cabena and Cosmo

“I began working as a full time Class Assistant at Glenaeon in 2019. In 2021 I shared my time equally between Class 3 (Lucy Armstrong) and Class 4 (Roger Richards) providing in-class learning support, general support to the class teachers and I was lucky to provide supervision of children coming to school during our remote learning period. Children in Class 3 & 4 are experiencing a shift from childhood to individuality and it’s delightful to be able to provide support at this time in a child’s educational journey in a myriad of ways, from helping with reading, writing and maths, to play costumes, bandages, craft and playground politics and much more. The Steiner Curriculum meets each child in a different way, and as a Class

Assistant, I’m privileged to see how this happens every day. What I enjoy most is working with class teachers and the students who need an extra helping hand and its particularly rewarding to help Class 3 children continue on their reading journey." 