Language Assistants

Uk schools and authorities

What is a Foreign Language Assistant?

Why employ an assistant?

How much will it cost?

Chinese Language Assistants FAQs

How to apply

Contacting your assistant and other essential admin

Making the best use of your assistant

How to help your assistant with money matters

MAKING THE BEST USE OF YOUR ASSISTANT

Guides and links to help you and your assistant

If you would like advice and ideas on how best to support your assistant look no further.  Here you can access a series of resources to ensure that you and your assistant get the most out of their time spent in your school and the UK.

USEFUL GUIDES
We recommend you download our guide to making the best use of your foreign language assistant (Word-Read Only). We have also made some suggestions to assistants as to what they should do during their first week in school.

FLAs Online is our website designed especially for Foreign Language Assistants to give them online support and advice.

Making sure your assistant settles in comfortably goes beyond school hours.  To help them adjust to life in the UK you will need to ensure they understand the complexities of financial issues in the UK including National Insurance, income tax and Council Tax. Our mentor teacher’s guide to money matters should help you understand what to tell them.

The Primary FLA Starter Pack is full of activities and resources for mentor teachers and FLAs working with primary children.

USEFUL LINKS
The following are useful sources of reference for assistants and employing schools: -

FLAs Online is the online pedagogic support for language assistants from all countries.

Quelque Renseignements a l'intention des Assistants Francais au Royaume Uni is available on the French Embassy website to help French language assistants.

STEPS website contains practical information and advice for German language assistants prepared by the Goethe-Institut.

CILT Pathfinder series – Foreign Language Assistants: A Guide to Good Practice. David Rowles, Marian Carty, Anneli McLachlan, £8.00 is available from CILT and Comenius Centres.

INDUCTION COURSES
Most assistants are invited by the Local Education Authority or Library Board to participate in an induction course. There are also some courses arranged by various cultural institutes. Please encourage your assistant to attend as many courses as possible in order to build up a network of contacts.

If your assistant has not received an invitation to a local induction course, contact your local authority to see if anything has been arranged. Assistants at independent schools can sometimes attend these courses at a small cost. Find out more about the courses arranged by the cultural institutes.