Life as a Lead LSA - Emma M

What is your favourite part of being a Lead LSA?

My favourite thing about being a Lead LSA is working with a close-knit staff team and making a real difference to the confidence and independence levels of young adults with additional needs. I know that I am making a real impact in someone’s life and this in turn motivates me to do the best I can. I also love getting to know all the students, and all of them make me smile each and every day.

What does an average day in your life look like?

An average day can vary according to the lessons. However, my morning usually begins by going through emails and helping the tutor as needed to prepare any resources for the session. Then, it is about greeting the students as they arrive and helping them get settled and ready for the day. This can involve checking their communication books from family/carers to see what they have done the evening before and informing the team of any relevant information. It also involves talking to the students and encouraging them to explore their thoughts and feelings.

The tutor then assigns you a student or small group of students to work with and you help them with any class work as well as to meet personal development and Maths/English targets for a session. The support offered at QAC is individualised and in Step Out we have students for instance who need communication boards and small chunks of information along with lots of movement/sensory breaks. We also support students who have a greater level of independence, so they require occasional verbal prompts and maybe a visual aid to help them stay on track, they may also benefit from staff support to motivate them and keep them focused.

The lessons vary and the focus in Step Out is to develop their independent living skills so I could be supporting students in cooking making a cheese and potato pie, then going to the shops with them and buying items they need for home and then in the afternoon supporting them with their bed making skills and applying for work experience opportunities.

As a lead LSA, I also act as a personal tutor for a small number of students. This means I help them with pastoral support and take the lead in helping them gain work experience opportunities and planning for their transition out of college. This may mean daily catch-ups with my tutees to discuss how they are getting on.

One of my duties as a Lead LSA is also to support the LSAs along with the tutor within the team to make sure they are confident in supporting students and also dealing with any class administration duties such as logging targets. Once the students have gone home at the end of the day I sit with the team, and we discuss how the day has gone and then we each focus on different administration tasks and prepare for the following day. Other activities at the end of the day (besides having a cup of tea) can include attending department meetings, going to training sessions or performing duties as part of my staff mental health first aider role.

What is your best memory while working at QAC?

My best memory while working at QAC was when I helped organise a talent show called QAFactor. This was when I worked in the Health and Social Care department. It was lovely seeing all the students get up and sing, dance or play an instrument.  One year we even had a Simon Cowell look-alike attend which really surprised the students. Our talent show is still a regular fixture in the QAC calendar, and I look forward every year to helping judge the overall winner along with other staff members.

If you are interested in becoming a Lead LSA, register your interest via the following link to allow us to contact you when a role comes along: https://qac.pinpointhq.com/register-your-interest/new