Strategic TA Deployment Planner - Free SEN Resource

The Strategic TA Deployment Planner is a practical, evidence-informed toolkit designed to help schools plan, monitor and evaluate the deployment of Teaching Assistants (TAs) in a way that genuinely improves outcomes for pupils with SEND. Spanning 27 pages, the planner is grounded in the Education Endowment Foundation's landmark guidance Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants (2021) and is structured around the EEF's seven key recommendations for maximising TA impact. It includes six core components: a Weekly Deployment Planner, a Termly Strategic Overview, an EEF Evidence Summary, Student Profile cards, an Intervention Tracker, and a TA Self-Reflection and CPD Log. Together, these tools support schools to move away from reactive, ad hoc TA use towards proactive, planned deployment that is explicitly linked to EHCP outcomes and measurable pupil targets.

This resource is designed for SENCOs, SEN leaders, and school leaders responsible for managing TA deployment in English primary and secondary schools. It is equally valuable for class teachers who work alongside TAs on a daily basis, and for TAs themselves — particularly the self-reflection and CPD log, which is intended for half-termly completion with a line manager. Schools preparing for Ofsted inspection, reviewing their SEND provision, or seeking to improve the impact of their TA budget will find this planner especially useful for the 2025–26 academic year.

The planner is designed to be a living document used throughout the school year rather than completed once and filed away. At the start of each term, the SENCO completes the Termly Overview and Student Profile cards, ensuring all TAs who work with a pupil have access to their EHCP targets and intervention programmes before the term begins. Each week, the Weekly Deployment Planner is completed in advance — a practical tool for scheduling TA activity session by session, RAG rating each slot and linking it directly to EHCP outcomes. The Intervention Tracker runs alongside this, capturing session-by-session fidelity, attendance and pupil response, with built-in mid-cycle and end-of-cycle review prompts. Every half-term, TAs complete the Self-Reflection and CPD Log with their line manager to celebrate strengths, identify development areas and record professional learning. Used consistently, the planner provides schools with a clear, auditable record of strategic, proactive TA deployment — and strong evidence that SEND provision is having measurable impact.