Who is this template for?
This template is designed for all Teaching Assistants, Learning Support Assistants, and other classroom-based support staff in England. It provides a clear and supportive framework to guide professional reflection, prepare for appraisal conversations, and plan for meaningful continuing professional development (CPD).
Why use this template?
Using this template helps to raise the professional standing of Teaching Assistants, positioning your role within a community of professionals working together to improve outcomes for children. It enables you to:
- Take Ownership of Your Development: Empowers you to lead your own performance management through structured, meaningful reflection against the national standards that define your professional role.
- Raise Your Professional Profile: Demonstrates a commitment to high standards and professional growth, helping to clarify your role and ensure your skills and expertise are used to the best effect.
- Focus Your Professional Development: Helps you to accurately self-evaluate your practice, identify relevant training needs, and build a targeted, actionable plan for your CPD.
- Facilitate Meaningful Dialogue: Creates a rich, evidence-based foundation for productive appraisal conversations with your line manager or appraiser, focusing dialogue on impact, development, and support.
- Organise Evidence Efficiently: Acts as a single, organised repository for your reflections and evidence, saving you time and reducing the administrative burden of preparing for performance reviews.
- Translate Reflection into Action: Guides you through the iAbacus process to turn insights from your self-evaluation directly into a plan that supports both your growth and the pupils you work with.
How does it work?
This template uses the standard, intuitive iAbacus process: make a judgement on your performance, verify it against the criteria, provide supporting evidence, analyse the factors helping and hindering your progress, and build a targeted action plan.
The evaluation is structured across the four key themes of the Professional Standards:
- Personal and Professional Conduct
- Knowledge and Understanding
- Teaching and Learning
- Working with Others
Gaining Strategic Insight
For school leaders, this template offers powerful strategic oversight. A Headteacher can use the iAbacus 'Overlay' feature to view the self-evaluation abacuses from all teaching assistants in the school. This provides an instant overview of strengths across the support staff team, highlighting best practice and effective strategies that can be shared. It also helps leaders to identify common challenges, allowing them to plan targeted CPD and provide tailored support where it's needed most.
Clear, Professional Reporting
With a single click, iAbacus generates a polished, professional PDF report from this template. It provides a rich, organised summary of a teaching assistant's self-reflection, evidence, and planning, making it the ideal document to share with a line manager or appraiser. This facilitates a meaningful and supportive professional dialogue during a performance management review, ensuring conversations are focused, evidence-informed, and developmental.
References / Source Material
How to Get Started
New to iAbacus? Discover how this template can support your improvement strategy. Book a personalised demo or start a free trial to explore the full platform. Visit www.iAbacus.com to learn more.
Already a subscriber? You can find this template in the template library within your iAbacus account. Simply log in, create a new abacus, and select it from the list to get started.
