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One-to-one paras are not personal assistants

Date: October 7th, 2015
By: Polly Bath

Polly Bath: The idea behind an accommodation of a one-to-one para is probably one of the most devastating recommendations that I ever see. A one-to-one is a great idea to get you out of a very difficult situation, to get you back into a safety zone, to help you. Again, if you have medical reasons for one-to-one, that’s a totally different story.

As soon as you’re hired to be a one-to-one para, I tell all my paras, “Your goal is to teach that child the skills they need so they don’t need you anymore.” That should be essentially your job when you step into the one-to-one para position. Otherwise, we are setting this kid up to have a personal assistant.