Just over half of teaching assistants in schools stepped-up to manage classes on their own during the winter lockdown ensuring vulnerable and key worker children could attend lessons, according to a new study by UCL Institute of Education (IOE) researchers. The study, published by the IOE and funded by UNISON, analysed data from 9,055 teaching and classroom assistants. It gives a broad picture of how TAs contributed to the running of UK schools, what this meant for them and makes key recommendations for the future. The researchers found that 88% of TAs supported vulnerable and key worke...