Samantha Reissland

Classroom Assistant and Learning Mentor, London Borough of Croydon

Samantha has worked in Parish Church (CE) Junior School, Croydon for six successful years. She has blossomed from someone brand new to TA work to a most capable and adaptable member of the school workforce. She has shown that an interested mum who initially supported the school by coming in to hear readers can be transformed. Supporting a statemented autistic child, Samantha patiently and skillfully integrated a withdrawn and reluctant learner into a pupil who was confident and had high self esteem. Learning and discovering what working with an autistic pupil means, Samantha has made a real impact on inclusion in our school helping both staff and pupils to understand more about autism. Samantha is now working with the parent of this boy to plan and run workshops for other families in Croydon with autistic children, whilst developing her skills as a Learning Mentor.