The information below supplements the 2012-2013 Information booklet for foreign language assistants and their employers in the UK (pdf 1MB) which is a handbook available for you and your assistant to refer to throughout the year.

Once you have received your language assistant's dossier, please ensure that you do the following as soon as possible:

1. Make Initial Contact
Call or e-mail the assistant and inform them that you are about to send an offer letter. This will save time in replacing the assistant if they have withdrawn from the programme since the dossier was sent to you. Most assistants send their application to our partner organisation in the previous autumn.

2. Offering the Post to your Assistant
Send an offer letter informing them of the following:

			period of appointment
			allowance
			information about the school(s)
			your contact details
			term dates
			school dress code
			phone/e-mail of previous assistant, if applicable
			what they should bring.

England and Wales
We recommend that schools in England and Wales use our template standard offer letter (opens as a Word document) which you can download and amend as necessary.
The standard allowance for assistants in England and Wales in 2012-13 has been confirmed as £879 per month, for an assistant working 12 hours per week, for a minimum 8 month period.

By law, all assistants must be issued with a Statement of Employment (as with any other employee), two months after their start date at the latest. You may wish to send this to the assistant in advance.

Scotland
Local authorities and schools in Scotland are recommended to use this sample standard offer letter and sample statement of employment adapted as appropriate. Please also find the sample Code of Conduct for assistants working in Scotland.

Northern Ireland
Local authorities and schools in Northern Ireland are recommended to use this statement of employment adapted as appropriate.

Important Information
If the assistant is from Canada, China, Japan, Latin America, Oman or Russia , please ‘cc’ our office in the initial e-mail. The assistant cannot begin the visa application process until they receive an offer letter, therefore, it is vital that this is done quickly. Please include the full name of the assistant, the full name and address of your school, the period of appointment, the number of weekly hours, and the monthly allowance.

If the assistant has withdrawn, please contact us and we will try to identify a replacement for you.

3. Confirming Acceptance of the Post to the British Council
Schools in England and Wales should send the confirmation of acceptance form (ADF4) (MS Word) to us confirming their acceptance immediately. Please print out, sign and send to us following a verbal acceptance. Schools in Northern Ireland should send the ADF4 form Northern Ireland (MS Word). Local authorities and schools in Scotland should return the Acceptance Slip to British Council Scotland.

4. End of Year Report on your Assistant
Schools in England and Wales should complete one online FLA report on each of their 2011-12 assistants. This is available by clicking on the link above. If you are unable to access the online report, please contact assistants.london@britishcouncil.org and we will provide you with a MS Word version.

Schools in Northern Ireland should complete the report on FLAs employed in Northern Ireland (MS Word).

Schools in Scotland should complete one report for every assistant in their school. This report will be sent out electronically using an online system towards the end of the academic year.

Under the Data Protection Act (1998) which came into force on 1 March 2000, assistants may request to see a copy of this report.