This information supplements the Notes for Schools and Colleges (England/Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland) which we send to you with the dossier of your assistant. If you require further copies, please contact us.

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

1. 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 This will save time in replacing the assistant if they have withdrawn from the programme since the dossier was sent to you.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. 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.

We recommend that schools in England and Wales use our standard offer letter (MS Word) which you can download and amend as necessary.

By law, all assistants must be issued with a Statement of Employment (MS Word) (contract) 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.

If the assistant is from Canada, China, Latin America or Senegal, please ‘cc’ our office in the initial e-mail. This will help speed up the process for obtaining their visa. Please include the full name of the assistant and the name and address of your school.

If the assistant has withdrawn, please contact us and we will try to identify a replacement for you.

Local authorities and schools in Scotland are recommended to use this standard offer letter and statement of employment adapted as appropriate.

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

3. 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 confirmation of acceptance form for FLAs in Northern Ireland (MS Word). Schools in Scotland should return the Acceptance Slip.

4. Schools in England and Wales should also send a report on last year's assistant (MS Word) if applicable to our office. Under the Data Protection Act (1998) which came into force on 1 March 2000, assistants may request to see a copy of this report. Schools in Northern Ireland should complete the report on FLAs employed in Northern Ireland (MS Word). Schools in Scotland should complete the report on FLAs employed in Scotland and return via the Local Authority.