Over recent decades there has been pressure on schools and teachers, in England, to transform teachers' working practice by advocating an improved role for teaching assistants. In reforming the workforce, the government also intended to support schools in building the momentum for change, whilst raising standards of pupil achievement and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. After briefly outlining national policy the paper describes the collaboration between Roehampton University, London, and Surrey 4S regarding a three-year training and research project to investigate different models of effective practice between teachers and teaching assistants. The project is supported by the European Social Fund and named "New Partnerships for Learning". The paper focuses on the first two years and reports on the relationships between teachers and teaching assistants, linking the findings from the research to that reported in the literature and analysing the similarities and differences. The research has implications for teachers and leaders in schools regarding the personal skills and attributes required to enhance an effective professional relationship. It also has significance for the development of training programmes arising from the changing nature of the relationship. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)