Teaching Assistant

[carmen66]

Hi,I'm a sahm I havent worked for nearly 8 years now since having my child.. I would really be interested in training as a TA in London but really don't have a clue where to start. I'm also in my 40's so a bit older I visited my local college last year but the advisor wasn't atall helpful & kind of tried to steered me away from working with children she kept going on about going into accounts for some reason..

Could anybody give me advice please as to where to start? are there any open universitys that you can recommend, which qualifications do I need to work in a primary school & how do I go about working voluntary at a school.. I would really appreciate being steered in the right direction .. I appreciate that ta jobs are in high demand but it's a job that I would love to do thankyou

[Misfitless]

Hi Carmen

I'm due to qualify as a Level 2 TA in June this year.

If the college you visited last year is the the one you want to go to, I'd go along to another open day or phone up and ask to be put through to one of the tutors/course leader for TAs, and speak with them directly.

At my college, the TA courses are really popular, perhaps the advisor had been asked to try and steer potential students onto the less popular courses.

I have done my course part time one evening a week, and have spent one full day a week in school, since I started in September.

Good luck. Let me know if I can help at all with any more information.

PS - We all have had to arrange our own placements, but nobody on my course had any trouble finding a school.

[carmen66]

Hi Misfitless
thankyou for your reply, is level 2 what most primary schools accept? would you then move onto level 3? did you phone around all your local schools for a placement?

[Misfitless]

Hi Carmen.

I think a lot of schools are looking for a Level 2 qualification, but you do see some vacancies for Level 3 TAs too. Someone in my school is employed as a HLTA (Higher Level) and stands in for the teacher when he's on courses.

There is a Level 3 course running along side the Level 2 course, but I chose the Level 2 course because Level 3 would have cost me over £1000 . You should check this out, it might be free for some people, others chose to get a student loan, I think.

Yes, I phoned the school my children are at, and they agreed that I could go in there one day a week. The class teacher is my mentor, and I love it.

About half the people on my course are at the school where they have children. You're not allowed to be in the class where your own child is, of course. If you have an idea of which age group you would prefer to work with on qualifying, try and get some experience in that age group.

A few people on my course spend half the day in reception/Y1, and the other half in a KS2 class. When they start applying for jobs, it will put them in a really good position, I think.

On my placement, there was only one class I could work in, so my experience is not as varied as most.

Don't worry about phoning up the schools, they will be grateful for an extra pair of hands, especially someone who's working towards a qualification, I'm sure.

[Misfitless]

Forgot to mention, most of the people on my course are aged between 35-50 . There is one lady aged 25, but the other younger ones dropped out. Hope that makes you feel a bit better. Good luck with it, Happy to answer any more questions x I'm PM-ing you now.

[carmen66]

Hi Missfitless, I have pm'd you :)