Any teaching assistants to do a AMA?

[31weeksgone]

Thinking of leaving nursing job to be teaching assistant, better hours, school holidays etc?

Anyone any experience of the good/bad etc

Thanks

I only started this half term working in a school for disabled children. I'm loving it even though the money is awful.

13 years. About to go back after maternity leave. Please feel free to send any questions over.

15 years here. What do you want to know?

The money isn’t great but doesn’t seem to be any different to a band 4 in a hospital.

Can you work your way up career wise? Any where for you to go, teaching etc?

Is it lovely just sat in classrooms helping kids? No real other responsibilities?

Honestly I think I’m fantasising it in my head.

Do you get paid for the holidays, yearly salary? Thanks again both

11 years TA (4 in behavioural school) and 2 as anew eyfs practitioner

Also qualifications? What should you have? :)

Can you work your way up career wise? Any where for you to go, teaching etc?

You can work your way up to HLTA and many I have seen go on to be teachers too.

Is it lovely just sat in classrooms helping kids? No real other responsibilities?

it's really not just helping kids. Lots of other responsibilities including much admin. There are lots of job descriptions online for you to take a look at.

Most schools in my area require nvq3.

Nhs band 4 looks significantly more. You need to pro rata any advertised salary - you won't get paid lunch but will have to take 30 minutes (mostly you get about 20) and you get 4 weeks paid holiday, the rest unpaid although your pay is split into 12 pay packets.

I'm on a band 8 for my LEA - this is unusually high and reflects my experience and qualifications. I take home £1100 a month. 30.5 hours but as I said unpaid lunch. All the TAs in our school are pretty well looked after but still give an average 30 minutes a day unpaid.

They like you to have English maths and ICT but you can redo these as functional skills upto level 2 standard. Level 2 in supporting teaching and learning is widely accepted and is easy to achieve while volunteering or in your first position. This can be increased to level 3 especially if you want to work in early years.

You also get punched, kicked, scratched, spat at. They cough in your face (a child sneezed in my mouth last week).

You have to do lesson planning, interventions, inset days and you will probably never see any of your child's school shows and assemblies.

It's exhausting, upsetting (some of the child protection stuff is horrendous) and I bloody love it. I've resigned myself to having a shit salary forever.

I didn’t really think it was just sat next to a child, but in terms of planning lessons or organising things, I’m not sure where it comes, will look into it.

Ok so look at the advertised yearly wage, and split into 12 as normal, ok

Thanks for all your answers, they have helped.

I’ve got a level 2 nvq in children’s learning and development I haven’t used in years, and a level 3 in health care. (Half a nursing degree ) so I’m wondering if that’ll be enough to get the ball rolling or I need to study more?

@bishopston that’s what I thought! I’m a&e so probably not much different to where I work, but I hoped it was all lovely!

No, look at the yearly wage, divide it by 52, multiply it by 44. Then divide by 37 and multiply by the advertised number of hours (often 32.5). Then divide by 12 and cry. This is only a rough calculation but will give you some idea.

Fifteen years as a TA
Ask away !

With the wages it isn't as simple as sharing it between 12. In my area the advertise the position as if you are working the full 52 weeks of the year but you actually only work 39 so you don't earn the full years amount. Although the wage for the 39 weeks is shared out so you still get a wage every month like BishopstonFaffing said

Your level 2 may be ok. Your level 3 I'm not sure about, I think it would depend on the school. However it depends on the age group you wish to work with. Early years (age 3-5) have their own standards and level 3 is a legal requirement. Only some level 3 qualifications are full and relevant to meet those standards.

Love my job, but I will say that from the minute I walk through the door in the morning (around 8.15am) to the minute I leave, I do not stop. I might sit down for a few minutes to support a child or group of children, but the days of 'sitting with a group' are long gone, you are usually expected to move around the room supporting children where needed or where directed by the teacher.
There are so many aspects to the job that it would be impossible to list them all, there is no typical day really. The main benefits are walking away from the job at the end of the dat, and of course the holidays! I never have to pay for childcare because I'm always around.
And the pay is rubbish, with not much career progression really. I was an HLTA for a while but decided it really wasn't worth the £1.90 extra an hour for all the responsibility on my shoulders. So am back as a humble TA now and much happier.

Thanks for advice re. Wages - I can now see if it’s workable

When the children finish at 3, what time do you actually get to go home? I finish at 10pm but mostly walk out of a&e at 11 or work nights so understand it isn’t always as advertised?

Our kids finish at 3.10pm. I finish at 3.30pm. So I can never take mine to school or pick them up and basically need 45 minutes of childcare in the afternoon but end up having to pay for a full session of after school club.

The time you leave can also depend on the school. I had one position where I left when the children did at 3pm, another where I worked for 15 mins after the children left and in the behavioural school the children left at 3:15 and we were required to attend a whole staff meeting everyday at 3.30 until it finished but our contract said they could keep us til 4:30 if required.

Eteach is the website many councils use to advertise for ta's. There may not be many advertised now but in September it's worth taking a look to see likely hours, job descriptions, qualifications needed and so on

Long time TA here. The trouble with giving advice is that there are no national standards nor structure. Low level TAs are expected to cover teachers in some schools where other schools will only expect that of higher level TAs. You could have lots of qualifications and years of experience but still paid at a very low level. HLTAs in my school get 50p an hour more than normal TAs. A 'senior' TA in one school or a 'lead' TA in another, mean nothing when you move to another school. So, career progression is practically nil and in the current job climate you are lucky if you are in a school that isn't clearing out its TAs. Having said all that, it's the best job I've ever had! Loads of variety and you feel that you are doing something worthwhile. Expect to earn between 900 and 1200 a month depending (mainly) on hours worked.

Long time TA here. The trouble with giving advice is that there are no national standards nor structure. Low level TAs are expected to cover teachers in some schools where other schools will only expect that of higher level TAs. You could have lots of qualifications and years of experience but still paid at a very low level. HLTAs in my school get 50p an hour more than normal TAs. A 'senior' TA in one school or a 'lead' TA in another, mean nothing when you move to another school. So, career progression is practically nil and in the current job climate you are lucky if you are in a school that isn't clearing out its TAs. Having said all that, it's the best job I've ever had! Loads of variety and you feel that you are doing something worthwhile. Expect to earn between 900 and 1200 a month depending (mainly) on hours worked.

I did secondary years ago. It was deadly dull after 6 months, watching the same lessons over and over again. Money is awful. The kids are brilliant though and there's lots of fun to be had. Cover is more interesting.

Working in a secondary school is another option. Most TAs in secondary are either attached to a department or provide 1:1 for children with more serious health, mobility or personal care needs.

There is scope to become a cover supervisor or instructor (basically inhouse supply teachers without the teacher quals). Or to be put forward for teacher training if that is a route you are interested in.

The money is still rubbish but due to accruing toil, at least at my school the job is quite flexible, I have never missed any of my daughters key school events: sports day, nativity etc. I live/ work near DDs school so I've always been able to take a couple of hours toil and go to those events.

I had experience working in a local college before getting my job but it only required 5xGCSE C+. It's beneficial to have additional training, first aid, sign language etc as it makes you much more employable.

Work hours are 8:40 - 15:00 I can leave as soon as the bell goes although can often be found chatting to colleagues long after.

The downside of being a TA is that it is generally the first place schools downsize when they need to make budget cuts. I have survived 3 restructures in the last 4 years which adds extra pressure to the role and my school isn't replacing any that resign either. In the future I imagine only TAs supporting children with serious medical or health needs will be employed.