Feel fed up when parents don’t say thank you to TA’s at the end of term.

[NaturalBlondeYeahRight]

I’ve been in this whole time. Had key worker children and a bubble of my own. We have worked so hard to make this last term fun and as normal as we can, buying ingredients for baking and crafts out of our own money etc and today as 3 of the children finished for the holidays I didn’t even get ‘have a good summer’ never mind ‘thank you’ from the parents.
I don’t expect gifts, just a bit of thought. I’m just having a moan really. TA’s get really good relationships with children, we often have more time than the class teacher. Just feel a bit deflated. Only 4 days left I suppose.

Ah thank you @imissmoominmama

I will bask in that reflected thanks 😁

To be fair plenty of people have said thankyou. Just not written it down!

I bought the same voucher for TA as for the teacher and a heartfelt thank you card. But something I’ve noticed is that schools don’t always advertise who the TAs are as well which I think means parents aren’t always as familiar or know how much they do. I’m a teacher too, so appreciate that TAs are worth their weight in gold!

I have been a Y3 class TA this year so it is quite interesting to read this. Things I do include:
Greeting and dismissing children at dropoff and pickup (+ parent enquiries)
Managing class behaviour
Working with specific children in lessons
Running small group and 1-to-1 interventions
Reading the class book aloud
Collecting money and permission slips
Giving out and marking homework
Marking daily reading records
Supervising lessons in absence of teacher
Supervising golden time / assembly
Taking children to the medical room / office
Supervising class trips / swimming
Resolving issues between children
Making displays
Making intervention resources
Photocopying/laminating/data input
Organising/cleaning the classroom
And yes - sharpening pencils!

During lockdown I've been part of the FT online team but have been back in for the last few weeks. It does feel weird that term will end without a proper goodbye and I doubt I will get much acknowledgement from parents, but I think it is just one of those things. I made all the kids in my class a word art picture as a memento.

DS's school is very organised in terms of getting collections for the teachers, but my school is not. I had some nice cards and chocolates at Christmas though. It is really the messages that matter most. It is so nice to hear that a child or parent appreciates you.

By the way: the dinner ladies work Gard akso the playground assistants. What about the office staff? Everyone in a school works hard and they are a team. Why just pick out the ones who see dc most? Why not gifts for everyone? Even the lowest paid staff? What about the caretaker and cleaners? Often an experienced teacher is the second highest paid if they are the deputy head, or a senior teacher. No one thinks about the less well paid who make the school tick and are also of value.

My son has 5 ta's in his class plus his teacher. They all get sent a Thankyou card and a little gift. They do an amazing job and of course they are being paid but i think it's really important that they feel appreciated.

Do you appreciate the dinner ladies and the cleaners?

HalfTermHalfTerm
No, the class rep is a teacher, and it still hadn't occurred to her until questioned to get anything for our TA, even though she presumably works with a TA in her own classroom.

I don’t understand this whole present bits anyway I know that’s not what you on about op but anyway

Say your a teacher for 30 years with a class of 30 children each year. How many cups/nic naks/photos of wellies with the kids names on etc does one teacher actually want or need. Always gives me a giggle at collection time like yes I’m sure all teachers live in huge mansions to keep all this stuff as parents here seem to give to the collection and still send in extras. Clinking out with say 30 bottles of wines/chocolates 😅

Honestly this year though my children haven’t been in since September so I haven’t really thanked anyone apart from the two year six teachers who are on Facebook.

When my dc were in reception/Y1, we dropped the kids into a playground line. The teacher would take the line away. At the end of the day, the teacher would come out with the teacher. At parents’ evening, we’d see the teacher.
At the end of the year, the class rep struggled to find out which TA worked in which class. It was like some kind of secret. Sometimes what goes on inside a school is a total mystery to the parents. I only know how shocking school budgets are because a relative is a teacher.

@UncleShady Ahh, I see. That is disappointing!

I don’t even know if DDs class has a TA; she’s never mentioned anyone