"Gold dust" school jobs

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I am currently trying to recruit for support staff in school. I need kitchen, staff, admin and TAs. All term time only and all school hours. The jobs I've previously seen referred to on here as "gold dust".

We are getting hardly any applications and those we do get a poor. Admittedly the money is poor, but that's always been the case. Until a couple of years ago the difficult part was sifting through the 100s of applications we'd get for such jobs, now we rarely get more than a handful.

What's changed?

For example, in our (large) primary, we would only have perhaps two non-SLT / non-teaching staff on that salary. All other admin and TAs would be lower paid, in a lot of cases quite a lot lower. In spite of quite a lot of them being degree educated. School pay really is seriously crap.

I would rather work as a cleaner. £15 an hour, flexible hours, can listen to the radio whilst working and less responsibility.

My friend does bank cleaning at the hospital, she books in for 3 hour slots and although the pay isnt much above min wage she pays into the NHS pension and gets unsociable hours (so not far off double time on Sundays).

I work with schools and social care, and as PPs say the responsibility versus the pay is insane. I feel for schools as they are stretched and need people but also, the people have to live and with todays cost, it's incredibly hard unless you have another (decent) wage coming in

The main thing that's changed in the last couple of years is covid. People can manage for a while on low pay, irregular hours, unpaid hours, even discrepancies over definitions of responsibility. But during the coronavirus pandemic school staff were asked (forced) to attend at school without proper protection or recognition. Not as bad as many NHS staff, but very different from WFH and more so from 80% pay for NO work. And once children were studying at home, teachers had to plan and prepare for on-line lessons plus at-school lessons for keyworkers' children. Meanwhile many parents (the pool from which many of your job roles are drawn) were discovering what it was like to spend real quality time with their children, and they enjoyed it. So perhaps the pull of a few extra pounds at the expense of a more rushed lifestyle just isn't there?

Teaching/schools are not the only institutions that need to take a long hard look at how they function, but they DO need to do that!

I was a teacher for 20 years I have never worked in a school where the TAs worked 9 to 3. They may well be paid 9 to 3 but would be expected to be in school before 8.30 and stay until 4. My son worked for amazon. He was paid for absolutely every minute he was in their dustribution centre. Why would anyone accept being treated in any other way

It's the same everywhere at the moment. Our cheap labour left with Brexit. There are currently more jobs than people wanting jobs. Add in the cost of living crisis and people can't afford to work for minimum wage. So it's an employee's market. You need to raise pay or improve conditions in order to attract good applicants.

I've noticed a lot of school admin jobs start at 8am which would be an issue for me. I'm not sure why someone working in HR for example NEEDS to be in at 8am

I'm not hiding behind the payscale. They are a fact. The jobs are assessed not to carry responsibility sufficient to justify a higher scale.

I hate to state the bleeding obvious, but someone has to. Those jobs have been deliberately assessed in such a way as to minimise costs and pay staff on the lowest scale they can possibly get away with.

The answer, dare I say it, is also bleeding obvious to anyone with half a brain. But it won't happen, will it?

I don't think there's a lot of responsibility, the responsibility sits elsewhere.

That's based on the assumption that the teaching staff are worthy of that responsibility. Many aren't.

I left recently after 10 years as a secondary LSA. I took lots of abuse but the final straw was being verbally abused by a pupil while her friend was recording for social media. The teacher stayed at her desk and didn't intervene.

I went to the Depute. His response? "Oh well, at least the girls are coming to school..."

@ChiswickFlo hahahahaha….

people who work in the office are responsible. In ways there is more responsibility there. They deal with the sick kids, sometimes the poor behaviour, sometimes the first aid etc. Except for the quick action of our secretary I fear one of the kids would have died from a horrific asthma attack.

you have ZERO idea what goes on in schools. Most of the time it’s business as normal, teaching, learning, blabla. Then one day - bam…. The worst nearly happens. Every person in a school? Their primary job is safeguarding!

Schools don't treat people well. DD2 recenly applied for a gap year post at the only boarding school in the City of London - her CV matched really well with the role but they cba to even acknowlege receipt let alone tell her that she was not successful - I basically told her that if they are that cavalier/rude she had a lucky escape.

I don't think there's a lot of responsibility, the responsibility sits elsewhere

Utter rubbish - poorly pod TA here, this week I have had parent meetings about health issues and dyslexia.
I have sat with a distressed violent child whilst waiting for parents and protecting other students from being hurt.

I have previously been hit, kicked and bitten, covered in sick amongst other things.

I have covered classes, sometimes all day because the teacher is off sick and there’s no cover, I have looked after several diabetic children and those with severe medical conditions.

We have to be flexible and often don’t get a minute to sit down - all for no thanks and no let up - we can’t just take a day off, if our kids are ill we don’t get paid, that could be weeks if you consider chicken pox, we are expected to attend after school events - could be Christmas plays, school discos or sports activities with no extra time off or pay.

Do any of the parents say thank you? Absolutely not! Yet the abuse because little Ava can’t find her lunch box which is ‘my responsibly’ is completely acceptable.

I plan and organize all the class interventions and implement them, we have to see progress. I have to report back to the class teacher.

Im personally discussed that you think we do nothing and have no responsibilities, or speak volumes.

A lot of people already think we do nothing - part form a bit of gluing and sticking.

Haven't RTFT but I was an lsa after being a teacher and felt so demoralised and disrespected it made me mentally ill. We weren't deemed responsible enough for a staff room or anywhere to eat or make phone calls in our half hour a day (!) Break but expected to be on the front line through covid looking after children with special needs, for which we had zero training. I adored the kids but ultimately felt I was setting them a bad example by allowing myself to be treated like utter crap. I left to work in a lovely office where I can drink and pee when I want and no one demeans me, everyone is equal. I feel like I've stepped into heaven and if you don't understand that people expect to be treated decently then you will always have recruitment issues.

The pay.
I was a secondary school teacher for ten years- wanted to spend more time at home while my little ones are little so I left last year and I now run my partners business from home. For a while I considered looking for a local learning support role (teaching job was a 2 hour round commute and a non core subject so job vacancies were very rare)... when I looked into it I realised it wasn't worth it!! The pay is dreadful. The idea was for my partner to work one less day and send our youngest to nursery the other day or two- we would actually be losing money with my partner dropping a day as the awful pay I would get as a leaning support assistant would be no where near his daily rate or my old salary. The pay would also barely cover nursery fees. More than happy at home.

because that's when teachers are all in?
They are then unavailable from 9-3.30 due to being with the children
Parents phone in sick at 8am
8-9.30 is probably the busiest time in a school office.

To come back to your point about responsibility OP, I think your argument about perceived vs legal responsibility is rather a semantic one. I mean yes, I know that if I I kill a child by misadministering an epipen or if I put my school into debt with a massive financial mistake or if I fuck up the admin on an exam invigilation and cost a pupil their GCSE grade then it's not me who will actually face the firing squad, it will be my Head, and ultimately my governors. But do you REALLY think that makes a difference to how I feel about it? As proven at length on this thread, the people who work in school jobs generally do so because they care and they're committed - they certainly don't do it for the money or the glamour. They will still feel that responsibility, however much you reassure them it's yours not theirs.

Low pay, times that don't work for people or expecting people to do to much / carry too much responsibility will probably be the reasons.

This may be different for your specific ads, but the roles for 'lunchtime supervisors' at my locals schools certainly demand a high level of responsibility and offer only minimum wage in return (e.g. being responsible for the children's behaviour, tube feeding those who need it - to me, that's surely a skill that needs medical training? - helping kids go to the toilet etc.) I've been tempted by 1 admin job I saw recently, but it starts at 7:30am and before school care doesn't open until 8am, so there's nowhere to leave my child. I couldn't get by on the salary of these jobs alone - I'd add it to the handful I already have...but not if it means being responsible for tube feeding someone else's child or starting before I can drop my own child off at school (minimum wage just isn't enough to cover an hour's worth of babysitting - which is £15min in my area).

And when you go to the compulsory Christmas meal ( for which you will be charged £25.00) you will be split into separate tables . Teachers, SLT and Head on one. TAs , cleaners and dinner ladies on another. I worked in a school where the Head decided we should have a staff trip to watch one of the SLT in an amateur dramatics play. The teaching staff went on one night, the 'others' went the next night. One of the TAs couldn't go on their night and asked if she could come on the teacher's night. Well no .

I came from a mental health nursing background and worked as a TA for 10 years because it suited my family and my health.

I left last year and have returned to a mental health role in the NHS, earning 50% more per month for fewer hours. I also really enjoy being back in a professional environment and working with professional people. Some of the teachers I worked with were petty, immature and often quite ignorant in their approaches to working with others.

I just can't acknowledge teachers as 'true' professionals. In the other professions...Medicine, Accountancy, Law, Architecture...a person who was poor at their job wouldn't last long as their lack of skill would be evident fairly quickly.

Teachers can be very, very poor at their jobs for many years but the children are held responsible for their own failures, rarely the teacher. Nobody dies, buildings don't fall down and money isn't lost. Below-average teachers remain that way for their entire careers.

Well......because they're working? Often in better paid jobs. When my own children were young in the early 2000s I was lucky enough to be able to afford to be a SAHM for 3 years, then gradually up my wages. If we were at that stage now in 2022 we wouldn't be able to afford for me not to work, because our mortgage would be unaffordable on one wage, and the cost of living generally is far too high.

Also, often schools don't like employing current parents for various reasons. It can cause issues. Past parents are often fine.

Another possible factor: Lots of the school admin job ads I’ve seen want prior experience - either experience in a school or office admin experience or both - and knowledge of various bits of software.

It used to be that these jobs went to people who were sensible and competent even if they didn’t have relevant experience, now that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least based on the ads.

It's a really hot employment market, good people have their pick. With that I think opportunities for women are also better (let's face it, 99% of people that take these jobs are female) I worked as a school governors clerk 4 years ago, now I'm on £35k. Cost of childcare is also an issue, so you've got that perfect storm of fewer desperate (sorry) people. I know you say school hours but actually school hours are no good, you can't expect staff for example between 8 and 3 because they're the times the person (again usually a mum) has to drop off and pick up. Jobs out there offering 9.30 - 4 are seen as easier to fit in. Throw in some sort of free/convenient childcare if you have an after school or breakfast club and you might find yourself with more luck!

That's a good point about the hours. We've recently had to employ some admin people 9-3 because the only decent applicants we could find insisted on those hours. But that then puts more pressure on the existing staff who do work the super busy 8-9 and 3-3.30 slots, which makes them more dissatisfied and put-upon, which in turn makes them more likely to leave.

I'm support staff, the pay is crap but I love it, it's very varied and I have a lot of autonomy. My role doesn't involve working with the students as such so I get more flexibility with my hours. The school promotes free gym access / food as perks and my department head sneaks me on to training courses meant for teachers.

Be creative in where you post the job, on specialist teaching sites its unlikely to catch the attention of people it might appeal to. The job I have was posted on such a site and luckily a friend saw it and thought I'd be interested. I was the only applicant. Our other technician is leaving soon and I hope the recruitment process is better than when I applied.

I was considering doing a PGCE but after witnessing what the teachers in my department went through during covid I think i'll stick with my job.