Teaching assistants quitting schools for supermarkets because of 'joke wages'

[noblegiraffe]

Finally getting some mainstream press attention:

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/oct/09/teaching-assistants-quitting-schools-for-supermarkets-because-of-joke-wages

The article is very clear that schools cannot afford to pay higher wages for support staff. The DfE comment at the bottom says it is up to schools to improve support staff pay.

The education sector is falling apart. Teacher redundancies mean bigger class sizes. Fewer teaching assistants means zero in-class support unless your child has an EHCP. Recruitment issues mean that even if your child has an EHCP, they might not be able to hire anyone to support them.

The way provision for the most vulnerable students has been eroded over the last decade of school underfunding is devastating.

I work in a school in a "deprived area". Each class has a Teaching assistant (or Nursery Nurses in EYFS). There are teachers employed as 'In-house cover', too. This doesn't negate the need for occasional supply cover.

I started off as a parent helper, took an NVQ Teaching Assistant course and trained on the job. I've worked at the same school for 14 years now and the amount of changes our jobs have been through over those years and the training and experience I've gained, I (and others like me - who have worked there just as long -if not longer) am well qualified for my position, but are still paid at entry level grade! Don't get me wrong...I love my job....but we are expected to do almost the same as teachers (including our own planning sometimes) for a take home of around £1,200 per month. That includes me helping at breakfast club in the mornings.... and I don't go straight out the door at the end of the day. The classroom needs putting straight ; there are things to discuss with the class teacher; I voluntarily stay for staff meetings as it is beneficial to do so.

My children are all adults now, so I'm not in it because I need the school "holidays" (which, by the way, are not paid for - my contract is term-time +5 days).

We are all wondering how we are going to manage over the coming months, but are all reluctant to go on strike, even though UNISON want us to, because of the disruption it will cause to the families we try to help every day. (None of us have ever gone on strike in previous years).

Teaching assistants are not the Teacher's P.A. (Though we do a lot of that stuff,too.....). We deserve decent pay commensurate with our skill set. But the chances of it happening are very slim.

Everyone would love an inflation busting pay-rise....who wouldn't? But where will the money come from?
And in the end , something's going to give way.😕

I've volunteered previously as a TA. I didn't last that long. It's not a job for anyone.
My current school has a lot of volunteer parents who do lunch times, reading and help with outings and special events plus PTA fundraising. They have the odd volunteer help as a general TA for a couple of mornings. It doesn't mean they also don't struggle to recruit staff.
My child has an excellent TA who we adore but the quality of TAs varies a lot. Some are just crowd control rather than offering quality SEN support. How many TAs have actually been trained or have a good understanding of dyslexia, autism, ADHD, anxiety etc. In order to recruit the bar is set low so anyone who has a desire to apply meets the criteria. As long as you aren't a disaster at interview you've got an excellent chance of being offered a position as they are so desperate.

That’s great for your school . In my reception class I have 5 autistic children 3 with EHCPs plus several children with speech’s and language difficulties and 3 children in nappies. TAs are gold dust and deserve a proper salary .

the level of need in many schools is so high. Your school obviously bucks the trend.

I volunteer for a national organisation. They are struggling to get volunteers. Many of their volunteers were retired people who have not come back after Covid. We have to undertake substantial training and many people are not prepared to commit to that. I imagine it would be the same, if not worse, in schools.

As a pp said, one of the major problems is the lack of places in special schools. DD was at mainstream primary and only managed to do as well as she did because of her brilliant TA (who also kept me sane during lockdown with weekly one to one Zoom calls with DD).

After much struggling and battling with the LA she is now at a special school. There are 10 children in the class, one teacher and two TAs. I had to fight to get this as the LA were pushing for mainstream. DD would never have coped and I would have home schooled her before letting that happen. Not everyone is in the position to do this. Fund SEN properly and that would be a big start. Sadly that is not likely to happen. A big issue, as others have said, is that there are too many kids in mainstream who should not be there thus leading to an ever greater demand for TAs but without appropriate funding or a pay scale that recognises the demands of the job.

Most are paid term time only so for 39 weeks if the year. They get an 'enhanced' rate of hourly pay in lieu of holidays, so are usually on £10 p/not £9.50, and then this is sometimes annualised. Therefore they are on £10 x 37.5 x 39 = £14625 less tax and NI so will take home £1,162 per month.
For full time work 39 weeks of the year.

@user1471462428 That sounds like the work many TAs do already.

Teaching assistants are only paid for the hours they work. It's a pro rata salary.
Most schools calculate the hours and spread that across the year to ensure that they're paid a set amount each month. So some months , you actually don't receive what you've earned so that you receive an income for holidays.

A basic TA will probably not earn enough to pay tax. Yet a TA will often be asked to cover classes. The pay differential is pence per hour.

When it comes to ADHD/Autism/PDA/OCD/Sensory Difficulties/Dyslexia/Dyscalculia/Disabled children's needs/Conduct Disorder/OCD etc... issues... it's usually the TA that goes on the training. Many have HLTA training which is very intense yet are paid less than , sorry to say this, refuse collectors.

£9000 pa is a joke. I left a couple of years ago. Too much stress and too little value.

By the way,
We don't get our 'breaks' very often, because we are expected to carry on while the children are out at play. We managed to resist having our lunch breaks being reduced to just half an hour to be 'dinner ladies', as they are not recruiting anymore after some staff left.

Ta's are usually paid an hourly rate, not salaried. I earn £9.98 an hour and am paid it on a monthly basis only for the hours worked (39 weeks). My earnings for the year are calculated and then divided into 52 so I get paid the same each month (even in the holidays) although I don't get paid for the weeks when school is closed. I don't know exactly what checkout staff earn but think it's probably a similar hourly rate.

Also, TAs these days are ex teachers or actually have a degree, in my recent experience.

I'm a 1:1 Learning Support Assistant and I'm considering looking for work elsewhere because the wage is beyond crap for what I actually do. I have a Level 3 qualification. SLT are as supportive as they can be but their hands are tied because of the lack of funding, even as an academy.

My day starts with supervising breakfast club including 1:1 for children with EHCPs whose 1:1s don't start until after breakfast club has finished. I go straight from that to meet and greet for my actual 1:1. I settle them into class then the teacher might give me a job to do instead of allowing me the time to complete my 1:1's morning task with them as per their individual support plan because we don't have a class TA. Usually preparing something for their lessons for that day, copying, cutting, printing. I change reading books and listen to readers whenever I can. Then I go to assembly because my 1:1 can't always cope with sitting still and quietly and sometimes needs to leave.

After that I teach a group of the lowest ability children English. Quite often my 1:1 needs toileting part way through or I'm interrupted for first aid but the group can't be left as we have supply covering another child's 1:1 whilst she's off sick so I then need to wait for someone to relieve me or take my 1:1 to the toilet. Sometimes they can wait, sometimes it ends in an accident so I end up cleaning and changing them.

Then I go straight to break duty and more first aid. If there's a bump to the head, then I have to make a phone call home. My 1:1 comes with me and then I go straight into teaching Maths with the same group as English. Again 1:1 might need the toilet or they might decide that they don't want to do the work and end up having a meltdown, screaming the building down and hitting, pushing, nipping or scratching me. They might be taken from class by SLT for 10 minutes or so but then they're brought back for round 2, 3, 4 etc. I have to manage different learning styles and levels of ability within the lowest ability group and try and teach them and show evidence of progress. I plan for both English and Maths for them. I stick everything in their books. I mark, I correct, I copy. I print photos to use for evidence. I upload to the online learning platform.

I then have lunch duty followed by my own lunch. I have to wait for someone to come out to take me off my area and they are late out every single day so I get maybe 25 minutes to sit and breathe and eat, more often than not 20. We are told to take our full break but doing that leaves my 1:1 on their own and I usually go back to class to hear that they have hit someone or broken something so it's less stressful to lose part of my lunch than have to calm my 1:1 and deal with any incidents.

Afternoons are meant to be when my 1:1 works on their targets like learning their colours or number recognition or emotions or speech and language. In reality, I support the class teacher with the entire class whilst my 1:1 has to engage in lessons that are far beyond their cognitive ability and manage their behaviour when they inevitably kick off and attack me or another child. I deal with behaviour with other children too, I do any jobs that the teacher requires of me, taking my 1:1 with me whenever I leave the classroom. I'm called out for first aid all the time. I don't get time to fill out any target sheets or records or to log any safeguarding concerns or behaviour issues. I'm expected to come home and do that - logging that day's behaviour can take 45 mins plus. At the end of the day I hand over to parents and spend 5 minutes or more discussing the child's day so they are aware of any issues that might cause distress at home. School finishes at 3pm and so does my pay but I never leave before 3.20pm.

5 days last week I was hurt by my 1:1 because its impossible to meet their needs properly and meet the needs of 29 other children at the same time as meeting the needs of an inexperienced and nervous teacher. I often come home and cry because I feel I'm letting everyone down because I'm so stretched and exhausted.

I get £13k a year. I'm paid for 30 hours a week but I work way more hours than that. I'd love to see a volunteer carry out my role for more than a day without walking out and telling SLT to stick it and I actually find it quite insulting that anyone would think a volunteer could cover the role I actually do. It's not all reading and colouring.

I’ve just had a look and I could earn more as an assistant manager at Aldi than as a teacher of 15 years experience…

This sounds more like a zoo than a school.
Horrific.

Have you been in schools recently?

Absolutely this...though I'm not 1:1.

I think people are doing both.

I know my hourly rate was £9.57 and I know the supermarket role is £10 an hour as i checked, so i know if i did the exact same hours id earn more

But i also know that term time only is restrictive for some people and they would rather work and choose their annual leave, so they see the 'benefits' as better too, especially if the shifts are convenient / flexible and you can do overtime too. Plus some supermarkets discount food.

I don't know what the governments/local assemblies across the UK are trying to achieve in running down our education systems. After all, not many of us can afford to go private instead. I'm not surprised people are leaving the sector.

Is there any likelihood of a strike by teachers and other school staff in the near future?

People need to understand that many children with SEND simply cannot cope in a mainstream school without TA support. If they do cope, they do it badly. I have a child with ADHD in my class. On the days the TA is assigned to my class, the child is overjoyed to see her. Yes, he copes on the days she isn't in, but my goodness she makes a real difference to his learning.
There are some kids who would simply be excluded without support. The people doing these jobs are often either parents who need school hours jobs or people looking for experience to do teaching or social work. There are less and less of them. The pay is pitiful especially with prices at current levels.

Is there any likelihood of a strike by teachers and other school staff in the near future?

Teaching unions are gearing up for a ballot. Support staff are in various unions (or aren't in a union, which is a really bad idea), so not sure what is happening there.

Only in an “Outstanding “ one to be fair.
Assume this makes a big difference.
It shouldn’t.

And how many parents will be complaining about schools closing, when it has been pointed out many times by teachers what a dire state education is in at the moment

The teaching unions are balloting for strike action shortly. But a pp said that even though their union was balloting, they wouldn't strike because they'd be letting their students down.

And herein lies the problem. We do it for the kids, so we don't want to let them down, so the old "vocation" line gets trotted out and so shit pay and conditions are just accepted as the norm.

Is your ‘outstanding’ school managing out pupils to ensure it doesn’t have any with significant behaviour issues @oakleaffy

Interestingly, threads recently about teacher strike action have been majority supportive comments. It's like the penny is finally dropping about the impact of this government on ordinary people's lives.