Volunteer classroom assistants

[SolidGoldBrass]

There was a meeting at DS' school today for potential parent volunteers. I went along because I thought it was mainly about being a parent helper on trips (eg having enough adults along to make sure all DC get off the tube at the right stop and don't leap onto the tracks, etc) but we got a moderate hard sell on the wonderfulness of being a classroom assistant, which might involve both photocopying and helping the DC who are struggling with their reading and writing.
I mentioned it on FB and a couple of people I know who are either teachers or other school staff made comments about it being not such a good thing that unpaid (and not really very highly trained) volunteers are now basically being asked to do what should be a paid TA job. Most of the friends saying oh it'w worthwhile and wonderful and all that are people who do not work in education.

AIBU to think that the ones who dislike the idea might have a point, and that it's generally a Bad Thing to expect work that would previously have been a paid and skilled job to be done by barely-trained, inexperienced free labour, however well-intentioned the individual volunteers?

Codes for photocopying? Good god, no wonder you need help in school with that level of faff. At our school the kids are sometimes sent into the stationary office to photocopy their work. They'd need a lot of codes.

We're quite a small school. I think they're too grateful for the help to exclude helpers from a class because their own children happen to be in it.

Sorry, I seem to have derailed a bit. I'm just a bit amazed at how awkward some of your schools are. No wonder budgets can't cope with the levels of staff needed if you create that much work for yourselves.

I volunteered in my ds' class from reception until y3, helping out with activities in reception and then in y1 I moved to listening to specific individual children read - children who needed extra input either because they were struggling a bit or because they weren't read with at home. In y3 I spent two whole days in the two classes teaching children about braille. We wrote stories, they wrote their names, and gained an understanding on how braille works etc.

Working in my child's class was never considered an issue because I didn't get involved with his learning while in the classroom, or his discipline - I wasn't there because of my child I was there as a volunteer to help out. I would have been happy enough volunteering in any other class.

But it is true to say that some parents are definitely there to get an inside view on what goes on, and I vividly recall a parent going in and standing in the park afterwards loudly proclaiming "now I know which children are badly behaved and which I need to tell mine to avoid...." and then proceeding to run down a list of children and the naughty things they had done that day.

Many of my friends' children were in the same class as DS and I never discussed them with their parents - it would simply not have been appropriate to do so.

Oh, and my guide dog was a loved member of the classroom too and when he retired when ds was in y2 he took in sweets for the kids. And his being there gave the children an immense understanding of guide dogs and what they do and how to behave around them. I was also approached by more than one parent saying how my dog being there had helped their child with their fear of dogs because mine was unintrusive, didn't approach them and therefore they did not feel threatened by him and just got used to a dog being in their vacinity which gave them more confidence around other dogs. Many's the time I went into my local shop to hear a little voice say "hello ,insert dog's name>, oh and hello mrs wannabe."

Unfortunately my experiences of being a volunteer classroom assistant are not great. At a previous school I raised to the teacher that I was concerned one girl was struggling with her book. (Teacher agreed, sat with her a couple of times, put her on a different level). Her mum went apeshit at me and started querying everything (she was a governor) The school said / did nothing. I previously taught. Have a TA qualification - I also ignored all of my instant "change her book" feelings and just flagged it with the teacher (as appropriate in that role). The school started asking about my relationship / my ex. It was horrible. I quit.
In my current school. Well. The attitude from 2 TA's is awful. They don't communicate well, then have a good bitch about things. Other parents always assume my children do OK because the teachers feel guilty/ obliged (I don't work in their classes). I've also been left with a group of less able readers, every week but get no information when they don't need me. At all. Tons of paperwork and no accesd to school network Thank god this year is almost done. I know they need people. But I'm done.

I'm a qualified teacher and am hoping that when my 2 foster children change schools I can offer to help out at their new school. I am looking forward to doing the 'faffy' jobs that teachers don't have time to do - sticking work in books, sharpening pencils, tidying shelves, photocopying etc. I don't want all the hassle of planning, marking, assessing etc. Yes, it would be good if schools had enough money for support staff to do all those jobs, but they often don't.

I did offer to help in my children's current school. Spoke to the secretary who took my name and number and said she would speak to the head, then never got back to me. So the school could have had an extra qualified teacher working there for free, but hey ho if they didn't want me I wasn't going to beg!

I was a volunteer classroom assistant for a while when dc were little. I worked alongside the teacher and the class TA, mostly hearing readers but also helping w small group activities like cooking and crafting, plus some photocopying, preparing materials (laminating and cutting out different types of triangle springs to mind) and putting up displays. I loved it.

Most of the other volunteers went on to get paid TA work (not necessarily in our school) so I guess for them it was work experience.

The work experience angle sort of makes sense - except that in my DCs primary TAs are almost exclusively recruited from parent volunteers.

There are some excellent, some not so excellent on the staff. It worries me that the recruitment process focuses on such a small pool of people though. Basically, unless you can afford to volunteer for free during school hours for a significant period you are never going to gain employment there. That means that the TAs are all female, mostly with few relevant qualifications before embarking on their career. They are the unemployed mums who found time on their hands once the kids were in full time school [caveat: this is a very sweeping statement, but true in my experience at one state primary]. Some are very well suited to their role and do an amazing job with the children, some were just in the right place at the right time.

I am sure there are a huge number of candidates who would have suited these TA roles - possibly much better - who never got a look in.

I like to volunteer but I know of at least one mum who volunteers imposes herself who is utterly unsuitable. She refers to those "working mums" or "foreign mums" or "Muslim mums" . She is there purely because of her dd and beng in control of sorts.

I go in to help and be part of ds's school community. No ulterior motives.

I think all parent volunteers should revive basic training and a proper induction. I wasn't even told what would happen in case of an emergency / fire etc.

*receive basic training

I help about once a month. I initially volunteered to do admin jobs (typically tidying up project books and preparing wall displays) but the teacher now has me helping with interventions including reading or completing class work. If I hear reading it will be for a child requiring extra support who is heard read every day. I've also been a spare adult on school trips.

I don't know how many other parents help out - I know there were half a dozen or so when the children were in Reception, who had an afternoon of training and heard reading on a fairly regular basis.

I don't like knowing how individual children are doing. While it's useful to compare my child to the range of the class in general, I don't want to know he's doing compared with Johnny or Sally in particular, and I absolutely don't want to know which children aren't read to at home or other confidences. I have been taken into the staff room for a focused chat but I'd rather stay out. Boundaries!