To ask if you’d rather be a TA or nursery nurse and why?

[Annabeth67]

Posted this for my DD
She’s interested in both jobs but is unsure about which one she’d like to go for more. Anyone got any thoughts?

TA.

Less drips.

Nursery nurse. Should be better paid and she will know more what her role is.

Has she received an offer for both jobs? If not she may struggle to get a TA role, as due to funding they're being cut left right and centre. It's a lot easier to find a nursery practitioner job, because of the ratios.

Having seen my DD do a year of a nursery apprenticeship I'd say a TA.

I think a TA would have more variety, more opportunity for advancement (eg HLTA, specialising as 1-1 or ELSA etc).

And the pay can't be worse than a nursery, surely? Holidays presumably extra work could be found in childcare clubs etc if needed.

I would say TA because I prefer older children.

Has she received an offer for both jobs?
She has applied for vacancies for both and hypothetically if she got an offer to be a TA or nursery nurse, she doesn’t know which one she’d go for. You’re definitely right though- there’s not a lot of TA jobs around! Something to consider definitely

Having seen my DD do a year of a nursery apprenticeship I'd say a TA
That’s interesting- why do you think that TA would be better? Aside from progression?

Also, I don’t think there’s a big pay gap between them from what I’ve seen online so it’s interesting that a PP has mentioned that

The way school funding is going there won't be many TAs round in a few years

Some TAs just sit there and do nothing.
Pay is probably better

Which age group is she more drawn too?
Nursery Nurse will cover 0-5 yrs and with a level 3 qualification this can lead to a variety of roles, not just in Nurseries. Nursery nurses can work with maternity units, nannies or as a stepping stone to EYPS status etc.
As TA the children are older and again other options to move onto such as higher level TA or stepping stone to NQT etc.
Hours are not as long in schools as Nurseries, some nurseries are open 7.30am - 6.30pm.
Both are hard work, but very rewarding and a lot of fun!

Nursery nurse because there are far more places to find employment and the pay can be much better, although it's still not great.

I did my NNEB in 1979 and I've worked in private homes, hospitals, schools, nurseries, for social services and in my own home.

I’ve done both job roles. Nursery nurse jobs are easier to come by, staff turnover tends to be quite high, therefore she shouldn’t find herself out of work. Skill set also lends itself well to nannying if she fancied doing that.

TA work was more interesting for me, and can lead to HLTA, unqualified teaching and I have known TA’s go on to do a degree and QTS through the schools they’ve worked at. If she took this route then she would end up with better pay/pension etc in the long term.

Depends what her end goal is really.

@Needsomezzzz thank you, some really good points there!

Nurseey nurse. Work towards early years teacher status, work in other setttings too

I've worked in private homes, hospitals, schools, nurseries, for social services and in my own home
Oh that’s interesting! Could you explain a bit more about what you did in those settings?

I’m not sure about advancement for nursery Norse’s, but a TA would have good career progression and you could focus on a particular area of interest (EY, SEN, post 16, for example.’). You can also work from 3yo - 18yo, which may offer more variety also!

Nursery nurses:
Pay is very poor for the level of responsibility.
When they are running on minimum ratios there aren't really enough people.
Difficult to get time for doctors appointments etc.
You don't get to meet many people through work.
Highly physical.

That said, DD loved the kids.

Nn buy just because I really really love babies and pre schoolers.

TA jobs usually count as part time, whereas a nursery nurse may have longer hours. It depends mainly on what age group she’s interested in really.

Pay is Definitely better as a ta if doing equivalent hours, but ends up less because it’s term time.
I’m a level 3 nursery nurse (I work term time) but my full time equivalent annual salary is under 19k.
I’ve seen early years jobs in school nurseries for 22-26k FTE (again this is lower once pro rata’d)
I’ve seen TA jobs where the actual salary is around 13-15k.
So effectively the TA job would pay 15k for term time, where as my current job, I could work 40 hours a week all year round for 18k.

You build better skills as a nursery nurse though more responsibility and knowledge required, so room for movement to other areas.

Just in case that wasn’t clear, my 19k would be if I was full time. I’m not so actually get a lot less, but it’s still the lowest paid option from all the jobs I’ve looked at.

TAs have precious little career progression and an increasingly shaky job security due to education cuts. More parents in work means that a NN might be more secure.

has she done work experience in either? if not I think that needs to be her first thing to do.

It totally depends on age group she's drawn to. I work in a preschool (2-4 year olds) I personally wouldnt work babies or older children, I love the bonkers preschool age!! despite earning v little I love my job (been there 3 years now!)

I love that every day is different, I get to meet so many lovely children and see them grow up so much in the year or 2 they are with us. and I get every year when we need to say goodbye.

I was a nursery nurse in a reception class and loved it, I’m a stay at home mum now but I hope to go back to doing it, it’s the best of both worlds no nappy changes, term time only and kid so that can wipe their own bums!

Early years. I work with KS3-5. TAs are more likely to lose their jobs in cuts, whereas the early years ratios and parents' need for qualified childcare mean there will always be openings for somebody qualified to work with little ones.

And a TA is likely to end up with the most challenging children that the teacher doesn't want to deal with, whereas a nursery nurse gets all of the little ones.