To think that lots of TAs, LSAs and school administrators leave because of the money?

[Lulutheevilguineapig]

I'm in this situation atm and although I love my job, I'm seriously starting to look for something else.

I get why the money is poor; we get school holidays off. But I'd honestly prefer to work holidays and not take the hit to my salary. I know this is part and parcel of working in a school, but I just don't know how anyone who doesn't have maybe a wealthy partner or some other source of wealth can stay for long in the job.

And on another note, if you were a TA/LSA and left due to the money, what did you go on to do?

I was a ta for a few years...but year after year they refused to put me on a permanent contract, it was a new temporary one every year. I left because my contact was put down to 10 hours a week (of course most weeks I would do more) I needed certainty.
I got a job in a care home and can do more hours over 3 days and I get paid more per hour too. It's permanent, more money and they are quite flexible with time off and holidays.

That's terrible because then, I guess you got paid peanuts during the holidays?

You said you prefered working in school holiday to get more money. Maybe consider private tuition/tutor at agencies during holiday time

Our school actually makes you sign something saying you don't have another job! I am going to check though, as actually, I could be doing something else in the holidays.

I work in SEN as a TA and get a lot more that pp's are quoting as take home pay. I am over qualified with A levels, a B-Tec and a degree but I really like my job, my pay is decent and I love the holidays.

I don't think that is overqualified based on my team. We all have one degree minimum. Still get paid crap 👎. Tbf, the hourly rate is OK, but because it's prorated and technically quite part time, it ends up being terrible take home pay

I think it dates back to the days when it was less common to be a working mum. Many families survived on one salary, so if you did have a second one it was fine for it to be low pay as long as it fitted around school hours. The world has changed, and that kind of family setup is much less common now.

I worked as a TA in a secondary school for a year as a stop gap. Yes the money was poor, but I mainly hated it because lots of the teachers spoke to me like I was a lesser being. The pupils were the same. I have a degree but was made to feel thick and worthless.

I moved to be an advice worker in the charity sector.

I've had a couple of schools asking me to apply for their ta/Lsa positions (I did agency cover). I love the work and it fits in better with my kids but the pay is shocking, particularly when working with high needs 1:1 SEN kids. We put so little value in our society about working with children. It makes me really sad. I don't want to be driven by money but equally I have bills to pay!

The days of school jobs being highly fought over are well and truly gone. There is a massive recruitment crisis for TAs, admin and support staff, huge numbers of job adverts out. Schools can’t afford to pay any higher wages and people can’t afford to live on that low a salary, particularly when supermarkets are paying more. The lure of term time hours and holidays off has also been destroyed by an increase in jobs offering working from home or more flexible hours

YANBU op. 15 years ago people were falling over themselves to apply for these roles. We would have a good pool of candidates for any advertised post.
The last few times we've advertised there's been hardly any applicants and the quality of the people applying hasn't been great.
I think wages generally have gone up over time but the pay of school staff (inc teachers but that's another thread) hasn't kept pace. Plus there has been a boom in flexible working so people don't need to take the hit on wages any longer.

I've been a parent/carer for a decade. DS has just started secondary (although there has yet to be a day where there hasn't been "something" and I am starting a role at a school with a view to progressing to a TA. I can't see any other choice. I can't leave him alone at all, I will need to be at home in the holidays and he still needs to be taken to and collected from school. I don't have any family support nearby to help. I'm a lone parent. This is so off putting reading this but what other jobs can you get where you can still "care" but also work. I can't see my caring responsibilities reducing significantly for a long while yet. So depressing.

The SEN TA I know also worked in the holidays in a SEN holiday club , once her children where old enough. She loved being an TA but couldn’t afford to just keep doing that. She was allowed to work in the holidays as a second job.

That used to be the case but now all the schools around me are struggling to recruit TAs. When I first got a job in a school nearly 10 years ago, the competition was fierce. Now I can pretty much take my pick.

I'm sticking with it because the hours and being term time only works for me for now, but I can't see me sticking with it long-term. It's hard work, it can be incredibly stressful, the pressure to do more than you are paid (badly) for is huge. It's a shame because a lot of very good TAs I know have moved on to other things now.

What jobs, specifically? Asking for a me...

I’m a HLTA for the local authority and I have been applying for other jobs as I earn just over £1500 a month and am responsible for a team of 7! I have applied to join the probation service, so fingers crossed I get it. I do have an evening/ holiday job now as DS is older doing direct payment work for children with disabilities. It’s lovely, but the pay is even worse than my main job and I have to pay tax on it of course so I get even less in my pocket, making it just not worth the effort.

@LuffleGro so my youth justice job, then supporting yp 1-1 to get back into education and family support roles have all been jobs where you are in charge of your diary and the managers of the teams have been flexible about when you work your hours, any sort of casework job tends to be like this IME. When I went back after maternity I was allowed to do compressed hours so 3 longer days which meant I didn't take such an income hit.

Interesting. Thank you.

I certainly did. I was a SEN TA, absolutely loved it but couldn’t survive on the money. Am now in the civil service which pays more and is amazing for flexibility. It’s also a lot less physically taxing!

One at my school has left to work in a factory because its more money

I have to admit, I've been tempted by supermarket jobs. I saw one which was 5 x morning shifts a week for something like £22k/annum. That's three times what I earn for one more day's work and it doesn't need a degree or any sort of qualifications. The shifts weren't delightful (early starts), but even still.

Anyway, the good news is, I've just applied for a job which would be a great fit if it panned out. Keep fingers crossed for me!

Double, not three time 🤭. Sorry, not sure why I said three times!

It is overqualified for a TA job. Historically and from what I have witnessed, many ta"s were recruited on the basis of their experience, often with no formal qualifications required. I could have done the one year pgce and taught if I'd wanted to. I wasn't trying to brag or say that I earn more because of my qualifications. I don't. I think by your eagerness to tell me I wasn't overqualified, you felt I was saying I'm the only one. As it happens about half of my colleagues also have a degree and I know one ta who is a qualified teacher (who has taught) but now prefers the less stressful role of ta. They too are also over qualified.

YANBU the money is a joke, experienced TAs are just as skilled as teachers in many ways they just have a different job description, they should have at least 10k more than they do.

It’s like nurses have become so much more than ‘doctor’s assistant’. Being a TA needs far more credit and kudos than it gets.

We're not struggling to recruit.
But that's because we're not replacing the 5 TAs who've left because we can't afford to. It's awful.