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 trained as a TA but am actually now a science technician as the pay is 2 bands higher where I am for it

The annual pay is less than sainsburys (TAs are paid for 44 weeks only)
There are chronic vacancies across the country

TA pay is dire.

To be honest, I think the way things are heading, we won’t have any TAs in a few years in schools anyway-save a few for high need children with EHC funding. The government don’t value them, don’t pay them enough and schools can’t afford to pay the ones they do have. Ours are leaving left, right and centre for anything else-shop work, charity, supermarket, care roles etc -all have either scope for more pay or more hours. The ones that leave, we can’t afford to replace due to the massive energy prices.

The civil service is recruiting quite a lot at the moment. Home Office especially. No way I’d stay in a job that pays so low, even for the holidays.

I was a TA after my older kids started school. I didn't return after mat leave with my youngest partly because the money would barely have covered my childcare costs and partly because the level of responsibility expected with zero training for absolute peanuts was just not worth it for me. I think a lot of parents would be shocked if they knew what TAs are expected to do and how much of their kids' education - IME especially the ones who actually need the most input from qualified educators - is administered by often untrained and underpaid people. It's certainly not just a bit of trimming and sticking and reading.

I did find it hugely rewarding but there needs to be more money and more support. The only reason I was able to do it at all was because DH has a well paid job. Being a TA doesn't pay enough to live on.

Many public sectors allow term time working. We do. So lot more salary, and still holidays off and part time is also fine. I think public sector is a good alternative, as I posted above. Check out civil service jobs website for current vacancies

We are losing TAs for 2 reasons.
For some, the money is no longer enough, their households are struggling to make ends meet and they can earn more doing shop work.
The other reason some are going is their working conditions have deteriorated. We cannot afford nearly as many TAs as we used to have, so the demands on those we do have are increasing. Also, most are now used to support children 1:1, often children with complex and challenging needs. Whilst some of our TAs love doing this, and are brilliant at it, there are others who came into the profession to support with the whole class and that role doesn't exist anymore.

I'm waiting for DD to start secondary and then I will look for other options.

I love the job and the kids but the pay is dire (13k a year) and the responsibilities and expectations are ridiculous and only getting higher.From actually teaching when there's no cover, to mentoring new TA's, to delivering interventions (that I plan for and assess and fill in paperwork) , to expectations that certain children make progress despite me not being a 1:1 , to actual classwork ,working with groups, safeguarding,marking , play/lunch duty and and so on. All has to be fit into school hours and I need to provide evidence for this that and the other, folders and mountains of paperwork.

I’m a TA. A colleague has just left to do an office job because of the money. She was heartbroken to go. It’s so sad 😢
My husband and I both work full time and we still get a significant top up from universal credits.

I did a school
job whilst my children were younger ( for 7 years ) when my pension forecast came through after I left it was shocking !!!

My friend is a TA in a special needs school, she took the job as she's a lone parent and it suited her needs. As soon as her child goes secondary school she leaving. Pay awful, often asked to do extra training meaning she has to stay late. She's exhausted but loves the job, only takes home £1200 per month though!

I didn't leave due to the money (awful though it is) but for family reasons as I needed flexibility and school jobs can't offer that. Absolutely no trouble getting another job fortunately and work for the LA but not in school- in Social Care

I was a level 3 STF TA , I now work as an Aseessor in childcare in college. Money is no better but better job/ prospects and I'm now doing a PGCE...

I was a HLTA in 2005. I was due to go to university to become a primary school teacher in 2006. The school had 6 classes and each teacher was a bullying asshole. The atmosphere was so toxic I decided to still go to university and put my skills elsewhere and become a marketing / design professional instead.

I still can't believe how little I got paid even though I was a HLTA!

Best decision I ever made. My HLTA years make me shudder!

The problem is that we can't even recruit enough staff to cover the hours of the children with funded hours of support and them alone. Gone are the days of whole class TA support. Long gone.

And, as above, they're all leaving for supermarket, office admin, hospital admin and community care type roles. All better paid.

I left my job as a school business manager in July, i LOVED it! The best colleagues and the most wonderful children.
i work full time now only 7 more hours a week and I earn over twice what i earned in school.
I wish i could have afforded to stay at school but sadly i couldn’t.
it broke my heart to leave.

This is a very issue and tbh I can't see how some SEN schools will survive. We have 7 TA vacancies

If it's just the school holiday deficit that's a problem then can't you get a job in a holiday club? I'm a TA and a single parent. No way I could survive on the wage alone, especially heading into the current climate. I don't want to do a holiday club as wound defeat the purpose of wanting term time employment to spend time with dc and save on holiday care costs but I do bar work when they are at their dads to top it up or the odd long shift while they go to their grandparents. The good thing is holidays coincide with when hospitality often need temporary extra staff so is a good fit

Absolutely. I also think the way the job is advertised at say £20k and the pro rated ie the whole school day (which doesn’t count as full time) minus holidays brings it closer to £14/15k but with a 30 hr week.
I was on a teachers salary which apparently doesn’t pay for the holidays either but is at least double. However often the TA’s would take classes, teach small groups, make resources in their own time and get given paperwork by the class teacher to complete.

They leave when tax credits/ price of petrol to get to work/ childcare make it unsustainable.
Unfortunately women with children tend to go into it for the school holidays and leave was soon as they can afford a better plan B. Women without children at home only stay if the pension is on the horizon.

I was a TA in an sen school and I absolutely loved it. I was really good at it, I was working with brilliant kids and I was excited for work every monday. I still miss it.
I left because I couldn't afford to do it anymore, and I had three other jobs at the same time. I was exhausted, kept getting given more and more responsibilities which I loved but also brought so much stress and took up my minimal free time for no extra money, had no opportunity for progression, was frequently injured and still struggling to pay bills.

I left and kept up my part time jobs while I trained to be an LD nurse. The money is not great but it is better than TA money and I can afford to live independently and I am safe within that and I can work 12hr shifts and have more days to be with my kids rather than working every day of the week

Also a TA, I take home 11k a year. I've worked in the same school for over 7 years and I've never had a pay increase other than the annual below inflation pay rise. Despite the fact in that time I've done the level 3 qualification.

I have taught whole classes when the teacher has been ill (including planning what we are doing).
I regularly take groups for interventions and plan/assess what we will be doing.
I do all the reading for my class which means I'm the only person teaching them to read as reading is not taught as a lesson.
I am regularly left in charge of over 80 children alone while they are eating at lunch times as we have no dinner staff whatsoever!
During lesson times my job is exactly the same as the teachers, we do the exact same thing to support their learning.
If I want to get admin jobs done such as cutting sheets, sticking things in I have to come in early and do in unpaid because there isn't time during the day.
And I'm sick of all the extra responsibility, being treated like absolute crap by parents. All for barely above minimum wage!
And yet I would be heartbroken to leave, I adore the children. I love the teacher I work with and I am bloody good at my job but something has to change!

What's happening with the union's because they're were trying to negotiate new pay?

An offer was made of 2.5% and a one off cost of living payment. That would be extremely helpful right now!

What's happened to the negotiations as that offer was rejected.

Do some settings get it but not others?

I'm a teacher in a secondary school which is/was known locally for its SEN provision. We used to have plenty of TAs. Many of them were well qualified and experienced. They often had a real passion for their job.

Most of those have left and the school is struggling to recruit. A lot of the newer TAs are school leavers or new graduates doing it as a stopgap. They're doing their best and some are wonderful, but it doesn't compare to someone who's worked with autistic students for 15 years and really cares about their education.