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?

The treatment of support staff leaves a lot to be desired as well!

Incredible how rude people are to them and yet many places could not function without them

TAs are paid appallingly badly for how valuable and necessary their work is. We have the same issue at the school I work - I'm a teacher and some classes I teach literally would not be able to function without the help of the TA due to the needs of the kids there. However, the number of TAs are constantly being cut due to budget issues, and those who are hired are on temporary term-time-only contracts for disgustingly little money.

Most of our TAs are young people just out of uni and living at home who are trying to see if teaching might be a career for them, semi-retired people or people who are supported fully by their partners and old enough to have their mortgage paid off. There's no way anyone could survive on what they're paid if they had to pay their own rent etc. Working in supermarkets etc, would let them earn far more, especially given that they'd have the chance to work more hours and work all-year round.

So why do all the TAs who say it’s horrendous stay? With flexible working/home working etc, you are not tied to the schools you’re in. Leave!

I definitely don't think it's horrendous. I think it's a lovely job, I just can't afford to keep doing it.

Most teachers are very nice to me tbf. I am really friendly irl and also quite direct, so I can take it when students are not being pleasant too.

It's just the money. I know teachers aren't exactly rolling in it either, but if I trained to teach, which I technically could in a year with a PGCE, I'd be able to afford to live. I think the crux of the matter for me is that I don't want to teach, so it isn't really anywhere for my career to progress.

Because I don't want to leave the teacher I work with/school in the lurch. Because I feel a sense of responsibility to the children in my class. But also because I have a husband who earns a decent wage so I can afford to stay in my badly paid job. Many of my colleagues are now working 2 jobs and are coming into school knackered!

Oops quoted the wrong post! That was for Lindsey!

I left this year after 17 years as a Special School TA.
The pay was dire of course but I loved the children . What broke me was the erosion of funds for the school so gradually all the things that made it so amazing were gradually withdrawn.. trips, Riding for the Disabled, Forest School... you name it. There wasn't enough in the budget for basic art supplied let alone anything else.
And all services decreased dramatically... children who 10 years ago would at least get weekly speech therapy from a trained NHS therapist... nope.. lucky if they got a yearly review. ALL to the detriment of the children we were doing our best to educate. it was demoralising.
Then Covid hit and it was ridiculous. We continued (no break) with the children trapped in their classrooms , no mixing, no fun. Staff left (some for better jobs , some just retirement etc) and they couldn't recruit anyone!

When I started there were so many applicants for every job. Now there are very very few, if any. Shortage of teachers, shortage of TAs.

I left and am currently caring for my grandson. I miss the children but I can earn at least as much in jobs that don't require me to be a physio/ educator/ personal carer. Where I don't have responsilbility for medication, for dealing with seizures or challenging behaviour etc.

TA's aren't just pot washers and bum wipers as so many think, but undervalued, underpaid and it is simply no longer a good job.

Left being and SEN TA to a nanny. Have worked with a mix of children, some having SEN themselves. More than double the salary, I don't regret it, but 5+ years on and I still haven't gotten used to the lack of holidays 😂

Out of interest, what did you go on to do instead?

similar, office based, financial but private sector

Same! ⬆️

I teach the whole class solo probably more time per week than I do my TA role - in yr6!

School is great, Teachers amazing, SLT supportive etc - I'm really lucky in that regard but the money is appalling & quite honestly downright insulting for what I do on a daily basis!

I stick it out because it suits my childcare situation & I'm also lucky in that my husband is the main wage earner & there is no serious reliance on my salary - for now.

I keep contemplating alternative jobs but have no idea what I'd do. I'm incredibly proud of my role & get huge job satisfaction from it - alongside the extreme frustration & exhaustion!

I work as a ta. You're right, there is no way I could do this job if it was needed to live on. I'm so fortunate that I don't need to work financially. I actually work at my DCs school so the commute and childcare is a non issue. It's hard work, but I love it so I'm happy to do it, but it is literally for pocket money!!

Me. I have a degree and work for a full time job paying £1000 a month. In a school. Two of my TA friends so have degrees. One is a qualified teacher.

I do TA work but through a supply agency which pays more per hour. I'm on various rates depending on school but a minimum of £11.53 an hour, up to £13.50. I'm doing the same work as permanent staff who are likely on £9.50 an hour.
I do have to work during holidays to make up a decent salary, but even if I work part of the holidays I still get more holidays than the average worker. I'd definitely suggest working via agency.

Support staff salaries in schools are shockingly low and don't really reflect the responsibilities of the role. It's a real shame. Many will tolerate this because of the way that the jobs fit around parenting - especially while their own children are younger - and the sense of satisfaction from the work - but it's almost as if you can only do that if you can wear the lower salary.

I've seen advertisements on TES for a Senior TA/HLTA where you're expected to manage other TAs and also assist with recruitment, and paid £18-19k a year actual. It's shocking

I was a Cover Supervisor in 2020 (awful job) and was paid £16.5k actual salary .

I've been a TA for about 12 years in a large secondary school with about 30 TAs. Only meant to do it for a year or two as the hours fitted around my (then) childcare needs. Now I do it because I enjoy the work, enjoy the holidays and am very lucky to be able to afford to work for not much money due to husband having a well paid job. The department is now made up of people like me - middle aged who will leave if the job becomes too stressful or graduates fresh out of uni considering teaching & only doing the TA role to get experience. No one struggling to pay a mortgage or rent could afford to do the job anymore so it no longer has widespread appeal.

It used to be a job where every advert attracted multiple good candidates, many with degrees or professional experience. Now we advertise posts and no one applies, or we end up taking people who aren't really suitable for the job or (in the case of a couple of new recruits) can barely speak English. Lots of my colleagues have left in favour of better paid jobs or jobs where they are treated with more respect. It is still a lovely job in lots of ways but the pay is truly terrible as not much over minimum wage for taking a lot of responsibility.

It is rubbish pay, and we should really be investing more in the people who do so much, especially with our struggling or SEN children.

Having said that, I guess for someone who needs school hours work, and all school holidays off, and no work to take home, it means minimal childcare bills. That's why a lot of people I know do it.

Yup - the senior TAs at my school get paid that (in the South) and they have to supervise large groups of pupils at lunchtimes, plan and deliver lessons to SEN pupils and interview for new staff.
I sometimes wonder if the parents of the SEN pupils realise that many of their children's lessons are delivered by HLTAs not qualified teachers.

Cover Supervisors are also very badly paid and get minimal respect. There is a real hierarchy in schools and teachers are given a lot more respect and money than support staff.
Though even teachers are underpaid for all the work they do, in my opion.

Ime many TAs have a DH/DP in a well-paid role and the TA role is often just to earn ‘pocket money’ for clothes and eating out etc, and to ensure they have holidays off.

A neighbour of ours is a TA and DH reckons her husband is on over £100k.

@Elizabeth110100

The point I was trying to make, is that many schools these days, are looking for their new TAs to be over-qualified for the role. You do not need a degree to be a TA.

Many of my TA colleagues have degrees, but they are fortunate in that their partners are the main bread-winner. So taking home £1000 per month (or much less), supplements the household income. Or perhaps, like me, they are already drawing a pension from previous employment. We also have very young TAs who live at home.

We all know that TAs do not earn a living wage, and are massively undervalued, underpaid, and often unappreciated.

I think that is correct in many cases but not all of course. It actually confuses me why some of my colleagues stay when I know they are struggling for money. In my school the TA cohort is largely middle aged/middle class. It would be better if we were more diverse in background than we are. But most people just couldn't afford to do the job while it pays what it does and the cost of living is so high.

The number of TAs in secondary schools has dropped in recent years. It means that only those with an EHCP which specifies one to one support have a TA.
The best fit for the job at secondary school can be a young male graduate thinking about doing a PGCE. Most students with additional needs are boys and they don't want mothering because they are embarrassed in front of friends. Recruiting young graduates prior to gap years or those thinking about a career in teaching often works really well. Increasingly hard to find though.