To think most people have no idea how little HLTAs/Teaching Assistants earn?

[LorlieS]

Anybody want to hazard a guess at the average monthly income of a ft HLTA/TA?

It really is quite shocking!

Yes I’m based in Lancashire

Yes our school is the same!

Not really, the only real difference should be if London weighting is paid. National job descriptions are available and should include a suggested pay grade which is consistent across the country.
What I don’t understand is how many school staff don’t seem to understand that they get paid 5.6 weeks holiday pay on top of there 38 or 39? Weeks that they actually work. No one works in a school for the money. A lot do it to get the school holidays off which is okay but they should not expect to be paid for the holiday weeks, above the 5.6 that are paid. You don’t get paid anywhere else for staying at home. I was a primary school business manager for 21 years. I have lost count of his many times I explained how the pay system works to be members of staff

They do get holiday pay. But they are paid 39 school weeks plus 6 weeks holiday. Adds up to 45 paid weeks a year. Which as you say is divided by 12. To give the same pay per month. But that leaves 7 weeks unpaid a year. Teachers get paid for the whole 52 weeks.

Teachers are only contracted for 39 weeks but do get paid for the year. There is not annual leave allowance

But 'national job descriptions' if they exist mean nothing when your contract states '... and anything else your line manager asks you to do'. So 'you're taking the class all week as the teacher is off' comes under that clause along with the killer 'oh btw there's no more money'. Glad I'm out of it.

We are strongly encouraged to make appt outside of school time , however we do get it approved if we need it. Depending on the circumstances/length this can be full pay, no pay for the day/hours or sick pay for lengthier issues.No mention about making the hours up(how?!?) unless there's toil accrued and then they take it out of that.The shitty thing is we(unlike teachers) don't get sick pay for the first two days.

If it's an emergency you have to go, same as teachers. Sometimes you have to, if it's a one day clinic and no option to change.
My school is great for this for all staff, but you need to explain to your lm and the head in advance, do the form etc. They can give it unpaid but its hassle to do so most just ignore that or say its been made up already as you always work over lunch etc.

That’s harsh and I don’t understand why it’s different. I get sick pay from day one.

My school also let's parents go to nativity plays and anything else they deem important enough to ask for. Although I mostly teach 6th form so don't really generate any cover so do essentially have the flexibility to say yes to me without causing problems for the wider school, but they cant really then say no to others as discriminiatory.
Staff rarely leave my school. If they pass the 11+ most send their kids even if out of catchment. Including tas and reception staff and premises staff, all get that benefit after 2 yrs not just teachers. And we def pay sick pay on good terms, probably not 6 months full pay like teachers but certainly a bit.

I'm a retired TA. Full time work is usually 25 hours pw. Although TAs frequently work through breaks and lunchtimes and before Lesson 1, these are usually unpaid hours. We often receive no formal training yet are expected to devise lesson plans with no guidance and deliver lessons 1-1 or in small groups to students with complex learning needs and behavioural difficulties. We have to keep records of what we've done in every lesson. We're expected to read work emails in our own time including our days off and weekends. We have to attend inset days which are often irrelevant to our work. It's the exception rather than the rule that the teacher you're working with will have prepared resources for the special needs students you're supposed to be supporting, so you have to improvise on the hoof and have enough knowledge of each subject to be able to interpret it for students with differing levels and types of need. You rarely get any thanks. And the pay is, frankly, an insult. So why do TAs do it? Because they care about kids, often have kids or relatives with special needs and know they need effective support, and often have kids of their own so the hours and holidays fit in with them. Believe me, nobody does it for the money!

Is the pension and sick pay ok? I work for a private company and it’s s stakeholder pension thing so only 1 or 2% and sick pay is statutory.
I agree TAs should be paid more, my dsis in law often takes classes in place of qualified teacher.

@EdinaTyphoon

A teacher way back said she can set work to for dyslexia students and every other need and all her tas do are scribing and physical tasks? Like toileting or helping with a student who has become violent.

However I recognise what you do more and that's more in line with what I've seen.
Esp in secondary schools where tas need to know every single subject to help their students!

And no, you won't get thanks if the teacher has no idea of what you actually have to do!

Your contracted hours and the workings out will be shown on your contract

And sadly, some teachers consider a TA to be their own PA and expect you to fetch and carry things for them, do their photocopying and generally do the bits of their job they don't like, such as coping with the most disruptive students. I regularly took a group of 8 dis-engaged boys out of the classroom for French lessons to make the teacher's life easier. I was given a worksheet for them to do but it was down to me to try and manage their behaviour when they were bored silly and had enough trouble doing schoolwork in English, never mind a second language. Mind you, it's amazing what Year 9 boys will do for the promise of a few Haribos at the end of class!

No they don’t.

I don't think anyone is saying teachers get paid hourly. I'm comparing the roles. A teacher gets paid more because of the training and level of responsibility but also because they work full time. There hourly wage wouldn't be that much more.

Slightly off topic but- Why did you have 3 children if finances were so tight?
or look for alternative employment?
this is not a nasty post I’m just interested? My partner and I have a household income of ~£130k but have decided due to our outgoings and considering the life we want for our 2 current DC, we can’t afford a third.

It's not really irrelevant though for 8 weeks of the year you're on holiday without pay so they're stretching your wage accross those unpaid weeks.
So if you worked full time you'd get a decent wage But you get two months extra time off than a normal full time job.
So long as you get enough per hour that's the important thing but doesn't seem like you do compared to retail work.

I used to be a TA.
I have a postgrad qualification in autism (after a first degree and masters in English back in the day). In the mornings I worked 1:1 with a child with complex needs (autism, EAL, trauma), in the afternoons I ran a nurture group (a group for 8 children with SEMH needs) for which I underwent training and received a qualification. I designed and delivered the curriculum for this group with another TA colleague.
The work was absolutely exhausting and in no way could I have done another job during term time. In the holidays I worked as a support worker for an autism charity.
Fellow TAs regularly covered classes multiple times a week.
I would have stayed in the job longer for better pay or for more opportunity to advance/training that didn't involve teaching -- the aim for me was to work in a psychological profession as a career change. The only way to earn more was to train as a teacher or become a cover supervisor and I wasn't interested in whole-class teaching. As it was I was paid less than 10p above the min wage per hour for a job to which I brought a lot of skills and training. I left because of this, which was definitely the right thing to do, but I think it's a shame that the pay made it so absolutely illogical to stay.

@cromartyforties My background is very similar to yours! Please may I ask what it is you do now? 😀

I work 2 days a week as a Mental Health Programme Facilitator with a small charity, meaning that I deliver psychoeducation programmes on mental health and wellbeing to CYP from age 4-24.

I am not a model for anyone's career trajectory as mine has been a bit of a mess! The above is the day job that gives me stability of income and sick pay as well as being interesting and feeling 'worthwhile', but I also retrained as a counsellor and I'm currently doing a psychology undergrad (second degree tuition loans are available for PT psych degrees with the Open University).

@cromartyforties Thank you - your job sounds fab 😀
My first degree is in Human Psychology and I'm hoping to do my MSc CCYP but just a bit concerned re career prospects?

@LorlieS
Comparing child and adult counselling, there appear to be a lot more opportunities to be an employee in CYP work, e.g. as a school counsellor or working for an agency/charity. Adult counsellors I think are very often obliged to work in private practice. Practically, I think that there are significant challenges to working with CYP privately e.g. third party interest/involvement in the process and safeguarding that make it less attractive to lots of people.

There also seem to be opportunities to use the qualification to work in areas allied to counselling, e.g. to be a Specialist Mentor in a university setting.
The labour party appear to have committed to increase the presence of counselling in primary and secondary schools which I would imagine will increase the number of jobs available.

Good luck with the path you choose to go down!