To say that you can't "just be a teaching assistant"

[elliejjtiny]

My youngest is in year 6 so I am feeling reflective.

I've seen people on here and in real life suggest that people "just get a job as a teaching assistant" as a childcare solution.

There is no such thing as just a teaching assistant. The teaching assistants and learning support assistants at my dc primary and secondary schools are super heroes.

There are 3 TA's at my dc primary school who have been there since the 1980's. One retired but missed it so much she came back and volunteers now. They remember every child who has been through the school and they always want to know how my older ones are getting on.

There is the TA who takes the most difficult children out in small groups once a week which is my youngest child's favourite time.

There are several class TA's who are trying to do 1-1 for children who need 1-1 but don't qualify and also trying to help the other children too.

In my dc secondary school the support staff are like ninjas, trying to support 2 or more children who need 1-1 but only have enough funding for part time 1-1. These children often have different needs so they are scribing for one child and trying to stop another child escaping. Then there is the endless paperwork trying to get more funding, referrals for assessment etc.

There seem to be so many children who need support but don't qualify for funding. Children who need specialist school who are in mainstream and children who need more support than their funding allows.

I just think that teaching assistants are doing an amazing job for very little pay and often not a lot of recognition either.

I'm going to stick my head above the parapet here: some TAs are absolutely amazing and totally undervalued, but some are... just shit. I've been teaching for 12 years so have seen the whole spectrum, from the TAs who are doing a teacher's job on shit pay with no complaints, to the TAs who are lovely but so incompetent they can't even be trusted with the photocopying, to the TAs who have dramatic bust-ups with one another which need to be mediated by members of SLT.

A good TA is absolutely worth their weight in gold, but there's no point pretending that they are universally good at their jobs.

TA stands for Teaching Assistant, not Teacher's Assistant. You are assisting with the teaching.

The provision often includes a set number of hours of small group or 1-2-1 support for specific things, however, and in those cases the EHCP funding is absolutely costed on paying the wages of a TA to deliver those hours.

One TA is only very rarely funded entirely by one child's EHCP, of course, as it is so rare for a child to actually be allocated a full time 1-2-1 (or even 2-2-1 if a child needs it) at mainstream school - but several EHCPs might well be combined to provide the funding to allow a school to employ an extra TA to deliver the various interventions (and probably do other things as well).

Totally agree! My mum is an excellent HLTA who takes lessons etc and wishes back in her 40s shed "just done it" and became a qualified primary teacher given the level of work she does.

If you want the benefits of holidays etc without the pressure, perhaps see if a reception/office type job is available at the school?

Many schools don't have a teacher and a class TA though.

The TA is usually in the class because a child has some funding for a 1-1 and that's why the TA works with them.

My DD spends her entire day with her 1-1 TAs. She is not taught by a teacher, she is not in the classroom. She is tag teamed by a team of 3 TAs. They are absolute heroes.