Is it fair to give TA less than teacher

[cheeriobye]

I've read that some TA's don't get given a gift when the teacher does and I've also read that sometimes TA will get a gift but of a lower value compared to teacher.

Is this fair?

In my case it is the teacher that has made a large difference to my child's education and I know they spend a great deal of time outside the classroom on working too. Therefore that's what I want to acknowledge at Christmas.

The TA in my case would get a token gift.

Is this fair and ok? Also appreciate responses from TA's

And hours?

I think it’s embarrassing to send in gifts of obvious different values to staff in the same classroom. I’m a teacher - I think TAs are worth their weight in gold!

TAs don't get paid much but they work around half the hours teachers do and don't have much paperwork or responsibility. It costs £40,000 in tuition fees to train to be a teacher now.

I think its fair. I'm a classroom assistant and I breeze in and out at the start and end of the school day, I teach or support on whatever the teacher has thought up, planned and prepared for me to do with the children that she has identified for me to work with. I get all the nice bits working with the children and don't have to take anything home.

But I do get cold and wet in the playground I suppose!

I give our TA a huge present (high value voucher and sentimental things) because she's DD's 1-2-1 and I owe her everything.

I give the teacher the same because it would be awkward otherwise, but in our case, it's the TA who has the most significant input in our child's education.

TA here. I have no opinion on who 'deserves' a more valuable gift as gifts are not expected and each and every one is gratefully received regardless.

In terms of workload discussion, no, I don't do as much as the teachers, but I do cover teachers planning time and plan and mark those lessons myself, I go in during the holidays to make sure the classroom is set up and displays are done. I take part in discussions regarding planning, trips, report writing. I plan and deliver educational interventions and also specialist interventions (speech and language, physical therapy etc). Our TAs are usually those trained to deliver insulin or have the experience with epilepsy. And of course, sometimes I do cutting and sticking (when I find time). It seems from this post that the TA role varies greatly between schools, and the actual person, but it is not unusual for children to have a lot of input from a TA.

As PP have said, give gifts if you like and can afford them, or don't; you aren't judged by it and your child will be no less loved, educated or cared for by staff because of it.

I think it depends how much your ta is involved with the child. If your child is seated close to them and receives ongoing support, it would be odd not to acknowledge it. If they're one of twenty and don't get extra help, then probably I would give less as the teacher carries a great deal of responsibility and will have invested time in helping your child achieve.

I get them the same. Although in recent years some of my DC haven’t had their ‘own’ class TA and the TA has been shared, but I’ve still got them a gift. This year I really dislike my DS TA due to some past interactions with them at non school time events, when they have been very rude to me (they were drunk but still!). I still feel like I have to get them the same value gift, however there’s a part of me that really doesn’t want to!

@OnTheBenchOfDoom teachers don’t get paid for their lunch time. If they agree to do a lunch duty the school doesn’t have to pay them ( though they should provide a lunch) .

I’ve been a teacher and TA. Gifts are always appreciated but never expected, and nobody is sitting there calculating the value of any gifts.

Cards/ notes of appreciation, either directly from the children or from parents, are always very much appreciated- we do the job to have a positive impact on children’s learning and their lives generally; nobody’s in it for money, glamour and fast cars!

If any member of staff (TA, teacher, support staff) has made a positive difference to your child, then please consider emailing the head or chair of governors. Many schools are running on adrenaline and goodwill , and the positive impact of messages of appreciation on morale is massive.

As a TA in a SEN school we may not do the planning but in class we do as much and sometimes more than the teacher. My hours may be less but many of us turn up as early as we can as we have to resource, prep the room etc and then we stay late after our finishing time to complete work, log incidents, and every other job needed to be done. As well as the CPD we are are given to do. I don't expect gifts, I do the job as I love what I do. But I wish parents knew that we are the ones dealing with the sensory overloads, the personal care, the children who struggle are taught by us so the teacher can concentrate on the more able, and the list is endless.

I get them the same - chocolate at Xmas, gift voucher (for same amount) at the end of the year.

If any member of staff (TA, teacher, support staff) has made a positive difference to your child, then please consider emailing the head or chair of governors. Many schools are running on adrenaline and goodwill , and the positive impact of messages of appreciation on morale is massive.

Absolutely this! If everyone reading this thread sent one positive email, the impact on school happiness would probably be measurable.

TAs do a hard job and their wages really don’t reflect this. We’re doing the same.

They also do different things in my son’s classroom and he clearly values them all equally from the conversations we’ve had.

@JustLikea

Teachers have a degree and have teacher training and do all the marking, assessments lesson planning etc etc

I'm guessing a TA finishes and goes straight home for the day without any extra workload

Or am I wrong

You're very wrong regarding Higher Level and TA3s who can spend quite a lot of time preparing wheat they will do will do with a class or a group of children.

TA2s usuall spend quite a lot of unpaid time doing work related things.

One teacher in the school I work with has two part time TAs this year, both because of home commitments can only work the hours they are paid for. The teacher is really feeling it, and her displays and classroom aren't what they usually would be, so it's easy for others to see the what happens when there isn't the extra input.

And lots of TAs have degrees in Early Years or similar. One of our TA2 is a qualified teacher and covers whole classes (which he's paid a bit extra for) and works with the most able Year 6 children.

@JustLikea

Teachers have a degree and have teacher training and do all the marking, assessments lesson planning etc etc

I'm guessing a TA finishes and goes straight home for the day without any extra workload

Or am I wrong

I think the answer to this will vary hugely, even within the same school. I have a Masters in Education as well as qualifications in child development and my original BSc. I'm a TA as it fits with my family at the moment.

I usually leave work around 4.30 as I like to help make sure everything is ready for the next day. I'm the one making sure pencils etc are sharpened so we don't waste time the following day, and other silly things like that. I also bring home work (eg display work to mount) because there is no time in the school day and I don't mind doing it, and it means the teacher I work with can concentrate on other things.
Because of my qualifications and previous job (which involved teaching) I am usually the first port of call if a teacher is off for a morning or an afternoon. I don't usually plan the work but I do like to have time to go through it, which may mean getting in really early. Sometimes, I do have to plan. In my own time.

And I have my own areas of responsibility within my class. I do them because I am more than capable and it frees up my class teacher.
I do all this on top of lunch duty etc. I don't often get my full half hour for lunch as things happen (someone falls over and needs some TLC for example). And we are massively stretched at the moment.

But here's the thing. I do it because I love my job and the children I work with are the bees knees. They really deserve everything I do and a tonne more. So I do the extra because I want to. No-one expects it of me, or asks me to do it. In fact my Head often checks with me to make sure I'm happy with what I'm doing. That to me makes all the difference. The overtime isn't required but it makes a difference and I'm happy doing it. I've got a colleague in a parallel role and she is always gone by 3.30. That's fine too.

And ultimately, I am not responsible if the children don't pass their SATS. The buck doesn't stop with me. I know where all the children are academically, I can tell you who is likely to ace things, and who will struggle, and who will be upset if they don't do well and need some support and who isn't that fussed. I know the children as well as the teacher does - I can give you off the top of my head the reading level of every child in my class - but it isn't my role, in the end, to mark to OFSTED standard or get them through the screenings. And I wouldn't want it to be.

My Head teacher is brilliant though. When I've needed to (and it's not often) she's let me slip out to do something (going to drop something essential to my daughter at a different school when she'd forgotten it and was stressed, for example, or letting me off for an afternoon to see my children in something). The flexibility means the world to me.

What did make my day last week was a little girl who ran over to give me a hug as she came into school one morning and I made a passing comment to her dad about how sweet that was, and he made a throwaway comment "I'm not surprised - she thinks the world of you." Honestly, that will do me.

I think the TA role, in the end, is what you make of it.

That was long. Sorry folks.

babybythesea

You're a gold dust TA and while I'm not saying they're not usually wonderful, this is not typical!! You could do the teacher's job if you wanted to.

In my case it is the teacher that has made a large difference to my child's education and I know they spend a great deal of time outside the classroom on working too. Therefore that's what I want to acknowledge at Christmas.

And when the TA is dealing with the child who has SN so the teacher can continue to teach your child, you don’t think that’s important to your child?

@Chachasha

I think it depends how much your ta is involved with the child. If your child is seated close to them and receives ongoing support, it would be odd not to acknowledge it. If they're one of twenty and don't get extra help, then probably I would give less as the teacher carries a great deal of responsibility and will have invested time in helping your child achieve.

This probably sums it up well:

@babybythesea

I’m a supply TA with a childhood and youth degree, plus a masters. In at 8:30, out at 3.30 with a different adventure each day. Would never want the responsibility of teaching and couldn’t cope with the constant observations and scrutiny. I prefer the smaller moments of joy, but shame the pay is rubbish :(

@LCCC2020

As a TA in a SEN school we may not do the planning but in class we do as much and sometimes more than the teacher. My hours may be less but many of us turn up as early as we can as we have to resource, prep the room etc and then we stay late after our finishing time to complete work, log incidents, and every other job needed to be done. As well as the CPD we are are given to do. I don't expect gifts, I do the job as I love what I do. But I wish parents knew that we are the ones dealing with the sensory overloads, the personal care, the children who struggle are taught by us so the teacher can concentrate on the more able, and the list is endless.

100% .

Sen teacher here and you absolutely do the same as me and then more like you say with the personal care etc.

@WombatChocolate

Tallulah, would you really feel aggrieved if a parent bought your TA less than you? Would you really know, be measuring up each gift you received against theirs, or judging and feeling aggrieved? How have you got the time or inclination to even make those comparisons? What on earth is the point?

As you say, a thoughtfully written card, which shows a parent has actually noticed some things you’ve done, counts for more and costs pennies or nothing. In a way, that’s better.

Teachers who feel their TAs are under-valued can’t do anything about parental gifts and shouldn’t be feeling thrilled or disappointed on their behalf. It honestly should be something that’s barely noticed and certainly not stored up as something to remember and be pleased about or bear a grudge over. A teacher can give a TA a nice gift if they want to….or not, in exactly the same way as a parent can. We can only be responsible for ourselves and our own giving. The idea there is a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ about this, or feeling someone else has given ‘incorrectly’ is an over-thinking. As many others say, most teachers don’t expect, keep record or worry at all about gifts ir their value. Anything is a nice bonus…that’s all. There’s too much suggestion it’s a big deal in anyone’s mind. That myth needs getting rid of, because it’s that which worries parents and makes them feel there is a ‘right’ way to do it, people are noticing and keeping tabs. Anything which suggests this is the case should really be e pulled as an idea. It’s so unhelpful.

Well I don't know that you work where I do, or you know what my job entails. Or that of my TAs. But considering the fact that they are the ones who carry out the personal care for all of our children up to 6 times a day for each child, that they are the ones who will be seated next to the children whilst I lead a lesson, meaning that they are the ones who get bitten, kicked, hit etc.... That they are the ones who will take the children who are seriously distressed or in a meltdown, and therefore incredibly violent out of the room to regulare themselves, and again are constantly being injured, whilst I need to teach the rest of the class....

Yes... Yes I would be aggreived. But it doesnt happen because our parents do know exactly what role we all play, and thankfully value my team as much as I do.

What is so unhelpful @WombatChocolate is trying to make assertions about something that evidently you know very little about.

Teachers carry so much more responsibility but it's the ta who will get to know your dc better, provides huge support to the teacher will probably stop any bullying, spot learning issues. I'd give equally.