Teaching assistant - advice needed

[branflake81]

Hello

I am contemplating becoming a teaching assistant and have been doing some research on the net. Basically, it seems the only way in is to volunteer in a school. Trouble is, I work full time and can't afford not to which obvioulsy rules out that possibility. Are there are any other routes in?

Also - what is the salary like? I've heard it's quite low. I'm currently on £17,500pa and could not really afford to take much less.

thanks!

DH teaches in a primary school and they don't pay the TAs anywhere near your current wages. You'd have to check with your LEA re pay in your area, but their online job pages should give you a figure.

DH agrees that pretty much the best way in is to volunteer.

Agree with BB3. What about doing a teaching degree? Is that an option? Immense job satisfaction, lots of stress, long hours but so rewarding (and the pay is not too bad).

I am a ta and earn £8,000 pa, the money is really poor. I am doing it while I get my degree and then will hopefully get a gtp at my school.Job is fun and holidays are great but pay is appalling! I applied when the job was advertised in the paper and had no experience just enthusiasm. I did volunteer at one secondary school and only lasted three days, but have been in my current job for three years and love the school and kids. Good luck with whatever you decide.

prettypurpledaisy-is that full time?
god that is low.

Was also thinking of applying for ta jobs as am volunteering at the school already but think I may think again now.

Many TA jobs aren't really full time anyway - in the school I work at they are mostly 20-25 hours pw & only for around 43 weeks of the year.

Different authorites have different ideas of which pay point (called Spinal Column Points) TAs should be on - I've seen jobs advertised from SCP 11 to 21 for ordinary TAs & higher if you have the HLTA qualification.

There has been a recent pay rise agreed, but I can't find the new figures on the web - these were the figures for one authority in April 2007

A lot of schools are very naughty how they advertise jobs. For example my job was advertied for about 15K. However when I was offered the job, I found that the pay was pro rata, meaning that I get about 70 to 80% of the advertised salary.

Most people who work as TAs/ support staff in schools are financially supported by their partner. It is fun working in a school and I like the holidays although I have to work 5 days a year outside term time.

It varies a lot.

These are the NJC payscales that TAs are paid on.

In our County baseline is:
Scale 1 TAs usually get spine points 8-11 I think
Scale 3 TA spine points 14-17
Scale 4 TA spine points 18-22

But a lot of this may be pro-rata-d.

I'm lucky in that I work 32.5 hrs/wk and 39 wks of the year, but I get full salary 52 wks of the year: no pro rata for holidays or not quite full time. So the hourly rate works out OK. But I wouldn't do it for less!

Many TAs work/are paid for only 4-5 hrs a day, and don't get paid in the holidays. Hence the low final figures.

Try approaching schools directly. Send them a CV and letter of application. They may not need anyone at the moment, but you can be sure they will 'keep you on file' for a later date. In the private sector its not unusual to apply for jobs that haven't been advertised. It won't do you any harm and something may come of it.

Of course you wouldn't actually get thae amount shown there, it would be pro rata,depending on how many weeks the authority pays you for & what they consider to be full time.

My authority pays for 43.26 weeks of the year & full time is 37 hours.

So if you were on SCP 12, working 25 hours per week you would get
14,492 x (43.26/52)x(25/37), which is just over £8000

I'm a TA & confirm the pay is dreadful. In my experience primary school tend to pay better than Secondary as jobs advertised tend to be of a higher level (L2 or 3) whereas round here, a secondary school can get away with L1 or 2. You don't get paid for school hols but the pay is spread over 12 months so you get the same amount each month.
I did a distance learning BTEC TA qualification whilst I was working in my previous job, so that I had something under my belt when I swapped careers. (although it actually hasn't counted for much where I work [grr])

We had a union rep come to see the support staff at our school last week and he indicated that they are trying to get support staff paid in the same way that teachers are i.e. 52 weeks a year. Possibly backdated to September 2007. Anyone know if this is likely?

I gross £8400 for a 25hr week so about half your current salary branflake!

Our County are trying to go the other way actually.

I work 32.5/37 hrs pw and term time only.

County want to standardize contracts and say I should therefore get 71% of the salary for my SCP.

My school currently pay 100% of the salary, and feel they are getting value-for-money.