Anyone gone on to study Childcare of to be a TA after a degree?

[LollipopViolet]

Long story short, got a degree in a field I'm struggling to work in, stuck in a job I really don't like and will be leaving soon, and am looking to train to work with children and young people, either as a TA or in a nursery/other childcare setting.

My degree is in film production.

Assuming I can find a training provider who will take me on (I'm 24 and obviously have a degree) how and where do I look for voluntary experience to get my evidence?

And can anyone tell me what I'm about to embark on???

Take a look at the Early Years Teacher qualification. You just need a degree to do it, takes 6months and will qualify you in early years.

You could probably get a level 1 job without any more qualifications and in fact you'd be more qualified than most of the TAs at my place. But the money is officially depressing at around 10k a year, this is because you only get paid for the hours you're in the classroom. To get to a level 3 job which is better paid then you can do an nvq such as 'supporting teaching and learning in schools.' Some schools will pay to put you through this. If not you can do an evening class. At 24 you may be eligible for a loan (I think called advanced learning loan but you'd need to check, not sure if you'd be exempt because of degree)

Do you want primary or secondary? If secondary I would put on your application that you'd like to run a film club for the kids, it would give you edge.

I'll be honest, I'm looking at primary really (teenagers scare me a bit ) or early years. Early Years Teacher looks interesting, might be one for the future - I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a teacher!

I honestly don't mind the pay side - I'm on 12.5K at the moment but the job is soul destroying.

I am going to speak to various training providers and a few local schools, see what they say, and go from there :)

Just join a teaching agency. There are loads. You can look on the gumtree in the teaching section. Agencies tend to advertise there. I was with Sagitta recruitment. If you say you want to work with special needs they will take you on. You don't need a specialist degree.

It is rewarding, but still can be stressful. I was a teaching assistant for 3 years and loved it, but in the end I wanted a profession (I also had a bit of a useless undergraduate degree). Working with autistic children is what inspired me to go into occupational therapy. I think you will enjoy being a TA. Regardless of the pay, it is a fun job and you create a great bond with the children.

Just join a teaching agency. There are loads. You can look on the gumtree in the teaching section. Agencies tend to advertise there. I was with Sagitta recruitment. If you say you want to work with special needs they will take you on. You don't need a specialist degree.

It is rewarding, but still can be stressful. I was a teaching assistant for 3 years and loved it, but in the end I wanted a profession (I also had a bit of a useless undergraduate degree). Working with autistic children is what inspired me to go into occupational therapy. I think you will enjoy being a TA. Regardless of the pay, it is a fun job and you create a great bond with the children.

tbh not worth doing training to be a TA. If you have a degree you'll be employable. The wage is extremely low though.

very competitive now for jobs now though sarah. most schools in my LA are now only taking graduates even for level 1 positions. Because they can.

Well, a little update. I couldn't start my Supporting Teaching and Learning qualification in January as planned, as apparently, the college needs you to have had a placement for 2 months prior. Nice of them to not state that on the website

Anyway, I was recommended the Introduction to an Early Years Setting Level 1 course as a foundation, as I've no real experience with children, and this would give me an insight into nurseries etc before going on to primary. So I've enrolled for that, starting in February. I'm also speaking with a school regarding doing voluntary in class work for them so I can start my other course in September.

Lollipop- EYT is a higher level nursery nurse, really. It is a fantastic way to get qualified in early years as it is free at the moment.
With it you can work in a pre-school or a nursery and be really hands on with the children.

Oh really? I didn't know EYT was free :)

This 17 week course doesn't need a placement so will do this first and might consider EYT if I enjoy it :)

My real goal is to work with children with SN in schools - I'm just having to take the scenic route to get to it!

Right, thought I'd better update this.

I started college about 4 weeks ago, and have been volunteering a few hours a week at a children'd centre for about the same amount of time.

I love what I do at the centre and it's totally changed my plans - I'm going to now get my CACHE Level 3 diploma in the Children and Young People's Workforce, and work in early years :)

I can still get involved in the SN side in that setting, and this qualification would enable me to set up as a childminder in the future, if I wanted to, so it offers more options.

It does mean I need to do 2 more years though (Level 2 and Level 3 are a year each), which I didn't anticipate, but that's alright.

Did you know that you could do the graduate entry pathway to get early years teacher status? It's a pretty full on one year programme with a substantial placement (but it has a bursary). It's a level 6/7 qualification depending on where you do it.

Congrats lollipop. Double check whether you HAVE to do the level 2 or whether you could go straight to the level 3. I made that mistake for my TA ones and wasted a year as noone told me.

TinyDiamond I have checked - I was told I could skip Level 2, but my tutor for this course (Level 1) checked and basically Level 3 is more about being in more senior roles and Level 2 gives you all the groundwork for Level 3.

Good thing I asked my tutor really.