As a Year 1 TA please can I ask

[Figgyroll]

Mums, if you're going to send your children on a school trip to the seaside, can you please make sure:-

1. Your child has knickers that actually stay up. Not nice being last everywhere because your child has to hoick up said underwear.
2. Child's sandwiches/rolls/cakes/sausage rolls etc. are wrapped in something rather than just chucked into a plastic carrier bag along with a leaky drink.
3. If the school trip letter asks for £2 spending money, please give your child SOMETHING. It's very upsetting for a child to be the only one in the class not to be able to buy a little souvenir. The pencils only cost 50p. (Luckily my class teacher bought the little'un in question a notebook and pencil).
4. Your child knows the difference between a river and the seaside. We do our best in school but.....
5. You don't have an enormous row with DH or DP the night before unless you want it relayed to all the other children on the journey.

Thanking you.

I have known mums to give DC trip spending money, but the money is left in the book bag (which is not taken on the trip) or the child put's it in their drawer. so who's to blame, the parent for not handing it to the TA/teacher, or the child for not listening when being told what to do with their money? Obviously not the TA in this case.

LeeCoakley you really do work for the wrong LEA our TAs are not only salaried and reasonably well paid they get an annual pay rise.

smug T.A, do you not understand the background of the children in your class?? if so i doubt very much you would post such a thread and if not why not, shame on you for being so self absorbed.

I dream of salaried pay. Also we have to have proper appraisals now with lists of even more standards to meet (WHY????? We won't get any more money/promotion etc GAH!!) Hertfordshire CC - I hate you Tell me your LEA mrz - I want to move there!

I'm in Durham

FIGGY - I knew your post was tongue in cheek and it made me smile

I think the posters above must've all got out of bed the wrong side this morn....

LOL. I once gave DS1 £3 spending money when they'd been told a max of £5 because I thought £5 far too much to spend on crap. The leader (it was Beavers) kindly lent DS1 the difference. Her heart was in the right place but....

Hi Figgy! I actually also found the post funny. And was quite surprised at the response. You sound like a good TA and you obviously care about the kids.

Let's all lighten up!

Awww Figgsy honey you made me smile too

Figgyroll and all who found that funny:

If the funniness was recognition of common mishaps on fieldtrips than yes I suppose this is some sort of in joke for education ?professionals. But why share the in joke with parents & hard pressed Mums especially?

However this is all too typical of the chatter we parents here from TAs and Teachers on the way to school.

In the last week I've heard:

"For Christ's sake, does that child's nose never stop dripping?"

"Only 5 more weeks and were shot of these monsters!"

"I've won £5 betting Mrs x wouldn't send in money for this field tirp"

"Don't worry the last two weeks of school are a complete waste of time"

"Oh good the summer fair is coming - we can help ourselves to a bit of petty cash afterwards towards our summer hols" (that was for me)

I'd love to treat you as professionals - if only you'd behave as such....

PSBD - That may be your experience, but it is far from universal.

I would be livid if I heard those kind of comments from my school staff - but I don't.

So why not give the OP the benefit of the doubt?

I know my school are working hard up until the last day of term. Even the Y6s are.

School knows that some of kids will not do a stitch of reading or writing in the 6 weeks holidays. They don't need extra holidays on top of the 6 week holidays.

I know that my school know which kids can't afford to pay for stuff, and do as much as they can for them.

I certainly know that all the money for the PTA school fair is accounted for and doesn't go to TAs or other staff or parent helpers.

However if your school hires bad TAs, maybe you should be looking to move to a better school rather than slagging off all TAs?

pastsellbydate - I don't believe you.
I've taught for 20 years in different types of schools (inner city and leafy suburbs) and I have never come across any teacher or TA who would dream of stealing petty cash. How on earth could that even happen? It's not left lying around the staff room in a biscuit tin.

Don't TA's have safety pins and baby wipes then??

Anyway...I used to work in a souvenir shop and EVEERY school trip had ONE poor child who had no money and EVERY time the teacher used to stump up a pound. It made the teachers very sad for the chilI remember.

I was about 16 at the tme and I remember getting tiny kids coming up with a teddy that cost 6.00 and plonking 20p down on the table. I used to look at their big, excited eyes and bag it up and hand it over!

I was shocking for that! I couldn't bear to tell some tiny little thing that "No...you dont have enough for that."

Looking back they'd have been fine I'm sure and I was lucky not to get twenty kids lining up with their teddies and their 20ps!

I don't believe the petty cash thing either. Why would you not report something like that if it really happened?

when I was a student teacher I went on a trip and was allocated a small group. One child had no money (they all had a pound) so I gave him one. Then he lost it so I gave him another. He lost that so I gave him another. He lost it again and by then I was thinking hmmm....so I told him that I had no more.
He began to cry so his teacher came over and gave him another pound. Later on I could clearly see a stash of pound coins poking through his trouser pocket - little rascal!

I thought this was meant in a light-hearted way: I could have written something similar about my own family/ kids' trips, and of course I love them dearly...

PSBD - it's a shame you heard so many negative comments, but I really don't think that reflects most TAs. I am a trained primary teacher,currentlly p/t childminder and have recently been spending a day in school as a TA. The TAs are all very hard working, committed, professional, and know the children very well due to being in lunch hall and playground as well as the playground.

Fig - thought it was meant in funny non-judgemental way, and enjoyed it as such. (Have also quite enjoyed the number of outraged posts - yowza....)

Well psbd I'm not involved with education but still thought it was funny... it was obviously written tongue on cheek. Dare I say it, but I suspect had a more "well known" poster written the op, we would have then had loads of admiring replies.

Our TAs give their time and energy to the school Fair helping on stalls, helping clear up, doing all sorts beyond and above the call of duty. As they do pretty much every day of term.

They are known as the heart of the school, and highly valued - definitely do not tar all teaching professionals with PSBD's experience, it sounds awful but hopefully rare.

That goes for quite a lot of threads, Spammer, unfortunately. There's a huge lickarse element lately that can be quite unpleasant.

Another one shocked at the response you got OP, I found it funny.

Raising an eyebrow about parents who send their DC out with falling-down pants, soggy lunch and no money doesn't mean that you aren't great at your job and doing your best for the children.

My guess is that it'd been a long day

Sorry I mis-read your OP, Figgyroll. :)

I definitely appreciate the work that the TA's do at my children's school. They're a lovely lot (as are all the staff who work there), and a good many give up their free time to run after-school clubs.

I also don't think it was a case of whether or not someone starting a thread is a 'regular'. I have no idea who the 'regulars' even are these days.

Sorry again, Figgy.

OP, while mumsnet is a fan place for many a subject, may I suggest a teaching forum if you want more sympathetic replies. I can suggest a couple of great online teaching communities where you can let off steam. I find it really interesting as a teacher to use these education boards to work out what parents are REALLY thinking, as so often we only hear when they're at the end of their tether, we don't often get to hear all the little gripes that actually we could try to work through given the chance.

Wow. I don't think Figgy deserved the backlash she got. You are a defensive lot!

Just read this back and while I know I didn't mean 'fan' I can't remember what exactly I did mean. Great I think.