any TAs out there who want to give advice to a newbie?

[merrilymay]

I'm starting my first job as a TA in Sept, for a year 3 class. I'm going in to meet the class next week. The class teacher is an nqt and seems lovely, though 10 years younger tha me!

The limited experience I have had has been with preschool and reception, so this is all very new! What sort of things should I ask the teacher in preparation for Sept? Should I try and read up on the curriculum? I have no idea really what kind of level 7 year olds will be at, or what kind of things they are into (my kids are 4 and 2)

I am the kind of person who likes to be prepared, and I'm feeling seriously unprdpared at the moment! Excited though- this is a massive career change and will hopefully help me decide if I want to do a pgce in the future.

Excuse typos- on phone. I can spell!

OK, I will give you the dubious benefit of my expertise!

I trained in a foundation stage classroom but the first proper job I got was with Y4s. This threw me a bit as (at the time) this was older than even my oldest child and I knew nothing about them.

What I would say first of all is that lower KS2 is lovely, the children are old enough to have some independence and sense, but still young enough to want to please you and not be cocky / 'too cool for school'. My Y4s are into Harry Potter, Horrible Histories, their pets, football, gymnastics, still a little bit interested in Moshi Monsters, plus anything else ICT-oriented. The most street-wise of them are interested in boy bands, but the youngest of them still like clapping games and skipping games.

My top tips for starting with a new class would be to ask the teacher directly what behaviour management strategies they use and to what extent they are happy for you to use sanctions / rewards for the class. It's really important that the children know that their behaviour with you should be the same as when they're with the class teacher.

With certain curriculum areas, e.g. maths, the techniques will be different from KS1 and different from when we were at school ourselves. I used to sit with a notebook making notes on column addition, grid multiplication and the like during the teacher's intro, so that I knew the methods myself.

It could be worth you reading up on the curriculum for KS2, I find this link really useful for a simple overview by subject and key stage.

Ask the teacher if she will give you a copy of her planning, then you know what is coming up and if you're not sure what you're doing, you can read up. If she's an NQT she'll probably be very sympathetic to you wanting to get off on the right foot and find out if a PGCE is for you.

Being a TA won't ever make you rich, but it's the best job I've ever had and I'm going to really miss my class when I finish with them next week. I'm having some of your concerns in reverse because I'm going into Y2 as an HLTA and I feel seriously out of touch there!

Good luck and I hope you love it as much as I do

Hi Merrily I am hoping to start the NVQ level 2 in teaching asistance in september. Can you tell me which course you did to get qualified?
Also, really curious, I thought you would learn about all the age groups and curriculum in your course? But I'm guessing that this is not the case?
Thanks

Ask for a list of topics that will be covered, which children have SEN, get levels if possible for the whole class, what is the teachers/ whole school behaviour management strategy, what is the daily routine, will you be running any groups, any child protection issues you should know about, where can you find school policies, swap phone numbers, really just get to know the children and teacher, you can learn together!

I agree with the advice you've already been given but I also find it useful to have a list from the teacher of which tasks are essential for the short/medium/longterm.
So, for example what does the teacher want doing every week? e.g changing all the reading books on a particular day/updating records/sorting out dinner money etc. Are there tasks they want doing every month or so? Do they have a long term plan to reorganise the classroom/change all the display boards and so on

definitely with the timetable of tasks - when are the books changed, when does she want you to do admin / photocopying, which withdrawal groups & when, when are you doing whole-class support. This means you can just get on with it rather than asking and checking every 5 minutes.

Also find out if there's any children with sensitive family situations (e.g. newly separated parents, bereavement etc.) that you should know about.

wow, some fantastic advice, and lots of things I hadn't even thought of, thanks! Good idea about asking for a timetable of what she wants doing when etc, and also asking what behaviour management strategies she wants me to use. I guess it's like being a parent, you both have to be consistent and use the same strategies. When I spoke to her she was (understandably) quite nervous about her own things and when I mentioned I was a new TA, but that I was happy to take guidance and do whatever she wanted me to do she said 'oh I don't know either, I'm sure we'll figure it out together!'

We didn't get a chance to speak very long but we did swap email addresses/phone numbers so maybe I'll get in touch with her over the holidays and see if she can send me some of her lesson plans, or a general plan of the topics etc we're doing in September.

There is a training day at the school for TAs in Sept, before school starts, so I guess some of these things may be covered then too. One of the things I'm worried about is knowing the boundaries between the teacher/TA - eg if a child is playing up while the teacher is talking, do I step in? Or leave her to deal with it?

Shybairns - I didn't do an NVQ (hence why I'm so clueless!). I had done some volunteering in DD's preschool and also in the reception class of another school, with a view to applying for TA courses. Then I saw this job advertised at my local school and thought it was too good an opportunity to miss - I was over the moon and a bit gobsmacked when I got the job!

Hi -

I was in a similar situation, having only been a parent helper (father!), when I got my first TA job - but that was twenty years ago, and we were called Classroom Assistants then, and had less 'standing' than now. The other replies have told you most of the things you need to know; I would add that once you are settled, if you have any special skills - art, crafts, music, sport, cookery - let teachers know, and you might be able to support groups in you favourite activity!

As your teacher is NQT could be to your advantage, as she will look to you for support to some extent, and you can gain experience together! In my school TAs sat in on the weekly planning meeting with the teachers, so we knew what was going on even if we didn't influence things very much. Regarding discipline: my attitude is, Yes intervene in a tactful and unobtrusive way if you need to, but ask about that when you get there.

You may find this surprising, but the age of the children doesn't make all that much difference, other than the various levels of subject knowledge, life-skills, and general awareness and maturity. Children are children! My wife was an NNEB tutor at one time, and sometimes, after explaining in detail what was required, a teenage student would ask: Please Miss, what do we do? Just like in the 'baby' classes!

I had ten very happy years in an infant school, R, Yr1, Yr2,
and I sometimes also worked in the Nursery. I found I liked best whichever age group I was with at the time: nursery is lovely because the children give you cups of Plasticine 'tea'; with Yr2 children you can have more meaningful conversations, and help them understand Lit&Num concepts they might be struggling with. I once had a Yr6 child tell me she hadn't understood 'taking away' in Yr2 until I explained it to her. Adults use words that may be outside of a child's understanding and experience: 'Take Away' = where dad goes to get the 'Chinese' on Friday evening!

After ten years of KS1 I went to a secondary school for two years, and that was a 'culture shock', particularly as it was a notoriously tough school: when I said Good Morning on the way in, boys might tell me to 'F off'; other times they would offer me a cigarette (or worse!).

When I retired I continued to do voluntary work in schools, primary and secondary. A girl in Yr1 when I was first a 'parent helper' turned up again many years later in another school, on her final Teaching Practice year of teacher training! It was quite strange for both of us, but I told her to forget when she was six, and just use me in the classroom as she would any other adult assistant. (She is now a qualified and successful teacher.)

So: just relax and enjoy it, make sure the kids enjoy it, too, and I'm sure you will do very well.

I'm amazed you've been hired with no formal training!!! I genuinely thought that the TA jobs were like gold dust and you had to be super qualified to get the job. I also thought that a school couldn't hire you unless you had the relevant qualifications?!

Am I wrong or is merrilymay's situation and exception?

I think it will depend hugely on the school, the other applicants and what other skills / experiences you have.

Certainly in our school you would have to have NVQ3 as a minimum before you'd be shortlisted.

I did the Open University Certificate in Supporting Learning in Primary Schools, which is equivalent to NVQ4. It's a really good course, I learned loads from the other students as well as the tutor and the course materials. My assignments included things about inclusion and SEN, theories of learning, play & creativity, observation & assessment and lesson planning across core curriculum areas.

That said, there's nothing like actually being in the classroom day in day out to get to grips with the job.

All our TAs have to have NVQ2 Teaching Assistants qualification as a minimum. One of the most important things you can learn on that course is health & safety, child protection, data protection, confidentiality and other legal issues. Your school will have policies covering all of these, it would be worth asking to borrow them for some holiday reading!

Shybairns, have a look around at the job adverts and see what experience they ask for. I found that while many were for level 2 or 3 there were several at level 1 or that didn't specify. This job was for level 1 or 2 depending on experience. I guess it helped that i had knowledge of safeguarding etc from being on DD's preschool committee. And yes, I think I was very lucky!

Met the class today and it all went well! Also chatted to the current teacher and TA so that was useful. And found out about the various training courses I have been signed up for, including safeguarding and supporting numeracy and literacy.

merrily, my advice just relax and enjoy it!!

Meant to say thanks Ferguson for your long post- you sound like a lovely TA Fairenuf, will ask about the policies, thanks!