Anyone a TA in a secondary school ??

[NervousNutty]

I know lots of primary TA's but no secondary ones.

Basically one of dd2's friends mums works in the office of a secondary school and has said that she is 99.9% ure that she can get me an interview for the job of teaching assistant.

Now, being a TA in a primary school I would jump at, but secondary sounds rather scary, I mean thats teenagers isn't it lol.

From what I can gather, the role is to help specific students who require a bit of extra help. Not sure yet wether it would be subject based or wether I would be working with particular students throughout the whole curriculum.

She is going to find out more for me tommorow and then I have to let her know if I am interested or not. I have already told her that if it is Maths based then I will have to say no as I couldn't help anyone with secondary maths if my life depended on it.

So, any opinions, experiences most welcome, even if they are to tell me to run for my life

Oh I am going for a quick dip so won't reply straight away.

Yes I was and it can be a bit scary, I was in bottom sets most of the time but I built up a really good relationship with pupils and teachers. Just pay attention in Maths and you will be brilliant.

Thanks, thats really helpful.

I am not the most confident of people and I do worry that the pupils might walk all over me, but I suppose i'd soon get used to how to treat them to get the job done.

I was like that but they were really great, it also did my confidence the world of good. I really enjoyed it and only left beacuse I had the opportunity to run my own business.

Sounds like exactly what I need then.

Hopefully I can find out more tommorow and give her the go ahead to get me an interview.

In my school, it's often the TA's in the classroom, that hold the lesson together!

We have very challenging students at our school and the TA's tend to stick with a particular student or class. A lot of them need stability and routine, so it works well. They really bond with the students and can often get much more out of them, that the teacher.

Good luck. Don't be scared of the big kids, they are generally pussy cats really!

Have you applied for it Nutty?