What do Teaching Assistants wear?

[WilburIsSomePig]

The school has a very strict uniform code so I'm thinking I need to be fairly smart without going over the top. Any ideas?

droopy clothes

a worrying surfeit of White stuff and button necklaces

Mainly Mantaray dresses and tops. Our school must keep Debenhams in business.

I'm not sure I can do button necklaces and I hate Mantaray clothes. Should I resign before I even start?

The waterproof coat is the only think I actually have. I think i need to take a trip to TK Maxx and find some other bit. I hope the force is with me...

Our TAs (and teachers) usually wear a school polo shirt or fleece with tailored or skinny black trousers and plimsolls, ballet shoes or converse. This is in reception though where practicality is the name of the game (the kids are in polo shirts, sweat shirts and jogging bottoms).

Something you can easily do lots of bending in. Preferably wipe clean. If you have playground duty then boots with decent soles for the winter. Nothing that gapes round the cleavahe when you lean forward. Classrooms are perpetually boiling or freezing so layers is good. Nothing with clanky wrist decorations that bash on the table. Nothing that kids can see up in assembly when they're sitting on the floor and you're on a chair. Something you can run in.

At ds's school....trousers or leggings and t shirt type tops. Most are sensible as you would expect..The kids.are disabled so there is a lot of bending stretching so loose and comfy is best There are those who wear low waistbands and flash their knickers, or wear trousers too tight with the obligatory camel toe. Those who wear leggings shouldn't.

One wears little shift dresses that only just cover her bottom, have plunging necklines and more sequins than a seventies disco. In fact she probably first wore them in the seventies!

and I have name changed for obvious reasons

I wear long tunic tops with leggings, skinny jeans with blouses/t -shirts and fitted cardigans. Also wear my birkies, havaianas and converse with prettily painted toenails.

I like dresses like this one, with leggings and birkies in summer, and knee high boots in winter. here
I can't wait to wear floaty scarves around my neck in autumn, and I love my bangles.

Agree that a hooded coat is essential.

It really depends which part of the school you are going to work in. If you are in the infants/reception there is plenty of sound advice here. I'm in the juniors so I wear dresses or trousers and tops with comfortable footwear. Not a great deal different from when I worked in an office!

I wear mainly dresses, in the winter teemed with thick black tights. I wear flat shoes or boots as they are more comfortable and more practical.

And I don't wear anything expensive usually as they can get wrecked after some sessions - art in particular! I will often do a bulk buy in the sales at places like Dorothy Perkins and Debenhams as I know they will look okay when bought ad they are cheap enough to discard after a season of lots of use. I do have a fair amount of White stuff type stuff too.

I need to be able to bend a lot, sit on small chairs, sometimes be sat on the carpet, climb (displays, reaching cupboards, etc), lift stuff (books and boxes, often quite heavy too) - practical wear is the key at key stage 1.

TBH though our TAs dress very similar to the teachers on the whole. Smarter side of casual, flats, no jeans, etc.

Great advice everyone, thank you. I'll be working with 9 to 11 year olds, I was kind of hoping to be able to wear nice trousers/tops and wedges etc but that may be too dressy?

Ours all wear badly fitting jeans and boat necked tee shirts with converse. No make up.

Trousers and top sounds fine, not too dressy.

Wedges are up to you. I can't wear heels for that long due to arthritis and tbh, even before that, I struggled all day when working. But some of our teaching staff (teachers and TAs) wear heels of various kinds, though all have some spare flats at school too just incase the day becomes a bit more active than initially planned.

Check your school's dress code, it should give you some guidance.

Personally I keep it v simple - plain trousers/long skirts with coloured tops and scarves. For footwear I usually wear Supergas.