How much work should a TA take home?

[beamme]

Out of interest what is reasonable? I'm all for a little bit of cutting out, but we have been asked to do children's learning journey's at home. Is this usual?

I find I usually do about an hour on a sunday night- I have to plan for my own phonics sessions, and the IEP work I do with children. I am supposed to get 1 hr ppa a week but in reality this gets eaten up by photocopying etc for the teacher.

Other TAs at our school have told me they also take work home. I think if the school are actually expecting you to do it at home though you should either say no or ask to get paid!

Thank you for all the replies. I don't mind taking the odd bits home or coming in early some days, but not paid extra for any of this.
My teacher has asked for me to complete my key worker group learning journey's within 2 weeks. I told her I didn't think I could reasonably do this as I have a young family and am also studying for a foundation degree in early years. Her response is that if I can't manage my time maybe I shouldn't be doing the foundation degree! I should add I don't do any of this work within school hours, it's all at uni or at home.
Yes mycatoscar I'm in nursery.

Who is your line manager?
That is unacceptable.

We have a foundation stage leader TheNebulousBoojum so she would most likely be who I'd go to. Although she's very close to my teacher, so not sure how far I'd get.

How awful beamme. Maybe remind the teacher that you have set hours and none of them include working at home.

Think that will be happening tomorrow Panzee, but not sure how far it will get me. The teacher constantly complains about the amount of work she has to do and how she unfairly gets paid less per hour then I do, because she puts in so many more hours then I do.

That is quite unacceptable, beamme. Have you got a contract? I would see the Head and clarify what you are supposed to do.

I've been looking at my contract this weekend exoticfruits (this all happened on Friday after school) and it does not mention anything about taking work home or doing the Learning Journey's.

I don't take anything home, but sometimes do a tiny bit of planning or prep at home. Only if I want to.

My dh is a TA. He has never ever brought work home in five years. The only thing I have ever seen him do at home is distance learning training such as nvq papers. They finish their shift an hour after the teachers and that time is used for stiff like what you are having to do at home.

Teachers have to work 1265 hours a year. The teaching day doesn't cover this - teacher's are required to do extra work to meet the 1265 hours. It's called directed time. Remind the teacher of this OP
Can you speak to the Head?

beamme tell her as a teacher she works for a salary ie does the job for a set amount each month regardless of hours. (Oh and tell her to quit whingeing). You work for set number of hours and not a salary like her.

ps I am a teacher too - no way should TAs be working outside their set hours!

Go into the office and get an additional hours claim form. Before you complete it, wave it in front of witch person and say "I'm just completing this for that extra work you asked me to do". She may well have a rethink.

VioletStar is quite right. Tell her that many teachers become TA (true) because they don't want to take work home.

I am a TA - part time level 3, part time HLTA. I have planning and marking to do for PPA cover (all the ICT planning for the year group), for phonics teaching, for my early morning literacy support group and one or two other groups. I also do general class stuff.

I have less work to do in an evening/weekend than when I was a teacher, but still enough to keep me busy of an evening. I always have some work to do at a weekend.

I get PPA time of mine for the HLTA work - but it is no where near enough time to do everything I need to do.

And don't let her make you feel guilty- I don't know any teacher who would expect a TA to take work home. Sometimes they are grateful if they cut something out at home, sew a costume etc but they are fully aware that it is their good nature and not part of the job.

I would do supply work instead Hulababy- certainly not that amount for the pay. They are getting a teacher on the cheap.

exoticfruits - yes, DH says the same. But I like being in one place and also prefer to have the two way relationship with the children I teacher, because of getting to know them, etc. I am also quite particular - once a teacher, always a teacher I think is part of it. This week I am hoping to finish finalising some additional resource time in order to have more time at school, in paid hours, to complete all the stuff that needs doing.

I am a TA and used to bring the odd bit of work home. But we recently had a new SENCO and she arranged for us all to have an hour's prep time in our timetable so now we use that

We are all SN / SEN / EAL TA's instead of class based and we are ususally working in one to one situations or with intervention groups which require planning and prep time so we were very pleased with the new timetables!

Sadly we hardly ever do cutting out now. I used to love a good bit of cutting out! Ancillary time has been cut right back and the few times the teachers require a display they do them themselves...

Is your teacher aware that you are hourly paid op? At our school all the TAs are hourly paid but the Nursery Nurse is salaried and does more outside of 9 to 3 because it's part of her job description. I was just wondering if your teacher thought that you should be expected to do work at home because of your pay structure and doesn't realise you shouldn't have to.

I didn't think it was usual to ask a TA to take work home. I wonder who is doing the asking.

None!
I would never dream of expecting my TAs to do anything at home.

I have never taken anything home. I am paid for xx hours a week, and after that I either don't work or submit an extra hours sheet.
It has nothing to do with managing your time, but about hours paid for. Any extra work that cannot be done in the class line manager works it into the timetable.
Those who take home stuff to cut out, exactly what are you taking home to cut out and why?

At the school where I work TAs do nothing over and above the their contracted hours unless they can claim overtime - honestly, if they stay 10 mins late to talk to a parent they will claim it, you really shouldn't be taking anything home.