What support should I have as a newly employed TA??

[rumblefish]

I have just started a new job as a TA in a school. I am three weeks into the job and had a meeting with the overall lead teacher of the department and it didn't go well and was very negative about what I am doing!

The impression I got was I should know what I am doing. She told me the way I am asking the teacher what I should be doing next is wrong. In between playground duties, lunchtime cover for another TA it does not leave me with much time to learn the ropes and the admin side of the job.

I have qualfications from my previous job but have never worked in a school.

Can anyone tell me what sort of training support (if any) I should be getting as I want to meet up with the lead teacher and discuss with her.

thanks

I think it depends from school to school. At my school I had a mentor who was an experienced TA and was wonderful and very approachable, I literally asked her anything!

I used to struggle with keeping up with admin-type stuff as like you say it can be a whirlwind with break duties etc. What helped was my teacher and I had a book that was kept in the classroom- she wrote down things that needed doing with a timescale, eg 'change display on literacy wall by thursday' or '20 copies of this worksheet by tomorrow morning', which helped me keep on top of things.

In terms of what to do with the children, I would usually be told which group I was working with, and if not I would go to the children who needed the most support.

I would definitely ask about training, I had quite a lot in the first term, either from outside providers or internally.

Are there any other more experienced TAs in school you can talk to for advice?

In our school the class teachers and TA's have an assembly time free at the start of the week to talk over plans and the weeks work. we also keep books of the type blackandwhite mentioned.

Our TA's also have weekly training (in house) .

Did you get any ideas how to move forward from your meeting? Can you arrange a time , weekly, when you and the class teacher can talk?

It sounds like a non-talking school!!

Good Luck

Thanks for those great ideas I will have a chat with the teacher tomorrow.