Adding an EYFS TA qualification to a level 3 TA Diploma

[ScottishSue]

Hello all, not sure if this is the best place to ask for advice but here goes! I currently have a Level 3 Diploma in Specialist Support for Teaching and Learning in Schools. The trouble is, I live in a rural area and the job opportunities are few and far between - a couple of the recent jobs I've wanted to apply for included work in EYFS for which I'm not qualified.

Does anyone know if it's possible to do an add-on course that would qualify me to work as a TA in EYFS without having to cover loads of the same ground and spend another 12+ months on it? It would ideally need to be an online course due to cost and my location.

Thanks in advance for any help x

a couple of the recent jobs I've wanted to apply for included work in EYFS for which I'm not qualified.

Have they actually told you that you must have an additional qualification? I have never hired a TA with any specific EYFS qualification.

Hi fedup
Sorry for not responding sooner - I though I had no replies so stopped checking!
Yes it was in the cover letter that came with the application pack for the latest job (although not mentioned in the ad which was annoying) and I did query this and was told it did require a specific qualification. I plan to ask a couple of teachers I know today if they can tell me any more as I haven't been able to find much about this online. I would like the qualification but don't want to redo loads of stuff that I have already covered during my training.

I would contact the school and ask for the qualification. It’s not something I would expect an applicant to have-most TA courses are generic.

Oops name changed forgetting about ongoing thread! Sorry

Thanks for replying again. I did manage to catch a TA who works in early years today for about 2 minutes and she said she had taken an extra 'Early Years Educator' course which was as long and involved as her original training so that's a bit disheartening. I'm going to contact the LEA tomorrow and find out what I can do and what courses might be available in the area.