Jobs in schools working with children but not main teacher?

[Lollylamb]

Hi there,

I'm seriously considering a mid-life career change into teaching primary-school age and looking into the PGCE. I have some but not a lot of volunteering experience in schools but I just feel it in my bones that I should switch from corporate life to working with children - the little I have done I found incredibly interesting and rewarding.

My question is: what other sorts of jobs exists in schools that involve helping children but are not a main teacher or TA job? I'm shying away from full-on teaching as I have two small kids and would love the freedom to be able to go to their school plays, after-school activities etc. I'm thinking along the lines of one-on-one support for children with reading difficulties, or perhaps psychological/pastoral support..?

Any ideas? I'm not too keen on secondary school teaching so primary ideally.

Or if anyone who is already a teacher can enlighten me on whether they still see their small kids enough during the week and manage to go to their various school events, that would be great!

TIA.

Have you considered SEN roles supporting children with special needs?
Not direct teaching or direct TA - just supporting the pupils who have additional needs. You’ll find that structures are different in primary schools and that they don’t tend to have a large SEN department - just one or two members.
Would you not consider a part time teaching role? You’ll find that some schools allow flexible working arrangements and therefore there may be a role out there that suits you and your family.

I'm thinking along the lines of one-on-one support for children with reading difficulties, or perhaps psychological/pastoral support..?

They are similar to TA roles in terms of hours in school. I don't know many places now who can afford a 1-1 person just for reading difficulties either, but you might be lucky.

If you have a psychology degree you can do this:

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles-psychological-therapies/education-mental-health-practitioner/education-mental-health-practitioner

Also be aware that TAs earn beans, as do other roles such as pastoral support.

just supporting the pupils who have additional needs

1-1 TAs are often hardcore roles - we need really strong people to deal with very specific behaviour - it's a specialist skillset, not a 'walk in' type job. The children who have 1-1 TAs can be very challenging.

What @RuleWithAWoodenFoot said.
Plus, you are still needed to be there - you can't just 'book leave' to go to do things with your dc. That is the downside of working in schools - your fixed working hours are school hours during term time, there are few reasons you can take time off.
A good HT is sometimes able to work a little goodwill flexibility in for the odd 'one off' but it doesn't give you the freedom you talk about.

Thank you all so much for your feedback.
@RuleWithAWoodenFoot @UsingChangeofName thanks for the reality check re the SEN 1/1 route.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot Thanks so much for sharing that link - very interesting options for me!

SEND teacher here. It's not family friendly to work in a school. As a 1:1 you would be expected in all school days- no booking leave for kids plays/Dr etc abd it's very similar to TA job.

I do SEND 1:1 support and to echo the others' concerns, it is not a particularly family friendly job, apart from sharing term breaks with our school aged children.

And it's a hard slog. I am on limited hours, so I am not there nearly as long as my immediate colleagues, but I do have bruises from being hit and kicked pretty much on a weekly basis. Another colleague is nursing a fat lip from being punched in the face last week. Another is off long-term sick with back problems because of a pupil assault. One got an ear-ful from our SLT after requesting a few days off to attend a family funeral. This is a PRIMARY school, btw.

And we're all on not much more than minimum wage for this level of treatment.

There are some part time Family Support Worker roles around now. In my school though (which granted is v small) the only people who are not teachers or TAs are the school business officer (runs the office) and the caretaker.

The issue with these sorts of jobs is that they are often the first to go when school budgets get tight. Only very large primaries can really justify having non-teaching pastoral staff. Some may have staff who do administrative duties part time, and pastoral duties part time too? Possibly a MAT could share a member of staff between multiple schools, but that could mean a lot of travel for you?

What qualifications do you have to offer psychological support to young children? In most secondaries you do have non-teaching members of staff offering this kind of support, but they usually have specific training or qualifications (and the pay they get compared to the level they are qualified at is often really low).

It's not super family friendly, either- at my previous school, these staff were contracted to work from 8-4 in term time.

In terms of 1:1 support, children would not get this just for struggling with reading. Most children who qualify for 1:1 support have significant learning difficulties, and/or physical disability or health needs.

In any of these jobs, you would not normally be able to go to your own children's school events- you'd be expected to be at work during term time unless you were ill. If you're very lucky, you'd get one day per year that you could take during term time.

If seeing your own children's school events is important to you, then I'd suggest not doing a job that's term time only, but something where you can use annual leave for these events.

Part time PPA Cover Teacher. That's what I do 😉

I was a Library Assistant for a while and got to do some rewarding stuff boosting literacy etc. Pay was naff, obvs, but it was a lovely role. Best of luck with your hunt!

It's just shocking the pay you get for this type of work. I do hope things change in the future.

@Postapocalypticcowgirl Thank you so much for your thorough response. A lot of food for thought there.