How could a school become appealing to TAs?

[whataboutme77]

So, after our school has lost several really great TAs this year and struggled to recruit, this has just got me wondering.
Now I know the most obvious answer is "pay them better"
But apart from that, what else can or does a school that you know fo that makes them attractive to recruiting TAs?

Decent pay and no rubbish term time only contracts.

After that I suppose things like a catchment of mostly well behaved kids, a supportive staff team, SLT that pays them overtime or doesn't expect them to work extra hours, a proper lunch break without being expected to run clubs or be a dinner lady every day, maybe easy commute/public transport/parking. And then you keep them by treating them like valued members of the team, playing to their strengths, providing support and training if working with very challenging pupils and being open to other CPD when they request it.

Thanks @electriclight and I completely agree that paying them a decent wage is obviously the best solution. Unfortunately, I doubt our school will go much above the "expected" this time around although given the shortage and how necessary they are School’s will have to start pushing wages up by being competitive.
Not sure we can do much about catchment, type of school etc but we do have a reputation for being a good school to work in. TAs tend to leave us for better jobs having developed during their time in the school, rather than quit because they hate it here.
The main problem is that so much is expected of them for so little pay that the situation is becoming unsustainable.
I wondered if giving TAs a half "prep" day , the same as teachers get would be attractive?

Some of ours also staff our wrap-around clubs which makes the job closer to FT hours, which suits some. Our head is also flexible if staff want to go to their own child's Christmas play or sports day etc. Not sure it helps recruitment but sure it helps retention.

Our TAs get some prep time if they are routinely expected to prepare for interventions or work for a 1:1 child. Mostly, during assembly or by negotiation with the class/year group they support. What sort of jobs do they leave for and consider better? If it's significantly more pay, even taking into account the fact that they'll only have 4-5 weeks holiday, then presumably pay is the only issue that really matters. If they head for NMW jobs then I'd say the issue is what they're being asked to do.

They often take the HLTA training and/or on the job teacher training if they have a degree.
They've also moved on to Speech therapy and OT jobs and training.
So a related field but more opportunity for career advancement.
We're a small SEND school so although some can progress to HLTA or teaching we can't accommodate everybody.

A few people have looked at other TA jobs in different schools but realised that the grass isn't greener and decided to stay.

It is mainly pay and fixed term contracts. I am
not sure some school staff realise just how poorly paid TA’s are. Responsibilities are increasing and pay is not.

I recently turned down a TA role because I was expected to do playground duty every day so that the other TAs get a break.

The other TAs only have one duty a week.

No thank you.

I agree that responsibilities are increasing. When I started teaching, the role was more about helping the teacher and washing paint pots, doing displays and copying. Now they support a wide range of needs, teach classes in some situations and provide lunchtime support on the playground. Much bigger levels of responsibility for pay that hasn't kept pace at all, and is being eroded with the advent of term time only contracts. It was seen as a nice second income for households that wanted mum at home in the holidays but now it's not enough to live on. I think it's still a nice job, but what's the point of a nice job if you can't pay your bills.

If pay really can't increase (as it should, it's appalling), then the conditions need to be better than similarly paying jobs. Could the TAs start later and finish earlier than the normal school day, so they can do drop off and pick up for their own school aged children? All the extra responsibilities that are now expected are also going to need to go. There's not much responsibility stacking shelves at Tesco's, that's what you're competing with. So small group work, covering lessons etc, has to go. Lunch duties should be paid, or they don't do them. Schools need to radically change their expectations of TAs if they're going to pay what is now the lowest of the low salary wise. Ideally TAs would be paid enough to do all the really valuable work that they do, but at the moment they're not, so the expectations of the job need to reflect what they're paid.

I have always thought that if they could tweak it a bit so that the TAs could start at 9:10 ish as registration is finishing, and be out the door at 2:30, as form time is starting (depends a bit on the school I know) but be paid the same - it would suddenly become a viable job for parents of primary school aged children who basically want to work while their child is at school but need to do their own school run and have time to get to work.

It would then be a job that requires no childcare costs ( apart from 5 inset days - usually okay for most families to sort that if it's all they ever have) and the lesser pay makes up for the fact they have no childcare cost, free parking, and a nice local government pension scheme. You never have to work a night shift, a Sunday, or a bank holiday, ever.

I suppose it would give supervision ratio problems which is why schools can't do it, but if they could, it would suddenly be a quite sought after job I suspect.

Just to add the school I work in advertises being able to do your own school run as a perk of the job. It's a load of rubbish! We require our LSAs to start at 8:30, and work till 3:35.

On what planet can you do that, even if it's just a 10 minute drive away?

It would be breakfast club and after school club and if you've got 3 kids you are working for nothing.

The problem with the school.run idea is that (in my experience at least) the times that children arrive and leave are the times when extra support is really needed. Some SEN children find these times overwhelming and benefit from being met by a 1 to 1 and taken off straight away to do a task.

And if course not all TAs have school aged children, or even children at all!

I realise this about the school aged children of course - most our TAs have teenagers or grown up children. Because they couldn't do the job if they school aged children - they'd be working for nothing.

What it would achieve is to tap into a job market that might otherwise be economically inactive (like I was for 13 years before my youngest started secondary). It would widen the pool of choice and there are parents at home who have great transferable skills from other careers who just find the job market and childcare cost issues such that they can't afford to work. They could be scooped up if these adjustments were made.

But they can't easily be - I work in a SEN school in the finance office and I hear them kicking off at the gate at taxi drop off so it just wouldn't work. We did hire one who was allowed to start later and leave at a certain time and the others all resented her.

It's a tricky one!

Wow that's terrible that they specifically advertise it when it's not true!!

Agree with what electriclight says. The level of responsibilities being pushed onto teaching assistants is ever increasing. The stress and work load of teachers is being pushed down onto teaching assistants. Yet the pay is still not enough to live on and support yourself or family. The way a lot of teaching assistants are being treated by stressed out teachers and SLT trying to protect their own workload and mental health is having a really big impact on teaching assistants. But teaching assistants seem to be getting forgotten about in terms of workload, pay, well being etc.

It’s the pay, end of. The job is absolutely fine. All the best bits if you ask me. I’ve just left my TA job for a working from home post which is going to pay me 28k a year. It’s a no brainer. I will miss the kids though 😢.

Re NDA’s in schools.
If you are a teacher and have signed a non disclosure agreement which you are unhappy about, please consider telling your story (you will be legally protected) to the Legal Services Board who are conducting an inquiry into the mis-use of NDA’s across all areas of employment. I am particularly interested in the mis use of NDA’s within education. Please message me if you would like further information.
LSB call for evidence re mis-use of NDA’s

Plus, paying you for your hours. My old school had me contracted between the hours of 8:45 - 3:10 but the reality was I wasn’t out until 4pm. I often covered lessons and I was coming out with just under 15k a year which is absolutely pathetic let’s face it.

Half a day's prep is a nice idea- alternatively, half a day's flexible working may appeal to some.

Ultimately, it sounds like you can't offer people much career progression. I'd say there are relatively few people who will stay as a TA really long term, with no chance to at least progress to HLTA or similar.

I think you probably have to accept that people will leave you, some relatively quickly, in this scenario.

WRT recruiting, I think it really is down to the pay and responsibility. Thanks to WFH and flexible working, less people need term time only/school hours only work. And TAs are being asked to take on more and more responsibility.

If you flip it on its head, what is attractive about the job to people? Why would they apply?

I recently left education where I was a TA 2 / Academic Mentor so I feel I can offer some insight into this.

The number one factor which equates to about 90% of the reason as to why I left was PAY. I was paid term time only so I was coming out with about £310 a week working 39hours / weeek with a 30 minute lunch break each day. Of course no one goes into education for the money, but come on! I could literally earn more stacking shelves at Tesco on the minimum wage because unlike schools my pay would not be prorated to term time only. It would certainly be way less stressfull as no interventions to plan / run and you don't have to deal with constant disruptive behaviour.

I don't miss the long holidays. Half the time you were ill anyway so you could not enjoy them, the rest of the time it was too expensive to go abroad anyway because of the school holiday hikes.

Not only is it a thankless job but people actually hate you for it.

I'm having an interesting time seeking a TA role for September at the moment.

I turned down one role where I would have 5 playground duties a week to give the other TAs a break.

Then yesterday I went to a school to meet with the headteacher. When I arrived she had already left and there was no one else available to meet me. I was so angry and upset. ( Not at the office staff, it wasn't their fault and they were all v nice).

And schools wonder why they can't recruit!

Try treating people with a bit of courtesy and respect.

And just to add to above, I posted on the Facebook 'exit the classroom ' page about what happened yesterday and the responses were unbelievable. Apparently I should have phoned to double check, the headteachers time is more valuable than mine. The responses were so so patronising. It was made very clear to me how teaching staff view TAs. Basically it was all my fault. I was speechless.

Yes this, this is a massive problem!!
It seems like a lot of senior management and some teachers continue to view TAs as bottom of the pile and easily replaceable. Which is, unfortunately, a throwback from the days when applications for TA jobs were very high because it was seen as a "nice little job" that fitted around a family 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm so sorry you had these experiences a good TA is worth their weight in gold and should be treated like it.

Please don't give up looking for a TA job though because there are schools out there that will treat you well.

I think teachers have also definitely took TAs for granted. I got spoken to like shit from a fair few in my time who mistook for me someone who was as thick as pig shit. I am degree educated myself and I’ve worked all over the health and social care sector. The ones who had only ever worked in education were the most rude.

Who on Earth would want to be a TA? Rubbish job, zero respect, all the worst kids, ludicrous pay, having to pay for your own children’s before and after school club, no nativities or sports days. I think there are a lot of teachers who would love to go back to the days when they could give all their shitty jobs to the TA but there is no longer a workforce.

The worst job in the world.

I'm starting to think that. I'm a former teacher and like you am degree educated and have worked all around the world. I also have an MA. I am not stupid!

I thought that being a TA would give me a better work life balance than teaching but am seriously questioning this now. I'm looking for alternatives but no luck so far!