To become a teaching assistant, what would I need to do?

[collision]

I know you are all busy with xmas but we are going to be evicted and jobless by the end of January and so I need a new career.

DH is taking a very prestigious job in London and working with some top celebrity chefs and so I need to do something too.

Ds1 is 5 in April and ds2 is just 2.

I used to work as a nanny and am keen to work with children again.

Any thoughts? I will bump this over the next few days.

To become a teaching assistant you can attend college course once per week and also work in a school on a placement whilst doing so.

do you have any qualifications? have you thought about nursery nurse or working in a pre-school?
what about childcare for your youngest?

If you're a qualified nanny, you could try and find a family who would be happy for you to work for them and take your DS2 with you.

Thanks everyone.

i wondered if I could go to college and put ds2 in a creche there.

Not sure if I want to nanny again.

Am exp nanny rather than qualified and could easily get references.

ho hum....what to do, what to do.

You don't need TA quals to be a TA (although I suppose its an obvious advantage)- just decent basic Maths & English. I now work in a Secondary school after a career swap. To add to my CV I worked as a volunteer 1 day a week in my sons Primary.
I think its more important if you can fit into the exiting team. Secondary school jobs also seem easier to come by than primary - which are often "advertised" by word of mouth

that should read 'existing' team !

I work in a pre-school and went to college last year for a NVQ2 equivilent qualification. I spent 1.5 days at college and 8 hrs a week on a placement in a pre-school (requirement of course). I intend to try and get into a Primary school when ds starts Reception in Sept 2007. I only do part-time so I also help out with reading in my dd's school (yr1) one morning a week. I am interested in doing Learning Support and no specific qualifications are needed though relevent experience is helpful. Teaching Assistants can do NVQ's -have a look at your local college for details. I really enjoy what I do but pay is pretty poor in pre-schools btw.

Maybe I should add that whilst I was volunteering I also did a BTEC TA course by distance learning - although the other TAs that started at the same time didn't have that qualification.
Yes, I agree pay is poor- but you don't do the job for the money really

I have applied for a classroom assistant job and waiting to hear from them. Didn't require qualifictions just good english/ maths and experience of working with children, I am a qualified in childcare so hope I have a better chance but it was certainly not required, once in the job I thinbk there is plenty of training avaiable. I found it advertised on the local council website and the job centre.

my sister is applying for a TA post. The job description uses scale points for salary though and she wants to work out her entitlements. Can anyone tell me what Scale Point 9 would be salary wise? Thanks

bumping this

The 'unqualified' thing is a MAJOR drawback I have found. I have 25 years extensive Childcare/Babycare experience but no qualifications (been too busy working with/caring for children to have the time to get qualified).
I love children & babies &, even if I say so myself, have a natural affinity with them that you can't 'learn'. These days though, I guess that makes me sound wierd, sadly.

Ditzy, that doesn't make you sound weird at all. Some of the best childcare workers are unqualified yet with a wealth of experience that sometimes outweighs that of a person with qualifications. It's a shame that in recent years, people like yourself are basically being forced out of a profession that you are clearly good at to make way for people with less experience, but with their names on a piece of paper.

Tbh, I don't think I would have trained for the 2 years it took me to qualify had it not been for the better job opportunities. I worked quite happily as a Nursery Assistant for 5 years before being forced to take training. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I have done it now, especially as I am now doing a BA at University, but I don't think I would have forced myself IYSWIM.

Varies from areas to area, where I am they employ classroom assistants and don't require qualifications, but I think there are courses they will send you on once employed, check with your local education department.

collision I got a job last month as a nursery assistant as all my kids are at school now
and i was bored staying at home
there is only so much cooking and cleaning a woman can do aarrgghhh

I have nothing down on paper except for 22+ years of looking after my kids

dont be so down on yourself
have some confidence
the right job will come up
good luck
xxx

I am a TA, I started without any qualifications. I did have experience of working with children (I worked in a playcentre) and I also did a GNVQ2 course for 1 year.
Since I have been doing the job , I have been on loads of training and refresher courses, I am in the process of hopefully achieving HLTA (higher level teaching assistant)
With that scale you mentioned, be warned that you won't actually earn the figure they quote. It is based on if you worked X amount of hours a week and X amount of weeks a year.
The pay isn't great, but I enjoy the work and it means I am off for the school holidays with my kids.