Pros and cons of being a teaching assistant?

[ttcbabyk]

I recently moved to Manchester after getting married and although previously I was a safeguarding officer (In London) I've struggled to find work in my field.

I'm considering doing TA work in the mean-time until I can find something similar to my last role.

Anyone on MN who is or was a teaching assistant? What does a day look like? Do you have to bring work home? What are the pros and cons?

Primary or secondary?

@Birdkin

Primary or secondary?

Either! X

I've been one before in a couple of secondary schools. It's generally a nice job, and you don't have to take work home, i could walk out at the end of the school day and not have to think about work until the next day.

The cons were that some teachers didn't really know how to use a TA in their lesson, or the SENCO would put you in lessons where you weren't really needed so you'd end up bored for an hour and essentially just observing a lesson.

The pay has never been great, I know it's pro rata but the current rate for a level 3 TA is around 17.5k net i believe based on 37.5 hours.
HLTA pay is a little better.

I have briefly worked as a TA in Primary schools too and I think they're very well used generally.

pros - short day, long holidays
cons - the pay is awful

I love my job and can't imagine doing anything else. I love working with the children (5-6 years old). I'm always on the go which again I love as it makes the day go quickly! I rarely bring things home as I can generally get it all done during the day but it's not uncommon for TA's to bring home cutting out or things like that!

Forgot to say that the holidays are obviously a bonus.
But also some schools can take advantage especially if you're a HLTA they can try to have you planning and delivering lessons to whole classes

I'm a TA in a secondary school

Pros

• the hours fit around my children, I work 8-4 and I have the holidays free
• I don't bring any work home
• I work with some great people from all walks of life
• I love the company of teenagers, I enjoy listening to their views on all sorts of topics
• I learn something new every day

Cons

• the pay is abysmal
• I feel the sense of responsibility heavily in the sense of caring for the students with difficult home lives
• my head often feels like it could explode with all the information about the hundreds of individual students I work with across the week
• I find it difficult enforcing some of the school rules when obviously the needs of individuals differ
• I work with dozens of teachers across the week and they all have different expectations of the TA

When I was a secondary school TA in 2019 i was paid £15800 gross per annum based on 39 hours a week. (8-4 apart from 8-3 on a Friday)

I’m TA level 3 in Manchester primary. Work is generally fun, busy and lots of variety. Day is short, rarely take work home - expected to keep on top of emails, lots of staff absence so working out where you are each day can be challenging.
Pay is appalling.
I’m also from safeguarding/children’s services background - TA is much more cheerful!!

And for that i was expected to plan and deliver interventions, complete detailed SEN reports on each of my key pupils, arrange meetings with external agencies, etc

Primary here - to be able to adapt to situations/ challenging behaviour .To possess the ability to stay calm and not take anything personally . Be prepared for playtimes - initiating games , playing the peacemaker . To stand in for the class teacher at a moment's notice and to be able to tolerate vomit / snot . I sail out at my finish time and only occasionally make resources at home .

I'm in a primary school
The job is SO rewarding in terms of the children. Seeing them progress etc.
The hours are short and the holidays are long.
I rarely take work home.

The pay and recognition is terrible; (my MIL still thinks all I do is listen to children read)
Very few TAs can work 37 hours a week, the contracts are usually a lot less. I work 15 hours.
I've never yet been on a permanent contract

Thanks everyone!

Most of the responses state that the pay isn't great.

Do any of you mind disclosing approx how much the pay would be after tax? I'm from Manchester if that makes any difference?

Thanks

I've enjoyed both. I also do some hlta work. I very much enjoy the relationship you can build with the kids, without the same pressure as a teacher. However I am increasingly purely being given the 'naughty' kids with no planning, just to get them out of the teacher's hair.

Hours are great, pay is awful.

I don't just act as in class support, I run a lot of intervention classes including resourcing etc.

I used to work as a 1-1 as well.

I do approx 30 hrs per week in primary. 20 hours as a class TA and 10 as an HLTA covering PPA.

Pay is approx 1085 after deductions.

Take home just over 1K pm. (As a TA 2)

I agree with other posters up thread. As a Reception TA I might create things at home, and spend quite a bit on resources, but that's my choice. I live the long holidays and the creativity. I don't much like doing first aid or the pay (I could earn much more elsewhere and started looking recently). I'm lucky that the teachers I work with really value TAs and the children and parents view us as equal (but different) staff to Teachers. From what I hear it's not the same in all schools.

The school I work in recently recruited a few TAs. Two are qualified teachers and one is an experienced male (male TAs are very sought after).

It's a great job if you're thinking of going into teaching. The Teachers I've worked with who used to be TAs tend to be brilliant. The downside can be if you have to spend a whole academic year working with a teacher you don't click with. I've had some very looong school years!

Hmm! Thank you

Here's my dilemma:

I was originally studying to be a primary school teacher but into my PGCE I realised it wasn't for me. I didn't want to bring work home as I have quite a demanding home life so I wanted a job where I leave work at work. I have a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies. After leaving the PGCE course, I found a job in a school as a safeguarding officer and enjoyed this quite a bit, but I moved out of London (to Manchester) and had to leave that job. I worked as a safeguarding officer for approx 6 months.

I now don't know what to do with myself. I loved my precious job a lot. I developed a real passion for safeguarding and I enjoyed making a difference to the lives of children and young people. I've applied for similar roles and haven't heard anything back. I'm starting to feel a bit down/deflated by it to be honest because I don't know what I can do with my degree? A TA isn't exactly my first choice as i still prefer the safeguarding/child protection side of things, but I feel as though I have no choice?

I’ve done mainly secondary and think it’s quite different form primary. A lot more teachers/classes in secondary so you don’t have the ‘not clicking’ issues as much, however secondary can be a bit boring at times (although I was usually fine with that if I had my iPad 😂). It’s my favourite job I’ve ever done (have also been a teacher). I love not taking work home although the compromise is that the take home pay is £1200 a month. The downsides for me have been standard school downsides - politics, poor management, PITA colleagues. A good TA makes a big difference and teachers (and headteachers) who recognise that are great. However you can be taken advantage of and will come across some colleagues who treat you like an idiot because you’re not a teacher. Worth giving it a go if you’re interested!

You can definitely edge sideways into family liaison/safeguarding roles from being a TA. I reckon safeguarding experience would be really appreciated in most schools.

Why not look at student welfare jobs or pastoral care? Mental health services will be on the up so that’s another one to think about - Also listening services … these are quite common. There are outdoor types of jobs at farms etc

A fair few TAs I know are actually qualified teachers, it is very common.

Used to teach, now a primary TA. The money is rubbish otherwise it's the best job in the world. All the good bits of working with kids without all the planning, marking, admin-y stuff. Super busy but short days, little or no work to do out of hours or in the holidays.

There are loads of pastoral team roles locally to me. Use greater.jobs to search if you aren't already.

Pastoral is higher paid and probs a better use of your skills. Non-teaching HOYs are popular again.

I really like being in primary, having previously worked in secondary teaching. I like working closely with the same group of children and adults and building those relationships. In secondary I think there'd be a lot more variety which might be good for you, having read your update, and definitely scope for moving sideways into safeguarding/pastoral roles. Lots of schools have non-teaching support staff for things like behaviour and welfare which could work for you. Sometimes slightly better paid too and nearer to 37 hours pw, though still term time only.

Firstly good luck. Consider pastoral. You can move into other roles like fundraising etc from teaching as well.