Teaching Assistants…

[Blossom4538]

mainstream and specialist SEN - do you like your job. I’m considering part time. Most
TAs I know in mainstream are unhappy in their jobs though! A few in specialist for Autism are happy mostly.

i have a love on my plate personally, but looking at a worthwhile part time job - term time only is a bonus

But the money...

It's not necessarily the actual job but the people you work with and for. I adore my job, TA in mainstream with a large number of SEN. It's a lovely mix, I do over my hours as there is not enough time during my working hours to get everything done and as I said, I adore my job. My leadership team, my teacher and my other colleagues value me and what I do for the school. The kids like me and I have little interaction with parents, which is a bonus, I feel very well supported. My nextdoor neighbour works as a TA at a specialist school for autism, she loves the children but struggles massively with the lack of support, encouragement and guidance from her leadership team. It's a hard job with poor pay, especially if your work is not valued but, yes the holidays are great.

If you are regularly doing over your hours - unpaid - to fit in all your job entails that is not showing that your school / SLT value you!

If you are regularly doing over your hours - unpaid - to fit in all your job entails that is not showing that your school / SLT value you!

This. TAs and LSAs at our school leave on the dot 3pm when the kids go, that is when their working day ends. I would never dream of asking one of them to stay and do something after this.

In t his area it is very very difficult to recruit 1to1s for kids with sen so if that is what you fancy, schools will snatch your hand off

TAs in my school are fantastic but have a huge amount of pressure for a job that pays the same as stacking shelves.

Pays less
Family member went from TA to nightshift at major supermarket (same number of hours but 3 days) and earns more

Loved it, was a TA in a secondary school maths dept. Had to leave because I couldn't afford to earn so little.

I work as a sen ta. Love my job. I'm supported in the face if it but we're spread to thinly and so don't really get the support we need I'm regularly attacked and just expected to accept that. And I do but it's getting harder

I used to love my job but now I spend my day being shouted at, spat at, scratched and punched at by children who should be in a specialist provision but who can't get a space. All for minimum wage!

I used to love my job but I quit at Christmas. There's so much pressure and expectation for very little money. I miss the kids though.

The pay is terrible but I absolutely love it! Work with an awesome team, get to cover lessons every now and then which I enjoy as all the planning is done for me. Holidays are great. I really enjoy building strong relationships with the children and their parents.
If unsure if it's for you I'd volunteer to read at a local school so you can get a feeling for it.

Look into the pay. You will get less than the pay advertised because for some reason TA salaries are advertised pro rata- i.e., what you would get if you didn't have 8 or so weeks of unpaid school holiday. It is also unusual to find part time roles as the need for staff in school is so great.

I love my job - TA in a tiny rural village school.
But again, my team are brilliant. I get on with them, I also feel supported and valued. My opinion is asked.
I also do unpaid overtime but I offer. It’s not expected. If I am asked then pay is always offered with it. Sometimes I stay because I want to get something finished and if my head sees she will say “What are you still doing here?!”
The deal is that anything asked for is paid for, anything you decide to stay extra for without agreement is unpaid and not expected. I’m happy with that. I do extra when I want to because it helps my team and it’s on my terms, I’m under no obligation.
Plus side - because I do stay extra, my head is brilliant at giving me time if I need it (if my kids are ill for example) - she doesn’t put any guilt trips on me. I don’t take the piss - it works for us.

I work in a secondary school as a SEN TA via an agency. I'm long term supply and wouldn't work directly for the school because I enjoy the flexibility of being with an agency.
I absolutely love my job and the kids are amazing, but the pay is shit for what we do. I have a cleaning job on the side to make up my wages, and also sometimes work in a pub.

20 years experienced primary TA here. The expectations on TAs has changed massively over time for no extra pay. I deliver and plan my own interventions, support in class, manage behaviour, deal with (often demanding) parents. I've been sworn at, shouted at, and have had things thrown at me. I no longer do any more than my paid hours but most TAs I know do because there aren't enough hours in the day. It makes me sad, but it's just a job for me now. I no longer love it and am only staying because it fits with my family life.

The other thing with the holidays is that if you are dependent on your own earnings to pay for holidays it's almost impossible to afford anything other than camping. Really low wages with only peak season holidays is not a happy combination.

I think it depends on what kind of school you work in. Mine is part of a MAT with a head that no one likes, and has a very high turnover of staff.
The SEN provision is awful and we are failing children every day. That has been heartbreaking to watch. The kids and the other TAs are what keeps me there. I used to work in hospitality and the holidays were bonkers, now I get to chill out. I do miss the tips though...

This issue is that the government have reduced funding so much, meaning that schools have fewer TAs but the same workload as before. In my middle sized primary school we used to have one ta per class, plus support for children who require 1:1. Now there are only TAs for the children with funding, but they don't work as a 1:1 but rather support the class generally as well as trying to give the 1:1 child everything that they need.

And everything said here. I love the children. I love being the one at the back of the classroom not responsible for delivering a lesson so able to look round and watch the children. “He’s not followed this although he’s trying, I need to sit near him, she looks upset and isn’t listening- wonder why.”

My dd has dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia- I’ve done a lot of work on them because of this and I’ve also found I can spot the signs in other children and come up with ways to help them. My experience and understanding of SEND is valued and I feel like I really make a difference to the children who are showing signs ( I work with Y1 so am in a great position to identify issues early).

I was a TA, I loved being in the classroom, helping children learn, teaching them things they didn't know.
I didn't love being sat in the corridor/small room all day everyday with one child who is beating the crap out of you, biting spitting etc because they shouldn't be in a mainstream setting but either their parents believe they will settle and be able to cope or the more common their isn't a suitable specialist place available.
The job gradually became more of what i didn't like. I had a degree so I did a PGCE now I am always in the classroom and feel guilty for sending my TA out to get beaten up.
Also the money is crap, I used to pick up £875 a month as a TA for 32.5hrs.

I like the job, but it is a difficult job. I am mainstream, and not officially a 1 to 1 this year. I have still had one pair of glasses broken by a headbut to the face and some pinching and scratching that has scarred, also a bite that broke the skin so far this(calender, not academic) year. I use my lunch break to write up incident reports, as there are incidents every bloody day and I have no admin time allocated, as a full class TA this year...

I work in a school well known to be challenging. It is incredibly rewarding, but difficult and often painful emotionally and physically. I feel like I make a genuine difference, when I manage to calm someone screaming and throwing chairs at me/get someone to talk when they are hiding and shouting in swear words/relax someone who is emotionally broken. I get massive job satisfaction, which I would not get in a 'typical' school. It is no an easy job at all though. I would strongly advise being very aware of the profile of any schools you apply with, as some are very different to others.

My friend works in a primary and recently got a black eye from the pupil she works 1:1 with.
Secondary is very different. The behaviour is really bad (that shocked me a lot to begin with), but I generally don't have to worry about getting hit.

We deal with anxious and depressed teens every day. They sometimes self harm, drink and use drugs. It's been really eye-opening. I've had no training in this department and am expected to mentor students. It's fucking full-on. The kids are fantastic though. The SLT are not.

Same as everyone else said. It is a great job, best I ever had, but pay is shocking. No one every hit me or even said anything awful to me, when I worked in mainstream in secondary. It depends on the SLT. I have had teachers go nuts at the kids for being disrespectful to me, which was lovely but being called fam, really didn't upset me much.
Some TAs had second jobs and some lived in social housing or had already paid off their mortgages. I can imagine that the wages work in those situations.

I work in a mainstream school, and have worked as a 1-1 and class TA.
The bits of my job that I love -
Making a difference to kids
The lovely people who I work with
Being busy
Learning new stuff all the time
The Fun Bits.
The holidays and the fact it works around my son.
My supportive slt

The bits of my job I hate -
The pay (which is an insult)
Having to constantly fill in with lack of staff/funding/illness cover etc.
Guilt (if ill...see above)
Drama... (I don't know if this is every school, but...my god the constant fucking drama)
Frustration at lack of funding and support for the education sector

...and back to the pay. It really is awful and to be honest I think people need to put in overtime that they work and not do these extra bits for free.
There has been an impression of TA'S being 'helpful mums' who do it as a way of getting out of the house for a few extra pennies around school hours (obviously this does attract people, including myself!) However, I think it is really important that the role of TA is seen as the essential and increasingly qualified role that it. As funding gets stripped away, it is the TAs...those support staff who are seen as non essential, that lose their roles. It needs to be valued as a profession and as essential to the running of the school as any other member of staff and that just won't happen if people dont have proper contracts that reflect their role and if they work for free.