New TA feeling unsupported after head teacher's comment at work

[Overtinkerbell]

I am a TA, for the first time. I have written another post where I said my teacher was not very reaponsive person and I have been asking if I could do anything and I got answers like " I dont know what I should ask for"... this was all my first week.
Then there was a TA who showed me how I should access all the students progress etc on drive and said you can plan with these . I go home to open the drive and theres is nothing shared. I kept asking for anyone and everyone to share documents three more days passed.

I have been trying to figure out everything in these 9-10days and I am totally new to the UK school system, leave alone the TA job.
I figured I should do guided reading ( saw other TAs) so I did that daily. I help kids when they are doing their online math and other subjects in class. Try to sort kids concentration issues etc... I dont even know what I should do and my teacher just does everything herself without even telling me whats going on...
Today, I had 15min before I had to teach the phonics and I was just standing and wondering what I should do while the kids were listening to a math lesson. The head teacher asks me to come out and said " try not to stand without doing anything"... "ta's are always doing something"...

I have now stayed back with the other TA and the teacher until they gave me access and now I am at home trying to plan with documents I just got...Atleast I now have some docs and class time table etc.

However, the head teachers comment is hurting me... I thought I was trying my best yet here I am dealing with the worst critical comment.

I know its frustating to have someone new to the job, but I am trying. I think the head teacher could have been more gentle..AIBU?

What do yr5 TA do?! How did you figure out what to do when you were a TA with no experience?!
Thanks!

I’m a primary school teacher and agree with this. Also, collect and tidy resources, sharpen pencils, restock crayons, straighten chairs.

If you're new to education you'll find HT's management style is often odd.

I can almost hear the exchange in my head and I suspect she was govong you friendly advice about looking busy, rather than meaning anything as critical as the way you have taken it.

I don't think TAs should be doing planning, and certainly not in their own time.

Have you checked if the shared drive works for you at the school where the TA showed you it? They don’t usually work at home as they have to be connected to the school network. Unless it’s a OneDrive.

This is 100% the teacher's job. I think you should ask the SENCo for a clarification of your duties.

The teacher should be planning you into a lesson and giving you a copy of her plan with your instructions written on it. So I would always have my ta working with a group. If this hasn’t happened you should raise it. It’s normal for a ta to have to take guided reading and phonics groups- you should have support with your planning. If you don’t have anything to do you need to go round the class checking that children are working, checking that they understand and you can sit next to any disruptive child or any child who clearly doesn’t understand- there are always children sat there not understanding.

Primary teacher of 17 years here, and your teacher sounds absolutely awful. Sorry. You should not be doing any planning. That’s the teacher’s job! You should not be looking at data documents and planning interventions. Again, that’s the teacher’s job. It is normal for TAs to take small groups (eg phonics), but again, these are decided by the teacher. While the teacher is teaching, it is good to see if there are any chn struggling, and you can help them. If this carries on OP, speak to someone in management. I am getting annoyed just reading it, so goodness knows how you must feel!

Thank goodness I just got out. I started as a TA ye several years ago and worked up to HLTA and Intervention lead in secondary. I am now a tutor to apprentices doing their L3 and L5 courses.
When the school employed you, they should have known you were new to the system and to working as a TA. They would have known that you need training up from scratch (or at least they should have!).
Things have changed a lot and LSAs and TAs are now expected to do much more for little more than minimum wage. They are really struggling to recruit for this reason and my last school still can't fill posts months on for LSA work.

L1 TAs and LSAs do NOT plan at home and do not take any work home for that matter. Your mandatory training is to be done during work hours and paid.
TAs are not paid enough to be doing anything after their work hours unless they are HLTAS who do planning for interventions and cover work. This is why they are paid more.

Get yourself into a union as well and (as my TA friend rightly said) act your wage!!

I got told off again... my teacher takes kids to assembly and I just tagged along.. because I dont know what I should do. Sometimes I stay back tidying up/ seeing reading records but otherwise I am at assembly. I did notice that there are only 1-2 TA's in assembly. The rest are having lunch.

The teacher didnt mention anything. The HT stopped me and said " you will be just sitting here, so go". I said "ok" and she said "may be you should have lunch at this time".. I said "ok".. I will have lunch with other TAs from monday.

The problem is my teacher wont tell, its been 15 working days and I have been figuring everything out myself and the HT's tone is like as if I have been taking salary without working for it for 2yrs at work.

I think I just need to have a thick skin and be who I am: I take accountability of the money I get paid and I try hard to earn it (not just take it).

The Head wasn't telling you off, they were telling you what to do.

What have you done so far to resolve this situation?
Have you asked the teacher for a timetable showing what you need to be doing?
If she has refused, have you asked your line manager for a timetable showing what you need to be doing?

The headteacher is right but it’s clearly the teacher who is an issue here. I say this as a teacher. It is their job to give you directions and information. In my planning I always made clear what the TA was supposed to be doing e.g support giraffe group with understanding instructions or TA out preparing resources for art lesson - see plan for resources needed.
I suspect the teacher is inexperienced at having a TA. But this is not a you thing- keep asking and if necessary move schools. Good TAs are hard to find and in another school they will be much better at giving you direction, support and training.

I also agree with the comments that you shouldn’t be needing to plan at home!

I would email the teacher now so you have a paper trail.

Say you are not sure what she wants you to be doing and you need more direction from here.
Ask for a copy of text week's timetable and ask her to highlight on it what she wants you to be doing including: which children she wants you to support during inputs, which children she wants you to take out for 1:1 or group work, when, and what you need to do with them. When she wants you to take lunch or breaks. Whether there is any prep, photocopying, changing reading books she wants you to do.

You shouldn’t need to do your job so much with your own initiative. That’s tricky to get right and unfair on you!

Anyway, if you are keen to start taking intervention groups out- take the weakest and review the previous lessons or gaps in their learning. Another easy one is to pre-teach the next days lesson, so they are more likely to grasp it when taught. Listen to struggling readers. Look through books for recent gaps and take children to do that work.

You’re not paid enough to plan beyond the school day. Plan and resource during the day, help c go listen to focus etc. and ask the teacher for a list of jobs or interventions she would like done. It’s crazy you’re having to create these!

You need to ask for a timetable.

I do feel for you OP. Being the newbie is always awful. However, I don’t understand why you haven’t escalated this? After the HT’s first comment I would have gone to my line manager and highlighted I wasn’t clear on responsibilities. You should be asking for a meeting with the teacher and saying you would like a clear list of tasks and that the teacher needs to sort groups etc. If you don’t get anywhere, ask for a meeting with the HT. You can explain you are totally new to the role and may initially need more support than a TA with more experience. They knew your position when they hired you. They are not ensuring you have everything you need to succeed in the role and are making you feel awkward. Take action now otherwise they’ll ask why you have left it so long.

It’s the class teachers job to assign you tasks to do

@Overtinkerbell- you weren't being told off, you were being directed. This is what the teacher should be doing. Please, ask your line manager (usually the SENCo) for clarification regarding your role.