Teaching assistant (UK only please)

Hey! I’ve been a teaching assistant for about 13 years now. Currently on maternity.
To be honest the pay is pretty rubbish ( always has been) but I wouldn’t say it’s a heavy workload…. When you finish at the end of the day, the day is done.
There are way more responsibilities than years ago.
Have you ever done anything like it before? Xxx

I was a teaching assistant before I got pregnant I absolutely loved it I worked with a agency and got around 500£ a week but I also used to be a nanny and I personally found these kind of jobs to be quite rewarding so I didn’t mind the pay

Ah yes, we’ve had some agency TA’s before ( much better pay) yeah I’ve always found it rewarding so the pay never really bothered me either!
If you’re happy with the pay then I’d say go for it. At least you’ve done it before so know what to expect to :-) xx

I’m an SLT. I can’t tell you much about what they get up to, but it was always a TA in my sessions learning the ropes to work with the kids on specialised programmes. I got the impression that the TAs really knew the kids. Pay might be shit but I bet it will be rewarding.

(To be fair, any job in health, social care, and education is crap pay for the level of responsibility. If you want a better paying job then you need to shift your career thinking asap.)

If the poor pay doesn't bother you do it. TAs are an amazing resource to a teacher and its really rewarding being a TA. I havent done it for many, many, many years now but I did love watching the kids faces light up when they finally understood somwthing theyd been struggling with

Not a teacher. Ex SLT (stepped down due to having children) teacher of 17 years.

My TAs have truly all been the glue that holds things together. In honesty, they are expected to do a very similar job to teachers during the school teaching day. But, often have little to no planning so like you say, can arrive and leave on time.

Many of my TAs sometimes came in early to get jobs done or get ready for day (not because I'd asked!!!)

There are so many more SEN chn in schools and far less funding resulting in more workload.

The pay is absolutely abysmal for the role that most do IMO . If you care about the children , you will get stressed but there are many many great moments.

I would try it to see? Usually, it's a months notive. It's not a term like teachers? So if you decide it's not for you, you don't have to stick with it, if you don't need the money

There are also always odd and demanding parents. You will speak with them but serious things like that should be dealt with by the headteacher.