Teaching Assistant experiences?

flimsier

lexilex wrote: »

I have been told the the majority of TA vacancies are filled before they are even advertised. The jobs go to volunteers or friends of staff. How true this is I can't be sure but it would explain why I have never heard a thing from any of my applications.

Very hard to say.

Depends what school and who the staff are. This is something that isn't supposed to happen (and can open schools up to a legal challenge) - but I'm sure it does.

flimsier

doodoot wrote: »

I got advised at Uni that it's best to apply to volunteer at schools that didn't do well in the last OFSTED report.

Apparently it looks good on their record if they have loads of volunteers, and you also get the opportunity to try to leave a good impression on the kids there.

If just 1 kid in a whole school gains an appreciation in reading because of something you did, then you've done a good job.

That's terrible advice in my view. It doesn't "look good" to have loads of volunteers and who are they supposed to be looking good to. If it's OFSTED, there's nothing in any inspection framework (new or old) about the number of volunteers. Schools will be doing it only if they believe you can make a real difference.

flimsier

Amba_Gambla wrote: »

I did a GTP last year (having spent a year as a cover supervisor). TA can be a great route into teaching.
From my experience, the teachers who don't like TAs don't know how to use them properly, or have useless TAs.

If I can help you out with it, let me know.

Agree 100%. A good TA who puts the effort in is worth their weight in gold, especially if a good teacher is the other half of the equation.

laurel7172

TA level 1, 2 or 3 is the grade you work at, not the qualification.

You can do NVQs, but they're very practical and need signing off by your class teacher as evidence of what you've achieved, so it would be next to impossible to do them if you weren't working as a TA already.

Anacrusis

lexilex wrote: »

I must have applied for 100+ teaching assistant jobs since graduating from university. The jobs are just so hard to get. I have experience working in schools from uni placements, and have tried to get in local schools to volunteer but they have all said they have as many volunteers as they can take.

I have been told the the majority of TA vacancies are filled before they are even advertised. The jobs go to volunteers or friends of staff. How true this is I can't be sure but it would explain why I have never heard a thing from any of my applications.

This happened when my children were at primary school - any TA or special needs assistant jobs went to Mum's who'd helped out or were dinner ladies.