Teaching Assistant Courses / Distance Learning

kazimojo69

Hi

Just wondered if anyone can recommend a company that does the above by distance learning?

Or any other info woudl be gratefully accepted.

Thinking of a change in career following redundancy :-)

dawyldthing

Often local centres will do evening courses over a year, they will start in September now though. I know there are several around here. The other thing is teaching/teaching assistants jobs are mostly a case of not what you know but who you know. When I trained as a teacher i'd say at least half my friends got jobs within a year either at their placement schools or through the head teacher recommending them on as then they know what kind of teachers they are like. The same happens for teaching assistants, and jobs are scarce. If you can volunteer in local schools that will give you that foot in the door as a lot of it is about past experience too

dizzyrascal

dawyldthing is right. You need a foot in the door and some good work experience. Get to know your local schools and see if they will let you help out - you'll need a crb check.
You can usually do TA courses at your local college and that might be a good place to start networking too. Distance learning has its limitations, especially with a hands on job like teaching assistant.

Becks81

dizzyrascal wrote: »

dawyldthing is right. You need a foot in the door and some good work experience. Get to know your local schools and see if they will let you help out - you'll need a crb check.
You can usually do TA courses at your local college and that might be a good place to start networking too. Distance learning has its limitations, especially with a hands on job like teaching assistant.

I don't know if it the same as in your area, but I am looking to gain some qualifications in teaching so I can get my foot in the door so to speak. The only problem being is colleges will only accept you onto a course if you are already in employment within a school, and you can only get a job in teaching if you have qualifications. Catch 22 or what :mad:

Very frustrating when you already have a degree a no school will touch you because you have no relevant teaching qualifications. Also my mum is a teacher and has been for over 30 years - so 'its not what you know but who you know' - is not necessarily true in my case either.

thegirlintheattic

OP - would not bother at the moment. Not many TA jobs around and many schools are trying to shed as many as possible to save money. TA's have also been affected by single status and so most have taken a huge pay cut.

Becks81 - Are you applying for teaching or TA qualifications? They are two separate things.

For teaching colleges will take you on without being employed by a school AS LONG as you get some experience with children, preferably in a teaching environment. Many schools will take potential student teachers in for a bit to get experience (obviously unpaid). If you don't want qualifications then independent schools will take you with no teaching qualifications but usually with some sort of related experience.

For TAs, because a qualification is not usually needed, most colleges do want you to be working in school. One it weeds out time wasters and two certain parts of the course can ONLY be completed by being in a school environment. Unfortunately, there are enough qualified TAs to go around at the moment so many schools won't bother with unqualified ones.

dizzyrascal

Becks81 wrote: »

I don't know if it the same as in your area, but I am looking to gain some qualifications in teaching so I can get my foot in the door so to speak. The only problem being is colleges will only accept you onto a course if you are already in employment within a school, and you can only get a job in teaching if you have qualifications. Catch 22 or what :mad:

Very frustrating when you already have a degree a no school will touch you because you have no relevant teaching qualifications. Also my mum is a teacher and has been for over 30 years - so 'its not what you know but who you know' - is not necessarily true in my case either.

Hi Becks81
What is your degree subject ? And are you thinking of primary or secondary education?
Have you done any volunteering or have you applied to do a PGCE?
I presume you are trying to do the Scitt route or gtp but they are very hard to get on.
Routes into teaching have changed drastically this year. Have you looked at the new schemes?

Becks81

dizzyrascal wrote: »

Hi Becks81
What is your degree subject ? And are you thinking of primary or secondary education?
Have you done any volunteering or have you applied to do a PGCE?
I presume you are trying to do the Scitt route or gtp but they are very hard to get on.
Routes into teaching have changed drastically this year. Have you looked at the new schemes?

Apologies OP for slightly hijacking your thread!

I looked into going into teaching through the GTTR, but in Primary Education. I am only working part time, so am unable to fund this so thought I would see if I could get some experience within schools as a TA and try and work my way up. But have still not been successful as I'm either over qualified with my degree or have not got the relevant experience for a TA

Plus, the only experience I have working in a school has been work experience for 2 weeks and a few summer terms around 15 years ago.

I have tried schools in the area but they always have enough volunteers, no one wants to give me a chance.

Please if you wouldn't mind, could you point me in the direction of information of the new schemes, I'm aware of UCAS and GTTR.

Oh and my degree was a Joint Honours in English and Psychology.

Dunroamin

Becks81 wrote: »

I looked into going into teaching through the GTTR, but in Primary Education. I am only working part time, so am unable to fund this .

Sorry to be dumb but what do you mean by this?

You may find this site useful.

http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/

dizzyrascal

Hi becks81
The new site for teaching (was TDA) is The Teaching Agency
This link takes you straight to the training options.
GTTR was just the agency for teaching courses (like UCAS)
There are School Centred training options (SCITT) but you still attend a university part time and complete your training in a school.
The same universities who do the PGCE'e will normally also be the provider for the SCITT or GTP and they will know how many places are available.
There is a link on this site (The Teaching Agency) to the GTTR to find places
You will need to get more classroom experience before you apply (it will be for 2013 now as 2012 will be full - especially primary).
You should offer to volunteer at some inner city schools (crb check needed before they will take you) as they are usually crying out for volunteers. Try and sign up for something regular, such as a weekly literacy session for 1-2 terms. Tell them you are committed to teaching by offering yourself long-term. (your degree subject is fine by the way, especially for primary). You need substantial classroom time for your application.

Also, you can't really do teacher-training on a part-time basis and it is not possible to work up from a TA position as you need to get QTS Qualified Teacher Status, which you can only get by doing one of the courses listed.
You can only work your way up to HLTA (Higher Level TA)

thegirlintheattic

Agree with dizzy, you can't work up from TA.

However you can do teacher training part-time, many colleges offer this option for PGCEs. However it will usually work out more expensive in the long-term.

You seem to be a bit confused about the options available.

PGCE - University 'based' teacher training. You spend blocks of time in uni and then blocks of time on placement at a school. This is the common route into teaching but requires you to pay tuition fees there are loans for this though. You can also get bursaries depending on your degree class - 9k for 1st, 5k for 2:1, nothing for 2:2.

AO - Is a route to enable those working in schools to gain QTS. You would not be suitable for this.

GTP - based completely in school and you work as an unqualified teacher for a year (so get paid). You need to approach schools to see if they offer this route and competition is fierce. There is no student loan or bursary but you get about £15k min.

Degree based - you study for 3/4 years to get a BEd. This is a common route for primary teachers but for you would be unsuitable as you already hold a degree.

Registered Teachers Program has now been discontinued.

SCITT is like the GTP except you are trained by the university 'in-situ' as it were and you do not get paid. You pay student loans but can get bursaries.

Teach First is a organisation that takes top graduates and trains them, primarily on the job. You get a salary. It is very competitive and you have to be prepared to teach in any one of 7 deprived areas. These are usually rough schools and it's a bit hit and miss (or so I hear) on the amount of support you get.

dizzyrascal

I think you will struggle to do a primary PGCE part time. Edge Hill do one and I think Northumbria does too. It depends on how flexible you are to where you can study.
Teach First is extremely competitive and places are highly sort after but most of their places are for secondary not primary.
You will also need a 2:1 or better still, a first for Teach First. They have Target training schools in a few city locations so again, it can be an option but only if you are flexible