Teaching Assistant Advice Wanted

thepinklady

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the correct place, if not please move me

I am interested in becoming a Teaching Assistant - however I have no experience working with young children (primary school age) so I'm unsure if i will be accepted for any TA roles.

I am 23 and at college part time (evenings) doing my A-Levels. Once I have 3 A-Levels I'm hoping to go to university to become a primary school teacher. I hate my current full time job at the moment as its not what i want out of life as I've always wanted to become a primary school teacher.

Does anybody know if schools will employ me as a TA with no previous experience? I'm hoping if they see I'm doing my A-Levels to get myself into university to become a primary school teacher they will see how determined I am and maybe even become more involved when i do go off to university.

If any teachers or teaching assistants could give me any advice I would be very grateful.

Hayley
x

If anybody knows of any good teaching forums please PM me - thank you

emmy05

with some of the ones ive known who are teaching assistants, theyve been mums, so im sure they know you got to start somewhere, im sure youll do well too, so good luck x

f1re_cr4cker

tbh it depends upon ur area. Generally in my area TAs are either qualified OR mums of kids that are at or have gone to the school. in my area competition is fierce even if u r qualifed so you wouldnt even get a look in. Especially since you have no experience with kids. Plus the fact that you would be training soonish as a teacher may actually work against you as they would know that A) you would leave and that you wouldnt be trainable as a TA as you wouldnt be there long enough.

autismmum

i used to interview ta's for the job, please dont say.... " i hope to move on to university or this is just a stop gap" whats the point in a govenor even considering you, if you dont plan to stay? i am level 3 t.a. by the way with senco responsability and my own brand of dyslexia... first thing i teach is how to use a dictionary lol i have a degree in learning support and advance diplomas in counselling for childrens and special needs for young people, i am well qualified but still wont earn more than 17k in a school.

scat

I was in a similar position when I graduated from Uni. Wanted a taste of teaching without committing to the training. I volunteered my time for free and worked for about a year with Year One and took over the running of the Library. Eventually, having decided teaching wasn't for me, I handed in my notice. Of course they then offered me a job! I now work with special needs and EAL children. I'm also employed as the school librarian. I think the vast majority of the TA's in my school have degrees. Very few are paid above a grade one.

duchy

I was employed as a TA without qualifications (although I have an incomplete degree) but I suspect the fact I had experience of been an Aspergers Mum helped.
I don't think having asperations to teach would harm your chances-some TAs do end up leaving to study or even stay at the same school if they already have degrees on GTP. It'll depend on the schools and the other candidates-and especially at primary level-if your face fits or not. You have nothing to lose by applying and seeing what happens. Personally I'd be honest and say you ARE considering teaching as a career and are taking A levels with a view to eventually studying for a teaching degree. The way the teaching assistant roles are changing there are now many people starting that way with plans to either enter teaching through the higher TA route eventually or as a way of discovering if teaching is indeed what they want to do and moving on to study. Some even return to the schools they were TAs at after university.

taytanya

i dont know how it works where you are , but i live on the south coast , all schools will except mums for volunteering to help in class , but the schools down here require NVQ level 2 in classroom / teaching assistant plus CRB etc IF you want to be employed in paid work with them ... you can volunteer to help in school to help gain your NVQ as its also part of the course , but they will not employ you with out an NQV in this .... hope that is of some help !

jeni-b_2

I have been employed as a Teaching Assistant without having any specific qualifications relating to the job.
I was against 2 people already volunteering in the School whilst they were doing their Teaching Assistant NVQ, but after receiving feedback from the Headteacher and Chair of Governors, I was told that they decided to give the job to me because they felt that I had a genuine care for the children and their welfare, despite not having the qualifications on paper. Once employed by the School, there was lots of additional training offered, and all the CRB checks were made.
I think if you show a genuine enthusiasm toward the job, have lots of ideas and feel that you could inspire the children, I say go for it!

Good Luck!

pennyfrog

The main problem with any TA vacancy is that, because of the hours and holidays, it's seen as the perfect job for those with school age children (Myself included! My son was a pupil at the school when I went for my interview). Therefore competition for these posts is usually very fierce. The head told me that there were over 40 applicants for my job. Many of those applicants-to be honest- had the idea that being a TA is like being a glorified 'helper' in the classroom. Nowadays more and more TAs are taking on huge responsibilities- (though the pay is appalling when you realise just what TAs actually do!) - and need many skills. I worked with statemented children on a 1:1 basis, small groups, whole classes (I was timetabled each week as relief cover for 2 teachers during their non- contact time- which involved doing everything the teacher does from taking the register to delivering the lesson, group work, plenary, planning, speaking to parents when needed, etc). I had to liase with outside agencies, Social Services, run the library, run special groups and much more and I'm in no way unique This is pretty standard for most TAs now. I hold an honours degree but was still requested to qualify as a TA (OCN )- which I did on the job. The school I worked in (I am taking time out at the moment) would expect a level of experience in working with children at the very least and would be very unlikely to employ someone with no school experience. Obviously this would vary from school to school.
I hate to sound discouraging - I'm just trying to be realistic. One of the best things you could do is get some school experience by volunteering. Once in, the roads become clearer for other oportunities. Before working as a TA I had experience in working with children via holiday clubs, being a nanny, a youth group leader, very active PTA member, and went into my daughter's previous school on a weekly basis to help with arts and crafts, reading and on schooltrips.
Experience in the classroom would carry alot of weight when applying for a place on a Teaching Degree course. We had alot of B.Ed students in our school- (and I did my degree in a predominantly B.Ed college) and most of them made sure they gained some experience before applying for college. The majority of older students (25 and over) went onto teacher Training from being a TA. Most of my Teaching Undergraduate friends at least had work experience in a school.
It's a hard but tremendously rewarding career. I hope it all goes well. Good luck with the A Levels.

autismmum

just a thought... what about youth work? they will usually accept you with just a crb and you can then specialise in ages, or the princes trust needs volunteers and will help you in your career
or duke of edinburgh worker..or connextions .. just a thought even the YOC (youth offending team) may take you on, hope you get what your after anyway.

thepinklady

Thank you all so much for your replies. I'm glad people have been honest with me and told me how it is.

I'm really stuck because i work full-time and do my A-Level studies one evening a week at college, I also have course work to do throughout the rest of my week during the evening. I might think about youth work - that will give me some experience with children of all ages - and its something good to put on my CV.

Its really frustrating because I've always wanted to become a teacher, unfortunately when i left school i got a job in London & loved earning good money so didn't look back. Now I've come to hate my job where I am now I'm wanting to become a TA more and more.

I think i will look at youth work and then once i have a little bit of experience with children I will look again at becoming a TA.

Does anybody know if the Distant Learning (i.e Learn Direct) Teaching Assistant course is any good? Maybe I could start doing that? or is it a waste of time?

If anybody else has any good advice I would love to hear from you.

Thank you all again x