Teaching assistants are professionals and should be seen as such. A survey by the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses has revealed that a large majority of teaching assistants already have qualifications in early years care and education at Level 3 - which is a far cry from the ignorant and insulting comments by some union chiefs and others who have referred to us as a 'mums' army'.
Many of us are studying for a Foundation Degree in Early Years Education, which is equivalent to a Level 4 qualification, and are quite capable of supervising a class of children from reception to Year 2 to ensure that work set by the teacher is carried out successfully. Indeed, many of us have personal experience of this already.
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