My working life…Teaching assistant

CATRIONA CLARK is a teaching assistant (TA) at Chieveley Primary School in West Berkshire. She works four days a week providing teaching and classroom support to children aged from ten to 12 years old in Year Six.

‘My eight-year-old son is a pupil at Chieveley,’ she says. ‘After dropping him off, my day begins at 8.45am. Each day is different as I work responsively to the children’s needs. I check my timetable and get to work immediately.

‘Most primary schools teach maths and literacy in the morning when children have more energy to concentrate. I sit with a child or group of children who need additional support to ensure they understand what the teacher is saying. The teacher may have identified the pupils as being slightly behind their peers through testing, gaps in their homework or noticing they don’t respond to questions in class.

‘These are National Curriculum core subjects, so it’s important the children learn them from a qualified teacher. But in the afternoon, when the children study topic-based subjects such as geography or history, I can remove those who need extra help and provide group or one-to-one tuition. For example, if they’ve been struggling with long division, we’ll study that together intensively.

‘Around these roles, I do anything else the teacher asks me to do. This might be taking photographs of the children’s work as evidence for their work books, vast amounts of photocopying, or mounting work to produce a creative display. TAs do all sorts of jobs, which makes the role really interesting and varied.

‘The day is really busy until hometime at 3.15pm. I have a half-hour for lunch, but because I do playground duty, this is at 1.15pm after the teachers and children have eaten. Twice a week I also cover morning break, but if I’m not doing that, I get 15 minutes to have a cup of tea.

‘The vast majority of people working as TAs are women with children who are unable to return to their previous jobs after maternity leave. In my old job I never knew when I would come home in the evening, so it wasn’t feasible to continue after having two children (I also have a ten-year-old daughter).

‘Three years ago, I started applying for TA roles, as I’d always been interested in working in education. At first I was unsuccessful, and the schools advised me to get more sector experience. As a result I volunteered in a local primary school for six months for one day a week. I also helped children with their reading at the school my son was then attending.

‘Because pay for TAs is low [from £13,000 per year], people sometimes make assumptions about how skilled TAs are. In one job I applied for, I was up against a barrister. You get a huge variety of people applying, mainly because the job fits into people’s childcare needs.

‘TA roles vary widely from school to school. My position has changed every year – I’ve moved around different year groups and sometimes supported children across more than one class. Our head teacher really gets to know her staff’s skills and interests, and matches them with their roles.

‘Because I got an A grade in A Level maths, and I love literature, I tend to focus on those subjects. I’m able to go through the children’s SATs exam papers and analyse what they got wrong to design my own interventions.

‘I also refer to the National Curriculum, which details the teaching methods that the Government expects schools to follow. But that’s not always expected of a TA – in another school, they may provide more practical rather than detailed support.

‘Being a TA requires you to give much emotional energy because you are involved closely with the children. But I find working with them and seeing their progress really satisfying. As a result, I find myself working longer hours and am considering qualifying as a teacher.’

Training

There is no specific training requirement for TAs, but experience of working with children is important and qualifications in early years are advantageous. Most schools will require qualifications showing literacy and numeracy skills. CACHE offers a Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools (QCF) and a Level 3 Diploma in Specialist Support for Teaching and Learning in Schools (QCF). TAs must pass Disclosure and Barring Service checks and complete safeguarding training. Schools may also offer on-the-job training.

Useful websites

National Careers Service, 

National Association of Professional Teaching Assistants, www.napta.org.uk

National Association of School Teaching Assistants, www.nasta.co.uk

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