Teaching assistants - A Class Act!

"UNISON is celebrating teaching and classroom assistants this Friday, 29 November.

Teaching assistants (TAs) and classroom assistants (CAs) carry out a huge variety of tasks, working with teachers to help our children learn and develop to be the best they can be.

They provide one-to-one support for children who need additional help, which cannot always be provided by a teacher delivering a lesson to a full class. With the right training, they even deliver lessons to whole classes under the direction of a qualified teacher.

TAs adapt resources for disabled students and support children with special health, medical and learning needs. They supervise classes for absent teachers, manage other classroom support staff and prepare learning materials. They support pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing; and monitor, assess and record pupil data, working with outside agencies when necessary.

TAs also supervise children on out-of-school activities, run breakfast and after-school clubs, invigilate exams and supervise lunch and play times.

Imagine a School Without Teaching and Classroom Assistants.

Yet the role of teaching assistants and classroom assistants is being undermined. Earlier this year, it was reported that the government asked the teachers review body to look at teachers' contracts - with a view to them taking on duties currently performed by teaching assistants. Recently, an influential think tank report questioned the value of teaching assistants.

To find out just how important TAs are to our schools, UNISON spoke to staff at Pakeman Primary School. Watch the video here, and see what they had to say.

Teachers on the cheap

Back from holiday, so apologies for the intermittent posts and lack of response to comments. Pleased to see in recent Times Educational Supplement (TES) that the Government is finally telling schools to pay support staff “fair” wages and stop them being used to teach lessons they are not qualified to take.

The abuse and latent discrimination of overwhelmingly female classroom assistants by many schools and local education authorities is a national disgrace.

Unlike this report from The Times – fully qualified teacher assistants (with a two year diploma) can start on as little as £9,500 per year (not £15,000). Surprise, surprise very few men can afford to become assistants and schools rely on women who are desperate for jobs that fit in with their care commitments.

Check out the UNISON argument on BBC news

This is of course “guidance” so when schools inevitably ignore this (as they have to date all previous guidance), the Government will "of course" move in and legislate (please do so Gordon).

Its a Rip Off - Women's Pay

Yesterday Fawcett and UNISON declared was “Women’s No Pay Day”. The pay gap between men and women is such that compared to men, women work free from October 30th to the end of the year. Part time women earn on average 40% less than men.

Let me illustrate this point. My misses has just completed a two year full time diploma to become a teaching assistant. On Monday she started her first TA job at a local primary school. She is really enjoying the work and it seems a smashing school. Most of her time will be spent with kids who have special needs.

However, her pay is only £7.41 per hour (remember this is London) and “term time” only. Less than £10,000 pa? Her school is quite large however; there are no other male TAs (and only 1 male teacher in total).

Has her pay anything to do with this ratio? Surely not!

I remember last year dragging her along to a London Labour Party National Policy forum. Tony Blair was speaking and the organisers wanted local people who worked in front line public services to attend. I promised her that she would not have to speak nor that we would sit in the front of any meeting (as is my usual trick).

She is an outwardly reserved soul who I suppose has enough on her plate being married to me. Anyway, at the forum, we were lead into a focus group meeting. Cabinet ministers Patricia Hewitt, Alan Johnson and various local MPs (Lyn Brown) came in and Patricia immediately made a beeline to my better half. Once Patricia found out she was training to be a TA, she was obviously really pleased to find a “real” person.

Everyone is very proud of the Labour government record in pouring money into schools and education. However, when my misses talked to the ministers about the prospect of low pay that she faced when she qualified, everyone went a little quiet. One person present even said “we pay our office cleaners more (damn right - they also deserve more) and they don’t have to undergo 2 years training”. There were vague promises of future reviews about pay and uncomfortable gestures.

I refuse to believe that a male dominated sector or industry would accept such low pay and conditions. Until this issue is adequately addressed we will never have true equality.

Of course at the end of the event we were led into the main hall, and were placed in reserved seats right in front of TB making his speech and his Q&A. Strangely enough she won’t go to any more meetings with me.

Thinking about it, with regard to institutional sexism are we really that much more superior to the Saudi’s? (Yes but no but)