My job as a Teaching Assistant.

I returned to full time work in March this year, after an 11 year break, minus 18 months 2016/2017 teaching in a school in Dubai. I've had other jobs from volunteering in townships to working in a covid vaccination site to working as a TV assistant on the European Golf Tour.

My last teaching job in the UK was delivering and assessing NVQ III students in the work place as Teaching Assistants. It was a role I wanted to return to initially, but with such a long time since I'd taught, getting interviews was difficult. I saw a post advertised at child 4's old school and was offered the job.

I arrive in work on my bike, in the car or on foot, via the swimming pool at 8.30am and leave at 3pm. I have no planning, no marking, no assessments.

I have 2 lessons, a 15 minute break, 2 lessons, 30 minute lunch, 2 lessons and home. I rarely stay past 3pm unless I want to, to send emails or updates students notes.

In interview when asked what my career progression was I replied that I didn't have one. I'm more than happy to do this role until I retire. I have all the school holidays off, other than 2 teacher training days, in which we can travel, visit our children and grandchildren in.

It's perfect.

Apart from the standard English, Maths, Science, Geography and History, I also support students in Home Economics, Design and Technology, Music, Art and Drama. We've been doing Performance Poetry on stage, I've been helping two classes with making a bottle opener from metal and plastic to baking, making hats, gloves and cushions

I have 2 regular students I support for around 12 lessons a week and around 10 other students I see on a regular basis and randomly cover other students if I'm needed. I work with years 7,8 & 9.

I love the variety of lessons I'm involved with. I have a good relationship with the students and the class teachers. I regularly support the rest of the students in the classes and often have to deal with behaviour issues when it disrupts me or my SEN students from working.

Most of the teachers are happy for me to do what I do in addition to the SEN students, handing out books, ensuring students have the correct equipment and supporting them with behaviour in the classroom to enable learning.

A couple of teachers have their way of doing things and quite often in my opinion have little control over the class and it can be very chaotic with little learning taking place. The same students work really hard in other lessons, despite being generally noisy regardless.

In addition to the SEN with my allocated students, I find myself dealing with bullying, safeguarding and injury during lesson change over and on my way to and from work. I've broken up fights on my way home and dealt with incidents on the way into school. I have a strong duty of care when I see someone in trouble and have an overwhelming urge to help. Some may say it's interfering or being a busy body, bt I can't ignore acts of unkindness, injury or safeguarding concerns.

I'm refreshing my knowledge, I'm recalling my own education and I'm learning new things everyday. I'm confident to say to a student or teacher, I don't know something and we will find out together how to work the answer out, which to me is the whole point of being a teaching assistant, to facilitate learning.

I supported a year 8 student with working out a maths problem, when the teacher asked him the answer and how he worked it out, he replied with '4' and 'Miss told me' 

I enjoy spending some of my break time playing table tennis, jenga and supporting students with their homework, not just the SEN children, but anyone who asks me for help.

Do you have experience as a teaching assistant? Does or did your child have support in school? 

Week 41 - My Sunday Photo

Last Sunday I had a phone call out the blue. I'd met a woman a month or so back who asked for my CV for the school she worked at. At this point I'd given up looking for employment and was booking my promised trip back to South Africa to work with a couple of charities for a month. I'd sent off endless emails and CV's, knocked on numerous doors and considered returning to the UK for work .

I was invited for an interview on Monday as a Learning mentor, then asked if I'd be interested in shadow teaching. My interview went well and I was told I'd be employed and I'd hear from HR in the week.

I then had another call in the afternoon and was asked to come back in on Tuesday for an interview with the principal and her deputy. I left with a job offer after discussing my involvement in whole school SEN and an idea of a pay scale and my working hours.

I'm off to South Africa on Thursday for 5 weeks to work with a couple of charities and on my return I'll start the job.

It's been almost 5 years since I was in full time paid employment. I've was working as a volunteer for the 4 years I was in South Africa, but volunteering was flexible.

I'm neither excited or nervous about returning to the world of work, for some reason people think I should be one or the other. I'm just aware that this is another huge change for me, a new identity, a new routine that I will have to adjust to.

After giving up work and the kids leaving home and 2 international relocations in the past 5 years, I'd sort of got used to the me I am now, sort of got used to managing my own time, going out when I wanted, cleaning as and when needed, shopping if I felt like it and numerous coffee mornings.

Hopefully we'll start to save some money now with me out the house everyday as it is getting cooler week by week, we'll still need the air con for the cat and dog, but we'll keep them in the conservatory with access to the kitchen during the day and only run the one unit.

Winter is coming in the UK and I'm sure you'll be switching your central heating on soon. Do any of you heat your house to 26c to keep warm? We're battling to cool our house down to this temperature. Our average monthly bill is around £500.

Why as an expat I don't think local schooling is a good idea.

Education and International schools

 
I have no knowledge of International schooling, it was not an option for us when we became expats and moved from the UK to South Africa.

 

I’ve read many articles and blogs about the benefits of local schooling, but when I look for further information in regards to my childrens education I discover that most of the information for local schooling is primary education and the benefits of your child emerging themselves in local schooling.

 

I google boarding schools for expat children and alarmed to discover that this choice is usually made when the child approaches secondary education and the parents are still livng abroad.

 

So why did we choose local schooling over international schooling? Because we were nieve, we listened to the advice we were given only to discover that the advice was based on……..no knowledge of anything other than we had to have a school place for our children in order for us to obtain a visa to move here.

 

Our eldest child child school here in 2011. The school year starts in Jnauary, he entered in Grade 10. In the UK he had already completed 4 months of grade 11, his GCSE year. We opted to move him, prior to his GCSE’s as his UK school wasn’t really performing to the best of his abilities, he ran with the in crowd and every day was a battle. Local schooling for him here was the best thing we did for him, they helped him catch up with this grades, he joined the first team cricket and rugby, not bad for a Pomme, his grades went up, he still ran with the in crowd but the peer pressure was positive.

 

He is finishing Grade 12 in December, he will be 18 years and 11 months. He is on course for Matriculation and entry to Varsity…or is he?

 

Arriving in Grade 10 he was exempt from Afrikaans and learning a 2^nd language. So far entry to Varsity here is going to be difficult. An undergraduate course is 3 years and should he be accepted, as an immigrant all fees have to be paid on being offered a place. To complete his degree and obtain the Hons, he has to reapply and study for a further year.

Should he want to study at a UK university he is required to spend an additional year and move over to the Cambridge school to convert his Matric to A level equivilant, then applky to UK University meaning he wouldn’t be able to start until October 2015, that would leave him with no visa and have to return to the UK in December 2014 and wait 10 months before taking up a UK university place aged 20 years and 10 months, where as had he stayed in the UK he probably wouldn’t have done A levels but if he had he would’ve started University in October this year. He is effectively having to do an additional 2 years of schooling for his A levels.

 

The youngest child entered schooling here in Grade 6, still in Juniors, he had already completed 4 months of secondary school in the UK. Due to a monumental cock up, the company had informed the local school we were only here for 2 years. He wasn’t exempt from Afrikaans as we’d been informed and his Educational Psychology and learning need reports hadn’t been forwarded to the school as they had needed to secure his place, again for our visa application. It became apparent in Grade 7 at the end of the first term, March 2012 that his educational needs were not being met and after reassessment and additional support being given for end of term exams, he had missed out on vital education with him failing terms. I’ve attempted to address his needs with his current school. But as with other local schools I’ve approached, Special Educational Needs are NOT catered for in main stream schooling. I’m banging my head against a wall, the last correspondence I received from him school was a suggestion that he may be suited to schooling else where, but no suggestion as to which school. Schools in Jo’burg are out of the question and trying to find an international school that delivers International GCSE’s and that also caters foor his SEN within a reasonable driving distance is proving impossible. There is a Montesorri school near by that we have applied to but as he had no Montessori experience and is 14 years of age, it doesn’t look likely.

 

We also don’t want our youngest to be in the same situation as the eldest so our only option is looking like UK boarding school for him. He was a pupil at The Downs Malvern College prior to our relocation and he loved boarding, we took this option as the whole boarding approach seemed the best way forward for his learning needs and style, but we only lived 4 miles away and he could come home in the holidays or the odd night if he wanted to. This is not my preferred choice of schooling, but having exhausted all the other options, we need to move fast as he is due to start his GCSE’s in Year 10 this coming September.

For the eldest child we should have chosed International schooling from the start. For the youngest, it seems that UK boarding is and was and should've been our only option. I'm just hoping now we can get a place in time for him to start his GCSE's this year and that he can catch up with the last two years of missed education.