A teaching assistant (TA) works within a classroom setting to help ensure all students hold equal and optimum access to the curriculum being taught by the class teacher. This may involve helping students one-to-one, working with smaller groups, helping prepare resources for the classroom and making sure everyone in the classroom is engaged, comfortable and effectively learning during lessons.

Often TAs will have specialised training to help children with SEN or Additional needs, and will conduct this support via 1 on 1 support for a particular child’s learning in lessons, or in small group interventions. Sometimes TAs are hired for specialised academic support, e.g a ‘literacy’ TA might spend most of their time moving between year groups and classes conducting targeted reading and literacy interventions for small groups or individual students. 

TAs will often being on the rota to supervise children at breaks and lunchtime, so always worth checking when you first get into school. 

First Thing In The Morning

According to one Network member:

‘If you haven’t had your work arrange the day before, education agencies typically begin work from around 7 am, as they will often get last minute work to cover illness or unexpected absences, and will need their supply TAs to be available to get into the school in time for morning registration. This means you should expect a call from your consultant from around 7:30 am onwards and ideally, you should be available to get on the road straight away. As with anything, good timekeeping is absolutely paramount to success as a supply TA and, especially if you’re working with a new school, being early is usually better than getting in just in time! In my experience, agencies will often tell you the time your school starts, but will often neglect to advise you whether you are required to take a morning register, or if the school needs you to arrive early so that they can make copies of any paperwork or to show you around the school before you start your day!’

Most TAs on agency contracts will be on long-term placements, but often the agency contract will be listed as ‘day-to-day’ (i.e, a zero hours contract) reducing the TA’s rights to guaranteed pay. After 12 weeks on a placement, through Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) legislation, a Teaching Assistant should be paid the same as a teaching assistant on the same level who is employed directly by the school, based on the school’s pay policy. In the first instance, ask your agency about this as you approach 12 weeks at the school. If the agency say AWR does not apply to you, take it up with your union, as AWR applied to all agency workers, no matter what their profession.

High Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs)

According to Unison:

‘Higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) do all the things that regular teaching assistants do but they have an increased level of responsibility. For example, HLTAs can teach classes on their own, cover planned absences and allow teachers time to plan and mark.

What’s involved

Under the direction of a teacher, HLTAs often plan, prepare and deliver learning activities with individual pupils, groups and (in the short term) whole classes, and also assess, record and report on pupils’ progress.

Many HLTAs have a role to play outside the classroom as well: they may manage other classroom-based staff, develop a specialist curriculum area within the school and often liaise with parents and carers on sensitive issues for particular pupils.’

You may have noticed the paradox in these three paragraphs of what a HLTA is: on one hand they can teach classes but other the other hand, only for a short time. This conflict, or lack of clarity, in the definition of the role of a HLTA can often lead to HLTAs regularly covering teacher Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time on a weekly basis and being used as a regular, scheduled teacher. However, though they end up effectively teaching the classes, the HLTA does not receive the same pay as a teacher: they have all the responsibility but not all of the pay, which is inherently unfair to the hard working HLTA.