Up Teaching Assistants' pay to a minimum of £20,000 a year (term time) to reflect the amount of work they do. It's not just displays and marking. It's challenging behaviour, teaching, marking, first aid, displays, emotional coaching and supporting children with SEN.
We believe that Teaching Assistants' job roles have changed massively over the years. It used to be that we were in to do photocopying, displays and some marking. We feel that now, many TAs must deal with a lot of children with SEN on a daily basis, without reflective pay for that. We mark, we teach, we problem solve, we deal with sick children, we work with small groups of children, we do multiple interventions, we read daily, we coach children on how to manage emotions.
Government response
The Government is establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body to negotiate minimum standards for pay and conditions for our vital school support staff, including Teaching Assistants.