Teaching assistants quitting schools for supermarkets because of ‘joke’ wages
Headteachers across the country say they cannot fill vital teaching assistant vacancies and that support staff are taking second jobs in supermarkets to survive because their wages are “just a joke”.
Schools are reporting that increasing numbers of teaching assistants are leaving because they will not be able to pay for high energy bills and afford food this winter. And with job ads often attracting no applications at all, heads fear they will be impossible to replace. They warn this will have a serious impact on children in the classroom, especially those with special educational needs, and will make it increasingly hard for teachers to focus on teaching.
Sam Browne, headteacher at Radnage Church of England primary school in Buckinghamshire, said one of his most highly skilled TAs resigned a week ago in tears because she loved her job but wasn’t earning enough to manage.
“She has a child in nursery and by the time she has paid for childcare fees she is making £10 a day,” he said. “That was difficult before, but now she can’t survive.”
He added: “The pay for TAs and support staff is just a joke.”
Heads say they will struggle to fund the £1,925 pay rise for support staff, offered by local authorities with no extra cash for schools at the beginning of the summer. But they also argue it doesn’t go nearly far enough.
Long Furlong primary school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has been advertising for over a year for a TA to provide one-to-one support for a vulnerable child with special needs. They have two similar vacancies and are on their fifth round of advertising.
Carol Dunne, the school’s headteacher, said: “I have just posted the ad on social media again, alongside an ad for the local Aldi which pays £11.40 an hour. Our position
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