This involved full daycare and sessional settings, but didn’t include a very significant part of the workforce – teaching assistants.
And teaching assistants around the country are being subjected to significant cuts in their salaries and worsening terms and conditions, just as their deployment is improving and their worth is being proved.
How can it be fair for a hard-working staff member on £16,000 a year to find their pay falling to £11,000 as a term-time only contract is imposed?
Many teaching assistants work hours well in excess of their contracts, and their role has changed greatly from the ‘mums’ army’ of ‘paint pot washers’ of years gone by. Some are taking lessons – and opposition from teachers to this has decreased as teaching assistants have proved increasingly invaluable.
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