TheColebecks

Having picked myself up off the floor after learning how poorly paid childminders are :scared: Im moving onto plan B lol

I am a Special Needs Learning Support Assistant here (classroom assistant) and wondered if the same/similar type of job exists in Oz? Also, what qualifications would I need? Here we dont need any in specific qualifications, although since Ive been in the job I have been on loads of relavant courses.

Any advice on the kind of hourly rate would be useful too.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kari

MrsDagboy

Would that be the same thing as a teachers aide? We certainly have those in the state school system here, we also have special needs teachers assigned to schools, not sure if the teachers aides have any training in special needs though.

steandleigh

The usual qualification here is a Certificate iii - Education ( Teachers Aide ), can be completed at a local TAFE college, usually a part time or distance course, 1 yr long.

Helps to get on the course if you have some previous experience in a classroom setting.

From what I know, the pay isn't all that fantastic ( only speaking for up here tho' - Far North Queensland - about $13 an hour.... )

Good luck and best wishes,

steandleigh

Kari-

have a look on the wagenet site again for the average wage for a teach-assi in your area:

www.wagenet.gov.au

Good luck and best wishes,

TheColebecks

Thanks MrsDagboy & Steandleigh for the info.

Even tho A$13 per hour is low, its not nearly as bad as around A$3.50 per hour childminding - still cant get my head around that :scared: :scared:

Off to do some research.

Regards
Kari

taylors244

hi kari
i am also a classroom assistant and will be looking for a similar job when we move over there. I am currently doing a level 3 teaching assistant course at college, but i`m not sure any sort of qualifications stand for anything over there.My cousin is a teachers aide (as they are called) in queensland and she only got her job, the same as i did, by being a parent helper to start with in her own children`s school.she hasn`t any actual qualifications.
hope this helps a bit
samantha

jad n rich

I think we need to establish how many teachers aides schools in australia actually employ

Having a son with dyslexia and been through 5 different schools here (3 kids) teachers aides seem very few and far between. The only area we found them in as standard was pre school. Then one or two per school usually. The jobs always go to someone in the know and are highly sought after because of the hours fitting in with school.

Our sons primary school, has one special needs assistant, who is actually a fully trained teacher (4 years) with a further degree. She is employed part time for over 800 children and getting half hour a week is like winning the big one on the bloody lotto.

FITCHETT FAMILY

Hi all,
I have read all your info regarding this and must say I found it very promising, ( until I got to yours jad n rich!!!!! ) I am a Special Support Assistant Level 3 and will be looking for part-time job when I get to Oz Geelong area.
I was hoping that there would be enough work to go round but Im not in a mad rush so I think I will take the time to pester as many schools as I can!!!
I resigned from my last job in oct 04 so that I could focus my energy into getting sorted for OZ, it's taken ALOT longer than I thought!
Any info about Teachers Aides jobs or anything else in the Geelong area greatfully recieved and if I can be of any help, you are welome to ask, not saying that I actually Know alot but hey, thought's there!!!
All the best
Tina

MrsDagboy

Our school (a state primary school) has 4 teachers aides, 1 in the preschool permanently & 3 to service Years 1-7. One of our sons classes has 1 of the teachers aides in his classroom this semester 3 days a week fulltime. I dont think the teachers quite know what to do with her, they arent used to having so much help from someone whos not a parent & fulltime at that . The other sons class has extra help an hour/day with the maths program + other teacher aide time (I think its about 3 hrs/week exta?). Not quite sure why the disparagy, but its there (for this semester at least).

We also have a special needs support teacher but Im not sure how many days/week, plus 2 support people for special needs.

This is in a school of 370 kids (Yr1-Yr7) with class sizes around 22-23.

(Disclaimer: this is the status with regards to teachers aides & special needs in our school, it may not be exactly the same everywhere)

TheColebecks

Aaarrrggggg! Every time I think Im getting somewhere with a career choice over there I come up against a brick wall

taylors244 & FITCHETT FAMILY - I was about to start my Special Support Assistant level 3 when we decided to look into emigrating and, thankfully, I didnt do it as it seems that any qualifications we get here mean diddly-squat over there! I will just look into doing the necessay course once Im out there I think and hope that a position comes up once Im there.

jad n rich - its terrible that there arent the teaching aide positions available in schools there to provide the important special needs assistance to the children who so desparately need it - I hope this situation changes, for them so much more than for me!

Thanks everyone for your comments and good luck with job hunting.
Kari

gladiatorjw

My wife is also works as a special needs helper so I would be very interested in following your thread. We are also going tothe Geelong area so any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, The Wilson's

TheColebecks

That info's a little less negative - we're hoping to eventually head out your way (Brisbane) so lets hope the trend of employing more TA's continues, at least until we get there!!! lol

Thanks
Kari

MrsDagboy

Here is the info for our school for this year straight from the horses mouth (although Im not sure our deputy principal would be happy to hear me call her a horse ).

Our school has 75 hrs/week teacher aide time allocated to it. This is spread over 4 teacher aides, 2 fulltime @ 25 hrs/week & 2 part time (I presume 12.5 hrs each, but I dont know for sure, it may not be equal). This is in addition to the 2 fulltime teacher aides employed in the preschool (sorry, I said 1 earlier, but its 2 as there are 2 preschool classes). In our school the teacher aides do a percentage of their hours as non contact time which is when they do the photocopying & prep for lessons (so that the teachers dont have to do it). This means that the classes end up with around 2 hrs teacher aide contact time/week. Its usually more in the younger grades (around 3 hrs) & slightly less in the higher grades (around 1.5 hrs). As well as our standard teacher aides, we also have 5 (yes five :scared: ) trainee teacher aides in the school this term, which is why one of our sons has one 3 days/week fulltime. This isnt the norm, but they are hoping to get the same for 2nd semester as well.

In regards to special needs, our school has a disability/special needs teacher 3.5 days/week. They also have 2 special needs support staff for just under 20 hrs/week (I presume 10 hrs each, not 20 each) & a guidance officer (who does most of the assessments etc) one day/week. We also have a range of DSV's (disability special visitors? I think thats what they are called?) who come one day/week each & cover areas such as ADS, speech & language impairment, hearing impairment, intellectual disability etc. So each specialist comes 1 day/week & there are about 6 of them.

Last thing to mention is the difference between state schools & private. Not that many teacher aides & specialist support teachers etc for disabilities in private schools as private schools tend to limit the number of children with disabilities that they take. So if you are looking for work in the field, then the state school system is probably the better place to look.

Hope this helps.

(helps alot being on a very friendly basis with your childs principal & deputy principal to get all this info )