I'm back to working full-time in education, but this time, it's on a permanent basis! (I'll explain more about that later as per this blog title)
I've also been doing a lot of work with my 2 policing projects. If you follow me on LinkedIn, you'll know what they'll involve.
It's definitely safe to say that I've been rather busy during that time! But since I have a whole day to myself, I thought I'd use the time to make this blog post. Most of what I will be talking about in this post, will be related to my career working as an Agency Teaching Assistant (TA), and finally getting the job as a permanent contracted Teaching Assistant role.
Turning the attention back to the above title, I want to talk about why I feel like going to a job where I actually feel like I belong somewhere, and not just going to a job where I feel like I'm just a spare part.
This was because that when I was an Agency TA for a year & 8 months, all I was doing was covering for contracted TA's in classrooms where the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) couldn't hire any permanent staff at the time.
I admittedly enjoyed the getting to go to a variety of different schools aspect of the role, as I got to work with different pupils. That said, there was 3 schools that I worked in where they made me feel valued, and treated me like I was a permanent member of staff.
However, these things also didn't mean that I enjoyed the job role altogether...
Again, most of my time as an Agency TA just felt like I was nothing but a "spare part" as there were some schools that I had worked in where their staff didn't appreciate me working there. Even if it was just for one day.
Without naming some schools I worked at, I would get told by the agencies who put me in those schools that they won't be suitable for me. All because I happen to make a mistake with marking someone's work, or how I interact with the pupils, or even just how I talked with the staff in general. You could say those schools were very nitpicky about which staff they'd like to have.
This went on until the 10th of June, where I had an interview at a SEN & SEMH school in Crawley. I remember going into the interview thinking: "Will this be another interview that I won't be successful in afterwards?" Only because I had SO many TA role interviews with the outcome of being unsuccessful. Although, I actually had slightly more hope in this one due to the SLT who interviewed me seemed very impressed with the amount of schools I had worked in since November 2024. Especially with the amount of experience of SEN & SEMH I have gained during that time.
Anyway, the following morning (the 11th of June), I got the phone call to say that I was successful in the interview, and have been offered my place at the school to start in September! This then gave me a strong feeling of relief, finally feeling like all of my patience, persistence & determination has eventually paid off for something worthwhile!
Once I started at the school on the 1st of September, I began to carry a sense of "belonging" by the fact that the job is mine, and no one can replace me. This also meant that I can carry on working in education for as long as I want to!
That's all for now, but I'll be sure to be back on here once I have more time to do so.
Over & out!🤚🏻
