As of March 2024, figures show that one in five UK teaching assistant posts is unfilled, causing a staggering decline in school support staff. The East Riding of Yorkshire reported a vacancy rate of 19%. Principal Resourcing’s ‘Get into the Classroom’ initiative addresses this labour shortage by offering free training to become a teaching assistant or cover supervisor.
Principal Resourcing works with candidates in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire without a PGCE or any college/university-level education training. Instead, they look for transferable skills, specifically good literacy, good numeracy and a patient, nurturing nature.
Becky Scott, a Principal Resourcing candidate, said: “The transferable skills that I realised I had from working in healthcare were person-centred care, being nurturing, and being able to build positive, trusting relationships.”
Schools desperately need more support staff. Principal Resourcing provides its candidates with specific classroom skills to create an additional pool of teaching assistants and cover supervisors.
Michelle Grassby, Director at Principal Resourcing, said: “The need for qualified teachers in schools continues to be an issue, especially in certain subjects and geographical areas. Whilst many teaching posts do get filled from schools’ own recruitment, the problems lie when sickness occurs and then certain subject specialists are not available. Maths, science and MFL continue to be a shortage area. Sickness can occur in any subject area and we, a supply agency, need to ensure we have a wide range of subject specialists available to cover in these cases.”
Principal Resourcing has two in-house trainers who collectively have 35 years of classroom experience. Training can be tailored to roles in SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) settings, to roles in primary or secondary education, or even to roles with specific schools.
Training requires that individuals commit to at least ten hours of training with additional homework and follow-ups with a mentor. After this, you can join Principal Resourcing’s pool of candidates working in schools across Yorkshire and its surrounding areas.
Kerry Holt, Principal Resourcing Candidate Development and Wellbeing Manager, said: “There is a huge shortage in support staff for schools, especially for working 1-1 with individual students who have additional needs. Using the benefits of my 20 years plus experience in schools, I provide candidates with bespoke training in a wide range of subjects. They bring their skills, and I add to those skills, tooling them up for the classroom. This training provides schools with additional support staff and candidates with the real opportunity to enjoy a career in the classroom that they might not have thought possible.”
If you are interested in helping to fill the labour shortage of teaching assistants, take a look at the Get into the Classroom initiative. Submit an enquiry form on Principal Resourcing’s website. They will get back to you within 24 hours.