Many people might not know about the Education Support course. The content is quite similar in nature to the Certificate III in Education and Care, and it also includes a placement component.
After completing the course, you can apply for entry-level jobs in both public and private schools. The exact duties vary, but some tasks include assisting the classroom teacher, supporting students with additional needs or behavioural support, and maintaining/cleaning classroom resources and equipment.
Types of Support Teachers
In public schools with a preschool, Support Teachers are usually divided into two types:
- One type supports classes from Kindergarten to Year 5,
- The other works in the preschool, which is more similar to the role of an educator in a childcare centre.
At our school, support teachers usually work from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM, with two breaks in between, a 10-minute paid morning tea and a 30-minute unpaid lunch. Support teachers get time off during school holidays too, but unless you’re permanent full-time, the holidays might be unpaid.
How much do support teachers get paid in Australia?
The pay rate is generally between $34–$40 per hour.
If you’re working as a support teacher in a K–5 classroom, you’ll need to know how to build relationships with students who may come from various backgrounds and have different needs, how to guide them appropriately, and how to respond to unexpected situations.
There are quite a few job opportunities, which you can find through major job platforms. If you’re looking specifically for public school roles, you can search on I Work for NSW.
Lately we’ve seen quite a few people recommending the Cert III/IV in School-Based Education Support, but there’s very little mention of the actual expectations of this industry or the easily overlooked challenges. So we’d like to share my own experiences and thoughts, hoping to give current and future students a clearer understanding.
Is English proficiency important for Teacher Assistant (TA) roles?
The TAFE course itself doesn’t have a high English requirement, and the assignments are generally not too hard. However, they do cover a lot of practical workplace content that you’ll need to reflect on and relate to your placement experience.
That said, the job itself does require a solid level of English, especially in speaking and listening. TAs communicate daily with classroom teachers to report and discuss student situations—sometimes even directly with Deputy Principals or the Principal.
During yard duty, if an incident needs reporting, you’ll need to log it in detail on OneSchool. Without a strong English foundation, it’s hard to survive in this role.
On top of that, things like running reading groups, supporting English assessments, and helping with writing all require decent English skills.
Is the 100-hour placement important?
Yes it is extremely important. Placement is essentially a golden opportunity to skip the résumé and interview process and go straight into the role.
Schools often select suitable interns to offer contracts. When I did my placement, I went in with the mindset of “I want to get a job here.”
At first, I was placed in Year 4 for one day a week. I then proactively asked to add a second day in Year 2 to gain experience with different age groups.
The more students and teachers I worked with, the more familiar everyone became with me—which meant the BM or Head of Inclusion also had a better impression.
Within a month, I was offered casual work.
Is the TA job stable?
It’s relatively stable, as long as student numbers at the school stay consistent (which means funding stays stable), the number of hours for TAs also stays more or less the same.
But this mainly applies to permanent TAs. Contract TAs often get anxious towards the end of the year, waiting for the BM to have a talk about whether they’ll be renewed.
How long does it take for a contract TA to become permanent?
Once you’ve worked as a casual for 12 months, you can apply for permanency through MyHR—if your school has extra hours available to offer you.
So for those still studying or job hunting, I recommend trying placements or casual roles at different schools.
Generally, schools are more likely to offer permanent positions to people they’ve already worked with!
Author: Sim K
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