Au pair to early years teaching assistant
An au pair already meets 35% of what the early years teaching assistant role asks for. The move turns on 11 required skills not yet in the profile.
63.4/ 100
1 How much of what an early years teaching assistant is expected to do is already part of an au pair’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the early years teaching assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An early years teaching assistant role treats 8 of its required skills as things an au pair already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assess the development of youth
- assist children in developing personal skills
- attend to children's basic physical needs
- give constructive feedback
- handle children's problems
- support children's wellbeing
What stands in the way is 11 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An early years teaching assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an au pair background worth leading with.
- already held common children's diseases health and welfare
- already held assist children in developing personal skills assisting and caring
- already held attend to children's basic physical needs assisting and caring
- already held workplace sanitation services
- already held handle children's problems assisting and caring
- already held maintain relations with children's parents communication, collaboration and creativity
All 10 carried skills, including the 8 the early years teaching assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 25 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn assist students with equipment required
- still to learn guarantee students' safety required
- still to learn implement care programmes for children required
- still to learn perform playground surveillance required
- optional, not held provide after school care optional
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- still to learn assist students in their learning required
- still to learn provide lesson materials required
- still to learn provide teacher support required
- optional, not held teach kindergarten class content optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational support staff optional
- optional, not held prepare lesson content optional
- optional, not held promote the safeguarding of young people optional
- still to learn encourage students to acknowledge their achievements required
- still to learn maintain students' discipline required
- optional, not held facilitate teamwork between students optional
- optional, not held assess students optional
- optional, not held organise creative performance optional
- optional, not held perform classroom management optional
- still to learn kindergarten school procedures required
- optional, not held curriculum objectives optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- still to learn monitor children's physical development required
- optional, not held teamwork principles optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an early years teaching assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 assist students in their learning practise this
- 02 assist students with equipment practise this
- 03 encourage students to acknowledge their achievements practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 10 skills that carry over
- already held assess the development of youth skill
- already held assist children in developing personal skills skill
- already held attend to children's basic physical needs skill
- already held give constructive feedback skill
- already held handle children's problems skill
- already held support children's wellbeing skill
- already held support the positiveness of youths skill
- already held workplace sanitation knowledge
- already held common children's diseases knowledge
- already held maintain relations with children's parents skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held first aid optional
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held facilitate teamwork between students optional
- optional, not held provide after school care optional
- optional, not held teach kindergarten class content optional
- optional, not held assess students optional
- optional, not held curriculum objectives optional
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- optional, not held first aid optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational support staff optional
- optional, not held organise creative performance optional
- optional, not held perform classroom management optional
- optional, not held prepare lesson content optional
- optional, not held promote the safeguarding of young people optional
- optional, not held teamwork principles optional
24 held skills the early years teaching assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assist children with homework skill
- not needed by the target role baby care knowledge
- not needed by the target role buy groceries skill
- not needed by the target role carry out wound care skill
- not needed by the target role clean rooms skill
- not needed by the target role clean surfaces skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with youth skill
- not needed by the target role demonstrate when teaching skill
- not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
- not needed by the target role drive vehicles skill
- not needed by the target role entertain people skill
- not needed by the target role feed pets skill
- not needed by the target role handle chemical cleaning agents skill
- not needed by the target role iron textiles skill
- not needed by the target role play with children skill
- not needed by the target role prepare ready-made dishes skill
- not needed by the target role prepare sandwiches skill
- not needed by the target role promote human rights skill
- not needed by the target role provide first aid skill
- not needed by the target role speak different languages skill
- not needed by the target role supervise children skill
- not needed by the target role use cooking techniques skill
- not needed by the target role use food preparation techniques skill
- not needed by the target role use gardening equipment skill
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn kindergarten school procedures required
- optional, not held curriculum objectives optional
- optional, not held first aid optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held teamwork principles optional
Common questions about this move
Can an au pair become an early years teaching assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An au pair already covers 35% of what an early years teaching assistant is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 8 of which the early years teaching assistant role treats as required.
What skills does an au pair need to become an early years teaching assistant?
11 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is assist students in their learning.
How hard is the move from au pair to early years teaching assistant?
Its learning distance is 63.4 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.