Secondary school teaching assistant to early years teaching assistant
A secondary school teaching assistant already meets 67% of what the early years teaching assistant role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
35.5/ 100
1 How much of what an early years teaching assistant is expected to do is already part of a secondary school teaching assistant’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 13 of its required skills as things a secondary school teaching assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assess the development of youth
- assist students in their learning
- assist students with equipment
- encourage students to acknowledge their achievements
- give constructive feedback
- guarantee students' safety
What stands in the way is 6 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 23 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 a secondary school teaching assistant background worth leading with.
- already held provide teacher support communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held handle children's problems assisting and caring
- already held maintain relations with children's parents communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held perform playground surveillance assisting and caring
- already held encourage students to acknowledge their achievements management skills
- already held support children's wellbeing assisting and caring
All 23 carried skills, including the 13 the early years teaching assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 12 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 children in developing personal skills required
- still to learn attend to children's basic physical needs required
- still to learn implement care programmes for children required
- optional, not held provide after school care optional
- still to learn kindergarten school procedures required
- still to learn monitor children's physical development required
- still to learn workplace sanitation required
- optional, not held teach kindergarten class content optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational support staff optional
- optional, not held facilitate teamwork between students optional
- optional, not held organise creative performance 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 children in developing personal skills practise this
- 02 attend to children's basic physical needs practise this
- 03 implement care programmes for children 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 23 skills that carry over
- already held assess the development of youth skill
- already held assist students in their learning skill
- already held assist students with equipment skill
- already held encourage students to acknowledge their achievements skill
- already held give constructive feedback skill
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held handle children's problems skill
- already held maintain students' discipline skill
- already held perform playground surveillance skill
- already held provide lesson materials skill
- already held provide teacher support skill
- already held support children's wellbeing skill
- already held support the positiveness of youths skill
- already held assess students skill
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held escort students on a field trip skill
- already held first aid knowledge
- already held learning difficulties knowledge
- already held maintain relations with children's parents skill
- already held perform classroom management skill
- already held prepare lesson content skill
- already held promote the safeguarding of young people skill
- already held teamwork principles knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held common children's diseases optional
6 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 common children's diseases optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational support staff optional
- optional, not held organise creative performance optional
24 held skills the early years teaching assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adapt teaching to student's capabilities skill
- not needed by the target role adolescent socialisation behaviour knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on lesson plans skill
- not needed by the target role apply teaching strategies skill
- not needed by the target role arrange parent teacher meeting skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the organisation of school events skill
- not needed by the target role compile course material skill
- not needed by the target role consult student's support system skill
- not needed by the target role consult students on learning content skill
- not needed by the target role disability types knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify learning disorders skill
- not needed by the target role instructional strategies knowledge
- not needed by the target role keep records of attendance skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with educational staff skill
- not needed by the target role manage student relationships skill
- not needed by the target role monitor educational developments skill
- not needed by the target role monitor student's behaviour skill
- not needed by the target role pedagogy knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare youths for adulthood skill
- not needed by the target role recognise indicators of gifted student skill
- not needed by the target role secondary school procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role social development knowledge
- not needed by the target role teach secondary education class content skill
- not needed by the target role work with virtual learning environments skill
3 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
- still to learn workplace sanitation required
- optional, not held common children's diseases optional
Other moves recorded from secondary school teaching assistant
- primary school teaching assistant 76% covered · adjacent
- early years teacher 66% covered · moderate
- Freinet school teacher 66% covered · moderate
- Montessori school teacher 64% covered · moderate
Full index of moves from secondary school teaching assistant
Common questions about this move
Can a secondary school teaching assistant become an early years teaching assistant?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A secondary school teaching assistant already covers 67% of what an early years teaching assistant is expected to do: 23 skills carry over, 13 of which the early years teaching assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a secondary school teaching assistant need to become an early years teaching assistant?
6 required skills are missing, plus 6 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is assist children in developing personal skills.
How hard is the move from secondary school teaching assistant to early years teaching assistant?
Its learning distance is 35.5 out of 100, which is the moderate 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.