Our local authority is changing the contracts of what it terms 'support staff'. My colleague has held a permanent contract for more than 15 years, but unfortunately her title on this contract is 'auxiliary'. If it had stated 'nursery nurse' she would have been protected by the national agreement. However, the LEA is now proposing to alter the contract to that of a classroom assistant.
At first glance it didn't appear to be a cause for concern. After all, the salary scale for a classroom assistant goes much higher than that of a nursery nurse. But on closer inspection we discovered the pay scale stated 'term-time only'. In real terms, as she is currently paid 'whole time', if she entered the classroom assistant scale at the salary level she earns now, she would actually bring home a lot less money.
As the Government has left it up to individual LEAs to decide how to handle our fellow professionals, her future is in the hands of her union (thankfully the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses), our local authority, the headteacher and the school's governing body. This is a very worrying time.
I would be very interested to hear other professionals' experiences and views.
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