If, like most people, you're too busy to read this entire article, here are the main takeaways about teacher aide courses in WA:

• Teacher aides work in schools to support student learning and development. They predominantly work with students with disabilities or disorders.
• To become an effective teacher aide in a WA school, you will need to learn foundational instructional strategies and behaviour management techniques.
• ITAC offer teacher aide courses in Perth by either class-based or online/distance learning. Classes start 8x per year.
• All students have access to tutorials, live webinars, pre-recorded lectures, readings, interactive activities, and their friendly trainer.
• We recommend a course that is based on an integrated structure as this saves months of time.
• All of our trainers are ex-teachers or teacher aides with years of experience and are Perth based. If considering another provider, check to see that their trainers are based in Perth and that they are former school teachers.
• You will need to complete a placement of 100-hours in a local school as well as a series of theory assessments (no essays or exams).
• The Teacher Aide Combo is very popular, looks impressive on your resume, saves time, and saves money compared to studying two separate courses. ITAC's combo is the only true combo in Australia.
• The CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support is known in WA as the ‘special needs’ teacher aide course.
• Many students end up working at the school where they did their placement - hence enrolling in a quality and reputable course is essential.
• Teacher aides in WA are called Education Assistants or EAs (each state uses a different term).
• To become a teacher aide in WA you will need to complete a reputable course and work 'relief' (casual) for a period of time - schools rarely hire staff that have not worked in their school at some point.

All of our trainers are ex-teachers or teacher aides with years of experience and are Perth based. If considering another provider, check to see that their trainers are based in Perth and that they are former school teachers.

Only at ITAC will you learn a range of teaching and learning strategies such as explicit instruction as pictured above.

ITAC student on placement after completing her online course and learning industry best practice skills and techniques. Which strategies do you think she is about to implement?

ITAC is the only provider offering research-based content similar to what teachers learn at university.

All of ITAC's teacher aide courses are available online. It's important to bear in mind that online does not mean that you are on your own with no support. You may, for example, attend regular tutorials and live webinars. Trainers also contact students on a regular basis to ensure that they are on track.

Many students who enrol online do so because they want additional flexibility to study at a time that suits them. Staying in regular contact with your trainer is essential and it helps to ensure that you are progressing at a good pace. A word of warning however, not all online courses are the same - some are no more than a series a .pdfs while others include live webinars, interactive e-learning modules and support from expert school teachers. The quality of your online course is directly related to your employability. ITAC is the only provider offering research-based content similar to what teachers learn at university.

The quality of your online course is directly related to your employability.

Our nationally recognised qualifications are planned to take around 6 months to complete. In fact, the average is somewhere between 4-6 months because most students have experience with children or have studied before - this means they are capable of moving through their program at a faster pace. The time it takes to complete your course depends on:

• the time you dedicate to your studies each week
• whether you have studied before
• whether you have experience with children
• whether you have experience in any of the caring professions
• your literacy level, intelligence and ability to learn.

If you're a parent, your experiences can make a huge difference to the speed and ease at which you are able to work through your teacher aide course. This is because a lot of the materials and topics will already be familiar and they will make sense to you much faster compared to a person without the same experiences. It's a case of extrapolating your existing knowledge and applying it to a professional context where there are strict expectations e.g. how basic behavioural strategies fit within modern learning theories.

If you're a parent, your experiences can make a huge difference to the speed and ease at which you can work through you teacher aide course.

As far as nationally recognised courses are concerned the CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support and the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support are comparatively easy and simple (compared to more technical courses such as engineering, trades, IT, accounting etc.). This doesn't mean that the time it takes to complete the course will be any less however - there is more to the work of teacher aides than many first think.

The table below compares the two nationally recognised teacher aide courses available in Perth WA: CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support and the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support, as well as our Teacher Aide Combo.

CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support vs CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support

As you can see from the table above, the main difference between the CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support and the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support is the course content, graduate outcomes and job role.

The CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support focuses on training students to work in generalist roles - usually in lower grades. On the other hand, the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support is geared towards supporting students with more complex needs such as disabilities, disorders, difficulties and comorbidities.

So, which course is right for you?

The introductory

CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support,

the higher-level special need’s course:

CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support,

or the extremely popular

Teacher Aide Combo?

Your course has several components. Firstly, there is the theory portion of your course. This part of your course involves a range of learning activities culminating in an assessment. These learning activities include:

• reading through the learner guide and associated activities
• attending online webinars whether live or pre-recorded
• completing additional readings provided by ITAC
• watching class lectures and other videos.

There are no essays or lengthy reports and most of the assessments are made up of short answer questions on topics directly relevant to your future work as a teacher aide. We try to keep all aspects of the course as practical and as relevant as possible.

The feedback provided by your trainer will enable you to substantially improve your practice, and this can mean the difference between being offered a position and being passed over.

Another aspect of your course is your work placement. The placement is completed at a local school where you will undertake a range of activities culminating in a workplace demonstration. This is where your trainer attends the class and observes you carrying out a range of common tasks such as facilitating a small group learning activity.

It's important to enrol with a provider who visits you in the workplace. This is because, it may be the last opportunity you'll ever get for an experienced trainer to spend time observing your performance. The feedback provided by your trainer will enable you to substantially improve your practice, and this can mean the difference between being offered a position and being passed over. It's also an important service in cases where there are issues during the placement - even the best students can have issues from time to time.

If you’ve read this far, there is no doubt that you have some questions – and so you should – enrolling in a teacher aide course is a big step. To help you out, we've put together a few articles covering everything you'll ever need to know before enrolling in a teacher aide course in Western Australia.

It's essential that teacher aides study a course that includes best practice instructional strategies such as explicit instruction and simultaneous prompting. Unfortunately, ITAC is one of the only providers in Australia delivering teacher aide courses based on current research.

You may have noticed that we like to use the term ‘research-based’ and ‘best practice’ to describe our courses. But what exactly does that mean? In simple terms, when we develop our courses, our experts comb through the research from Australia and overseas to find what works. We look at what teachers are taught in universities, the skills that governments want their teachers and support workers to have, the latest educational programs, and what the research says about teacher aides and their work. Here are just two examples of where some of our course content comes from:

• Australian professional standards for teaching,
• High impact teaching strategies for Victorian teachers

Practically speaking, this means that we base our teacher aide courses around a whole heap of practical and best practice strategies, skills and techniques that are used by high performing teachers, teacher aides, schools and governments around the world - including Australia. In fact, ITAC students learn many of the same strategies that teachers learn during their university studies. Depending on your course, you will learn some of the following with ITAC:

• Traditional, tried, and tested strategies such as scaffolding, modelling, rapport building, and goal setting and activating prior knowledge.
• More modern approaches such as cooperative learning and metacognition.
• Advanced and lesser known strategies such as Cognitive Load theory, serial-position effects, the self-fulfilling prophecy, the Zone of Proximal Development and flipped learning.
• Literacy strategies such as phonics, active reading, pre and post reading tasks, graphic organisers, using cues and prediction, spelling and grammar supports, modelling, guided and shared learning and critical literacies, to name a few.
• More generic skills that all high performing teachers and teacher aides use such as motivational skills, questioning skills, feedback skills, reflective practice, and games.
• Generic learning skills and life-long strategies such as study skills, transferrable skills, metacognitive skills, coping skills, mental scripting, and others.
• Physical and hands-on skills’ development strategies such as deliberate practice, over-learning, spaced learning, and massed practice.
• Strategies to support students with special needs such as assistive technology, intervention and targeting approaches, remedial instruction, social stories, teaching aids and props, and differentiated instruction.
• A range of student-centred strategies such as self-directed learning, pair and group work, debating, discussions and role plays.
• A range of teacher-centred strategies such as team teaching, explicit instruction, and the principles of scaffolding.
• Strategies and approaches to support the operational needs of the classroom such as methods for planning learning sequences, behaviour systems and using data for continual improvement.

You will only find these and many other teaching strategies in one of ITAC’s research-based, best practice teacher aide courses. While most providers teach a few strategies, at ITAC you will learn dozens, if not hundreds of practical and effective strategies and techniques making you an expert in your new profession.

In fact, ITAC students learn many of the same strategies that teachers learn during their university studies.

The provider should have local trainers - they will know how local schools operate.

Maybe ITAC isn’t your cup of tea in terms of studying a teacher aide courses in Western Australia. Regardless, we want to make sure that you choose a provider that is high quality, value for money, reputable, gives you the skills that schools look for, and who provides a satisfactory experience overall. Here is how to figure all that out:

1. Choose a provider who visits you on placement. This essential service helps students to perfect their professional practice and is expected by schools.
2. Choose a provider who offers a multitude of support services. This includes regular webinars, tutorials and face-to-face time as needed.
3. Choose a provider who you can physically visit (preferrable) or at least who has trainers available by phone. You don’t want to be waiting a week or two every time you need help. The provider should have local trainers - they will know how local schools operate.
4. Choose a provider who has multiple trainers. Some providers, such as those who offer dozens of courses, only have one trainer - who will mark your assessments if they leave or become sick?
5. Choose a provider who uses an integrated course design. This sounds technical but is actually really important because this course structure removes the repetition found across multiple units of competency. This basically means you're not assessed on the same thing dozens of times (as happens if you study a course delivered at the unit level). ITAC has the only integrated teacher aide course in Australia.
6. Choose a provider who offers a range of online videos and lectures developed by their trainers. Some online courses are no more than a pile of PDFs or they use videos from overseas o other industries such as childcare. ITAC offer hundreds of videos for students to select from - all made by local teachers.
7. Choose a provider who writes their own materials especially their learner guides. This is a sure sign of a provider who is sufficiently skilled to produce graduates that schools want.
8. Choose a provider who runs classes (even if you have no plan to go to any of them). As a general rule, better quality providers run classes.
9. Choose a provider with whom you feel comfortable working with for a long period of time - you will have to interact with them for many months to come. Ask yourself, are they reputable and will you be proud of a certificate with their logo on it?
10. Choose a provider who only delivers teacher aide courses. Like any other professional services, the best people in any industry or sector are those who specialise. Schools know which training providers produce quality graduates and which do not - choose wisely.

ITAC has the only integrated teacher aide course in Australia.

Many people ask about the difference between ITAC and TAFE in Western Australia as far as teacher aide courses are concerned. To give a very general and broad explanation, TAFE has been known as the provider for high school students, younger students, regional and rural areas and for students with additional needs. This is because TAFE receives government funding for specific cohorts (groups) of students who need additional support e.g. high school students, people from disadvantaged minorities. The main way that TAFEs cater to students with additional needs is to run courses that include significant amounts of class time not dissimilar to high school.

On the other hand, the average age of an ITAC student is just over 37 years of age. Our courses are geared towards busy but capable adult learners who have work or other commitments, and who are unable to spend extended periods of time in a classroom (TAFEs are in many ways an extension of high school). In fact, for most adult learners, sitting in class for 3-4 days each week is unnecessary.

If you are a younger student or would like to attend class similar to a high school environment, then TAFE might be the right option for you. However, if you're looking for a more flexible adult-orientated program, a provider like ITAC will likely be better able to meet your needs.

To become a teacher aide in Western Australia you will first need to enrol in a course such as the CHC30221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support and complete the required assessments. Pictured: ITAC student on placement.

Almost all schools require that you hold a nationally recognised qualification such as the CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support or the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support.

To become a teacher aide in WA you will first need to complete a reputable and nationally recognised qualification (preferably with ITAC of course). Almost all schools require that you hold a nationally recognised qualification such as the CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support or the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support. As mentioned earlier, the Teacher Aide Combo is often the best option due to the cost, time, skills, employability etc. It means being qualified for every position in schools.

You may have read some of our other articles where we discuss research showing how untrained teacher aides give students the answers to questions around 68% of the time, while teachers only give students the answers to questions around 11% of the time. What this tells us is that people without proper training are more concerned with task completion than conceptual understanding (something you will learn in your course).

Giving answers to students robs them of the ability to self-repair - a key ingredient in the learning process. This has a big effect on the learning outcomes of children and is therefore a component in ITAC's teacher aide courses. Untrained people would not be aware of this issue and can actually impact student learning negatively as a result. This is just one example of why schools want trained staff who have completed a reputable and high quality teacher aide course.

Before starting your new journey as a teacher aide and beginning your job search, you might want to first think about where you would prefer to work. We advise students to cast a wide net and to put your name down everywhere within a reasonable drive. However for some at least, narrowing down your search is a more manageable approach. Here are the main categories you should consider:

1. Do you want to work in a government school such as Corrigin District High School or Bunbury Primary School, or a private school such as Blue Gum Montessori School or Edmund Rice College?
2. If you choose a non-government or private school do you have a preference? Would you like to work in a Catholic school such as Francis Jordan Catholic School, another type of religious based school such as John Wollaston Anglican Community School or Geraldton Christian College, or a non-denominational school such as Parklands School.
3. Do you have a preference for a particular school or age group?
   • Education support centres such as Cloverdale Education Support Centre
   • Primary schools such as Endeavour Primary School or Lancelin Primary School
   • High schools such as Butler College or Kiara College
   • Senior Colleges such as North Lake Senior Campus or Eastern Goldfields College
   • Language development schools such as Fremantle Language Development Centre
   • Kindergartens or pre-primary schools such as Forrestdale Community Kindergarten.

Relief work involves covering for a teacher aide who is absent and is the best way to get your foot in the door.

Finding a job as a teacher aide in WA is relatively easy in terms of casual, part-time or relief work. If you are hoping to work in a particular school, it may be some time before a position becomes available unless you are really lucky. Even then, there may be competition from others who are already working or know to the school.

For this reason we advise our students to work relief at a number of different schools (3-5) – once a school sees that you have learnt best practice skills (hence the importance of choosing your course carefully), they will more than likely offer you a longer-term position when one becomes available (normally each year).

We have found that our students are often surprised at how much they enjoy working in schools that they originally wouldn't consider.

You may need to broaden your horizons and look for work in multiple schools to begin with. We have found that our students are often surprised at how much they enjoy working in schools that they originally didn't consider. Don't discount education support centres (ESC), high schools, and schools that are further away than you would have liked. Many students discount high schools because they are intimidated by teenagers. This belief is unfounded and high schools are far from the environment that many imagine.

Other factors that may influence your success at finding work include:

• the time of the year (you won't find much work in December)
• your demeanour and approach
• your skills and knowledge
• whether you have a nationally recognised qualification from a reputable provider.

Obtaining a nationally recognised qualification such as the CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support or the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support is essential. Gone are the days when someone with no training can become a teacher aide in a school – the so called ‘mums' brigade'. Schools have long realised that trained teacher aides are much more effective than untrained TAs even if they have experience raising children of their own. During your nationally recognised qualification you will learn a range of strategies and techniques that are essential for working effectively as a teacher aide in a modern school.

During your nationally recognised qualification you will learn a range of strategies and techniques that are essential for working effectively as a teacher aide in a modern school.

Positions are sometimes advertised online or on government websites e.g. jobs' boards. Often hundreds of people apply for these positions depending on the role and location. For this reason, we generally don't recommend hinging your job-hunting success on applying for advertised positions alone.

You may also find that some positions are advertised in the local newspaper such as the West Australian. This is mainly the case for part-time and temporary positions in the private sector such as for Catholic schools.

We recommend the following steps in order to find a teacher aide job in Western Australia:

1. Complete a course with a reputable provider to learn best practice skills and strategies. We recommend the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support or the Teacher Aide Combo. For most students, there is no reason to enrol in the CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support except when combined with the Cert IV.
2. Prepare your resume and clearances, and make your resume look as professional as possible.
3. Approach a dozen or so schools in your local area. Go to both primary and high schools.
4. Ask to be placed on their relief list and to be considered for any casual or contract/short term work that becomes available.
5. Do as much short-term and relief work as is available – a little bit of luck helps, but putting yourself in a position that exposes you to a maximum number of potential employers is best.
6. Wait for a contract, full-time position, or more permanent position to become available - which it will eventually. Don’t be afraid to ask especially around week 4 or 5 of term 4 (where schools often start looking at their staffing arrangements for the following year).

This is the tried and tested method that we teach our students and it's based on advice from schools, teachers, hiring managers.

You can expect to earn approximately $30 per hour or more as a teacher aide in Western Australia.

You can expect to earn approximately $30 per hour or more as a teacher aide in Western Australia. Teacher aides can earn more or less than $30 depending on a range of factors such as:

• the location
• the type of job
• the school
• your qualifications
• Whether the child has a disability.

In Western Australia, there are three main pay levels for teacher aides in the public sector. These 3 levels are explained below (in very general terms):

• Level 1 - For teacher aides who work in mainstream classrooms particularly with younger students in P-3.
• Level 2 - For teacher aides who work with a special need’s student in a mainstream classroom.
• Level 3 - For teacher aides who work in a special need’s school or centre (called education support centres in WA).

Obviously, level 2 pays higher than level 1 and so forth. Bear in mind that most teacher aides work 32.5 hours per week. This is because they are not expected to work outside of contact hours for the most part (other than a few minutes either side of the day). Teacher aides in WA are not required to do any planning, resource development or other such activities, and consequentially are only expected to work 6.5 hour days being 8.30 - 3.30 with an unpaid 30 minute lunch break.

You can learn more by going to the Education Assistants' Award Western Australia which outlines things such as:

• annual leave and other types of leave
• payrates, scales and allowances
• moving from one level to the next
• right to training and further education
• other rights, responsibilities and entitlements as a teacher aide in western Australia.

Note: This only applies to the public education system in WA, however the private system is very similar. If you are working in a religious-based or other private school, you will need to consult with your employer for accurate information about your pay and entitlements.

Above: Build your pedagogical skills, confidence, career and dream lifestyle by completing a nationally recognised teacher aide course with the leader in teacher aide training in Australia. ITAC students learn best practice, research-based skills and strategies such as those demonstrated above – which strategies do you think this teacher aide is implementing? Scaffolding, modelling, feedback, questioning, rapport building, linking to existing knowledge, elaboration, guided or shared learning, think alouds, advanced organisers, phonics, number sense, team teaching, games and quizzes, formative assessment, reflective practice, learning styles or maybe differentiated instruction? She might be using all of these strategies!

Above: Study a best practice, research-based teacher aide course in WA and learn a range of valuable and essential teaching skills, techniques, and strategies that will make you an invaluable member of your school community. Only at ITAC will you study strategies and techniques such as reading and writing support strategies, formative assessment, metacognitive skills, individual education plans, explicit instruction, re-reading, repeated reading, intervention and remedial instruction, questioning techniques, reflective practice, setting goals, guided learning, shared learning, scaffolding, modelling and many others.

Above: As you can see in this image, teacher aides work closely with students for most of the day. They predominantly work with students one-on-one, in pairs, or in small groups of 3-6. They do not teach the whole class as that is the job of the teacher. Teacher aides in Australian schools are expected to implement a range of teaching and learning strategies such as scaffolding, modelling, worked examples, explicit instruction, whole-part-whole learning, setting goals and many others. These basic strategies are the bread and butter of all teacher aides. You will only learn these key strategies, and many others, with the leader in teacher aide training in Western Australia: ITAC.

Above: Studying with a reputable provider in order to learn best practice skills and strategies means you will have the ability to take on higher-level responsibilities e.g. running a program with a group of students (as pictured). Only at ITAC will you learn best practice strategies based on international research such as one-on-one instruction, cognitive load theory, motivational strategies, scaffolding, modelling, shared learning, guided learning, and many others.

Above: Many classrooms take advantage of technology and use it throughout the day in almost all lessons. This is particularly the case in special needs classes. By implementing research-based, best practice teaching and learning strategies, students are more likely to be offered a position in the school where they undertake placement. You too can get your career up and running and begin the life-long challenge of educating the next generation of leaders by enrolling in Australia’s best teacher aide course: only at ITAC.

Above: After demonstrating research-based, best practice teaching and learning strategies, this student passed her final assessment. Teacher aides spend most of their working day supporting student development such as with props, equipment and hands on activities as pictured here. Could this be you in a few months?

Above: Where do you think your skills would be best utilised? Pictured above is an ITAC graduate helping students to develop their reading and writing skills via a creative art's activity. You too could be part of this exciting, stable and rewarding sector by enrolling in a research-based, best practice teacher aide course with Australia’s leading provider: ITAC.

Above: Supporting the development of reading and writing skills begins in early childhood with phonics and whole-word learning. Pictured above, an ITAC student from the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support showcases some of the resources and activities they have been using to develop students’ phonemic awareness (knowledge of the sounds of English). By enrolling in a quality teacher aide course in WA, and by learning and practising best practice teaching and learning strategies and skills, this student was offered work at the school where she completed her work placement. Could this be you in a few months from now?

ITAC offers the only true 'combo' in Australia - that is, we 'mash' all units from both courses together (as opposed to studying each unit one at a time which takes a huge amount of additional time - many months in fact).

• You can expect to earn $30+ per hour as a teacher aide in WA.
• Don't ignore education support centres and high schools when looking for work.
• Choose a provider who teaches best practice skills based in research - schools now expect this.
• Choose a Perth-based provider with local staff who knows the local industry.
• The CHC30221 Certificate III in School Based Education Support is the entry level course - we tend to recommend skipping this course.
• The CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support or the Teacher Aide Combo makes you more employable, more skilled and improves your confidence - most ITAC students enrol in the combo.
• Schools require their staff to hold a nationally recognised qualification.
• ITAC offers the only true 'combo' in Australia - that is, we 'mash' all units from both courses together (as opposed to studying each unit one at a time which takes a huge amount of additional time - many months in fact).
• Trained teacher aides are much more effective according to studies.
• Don't hinge your job-hunting success on applying for advertised positions.
• Take your resume and ask to be placed on the school's relief list. Almost all new TAs start their career this way.
• Almost all adult learners enrol with private providers such as ITAC. TAFEs are popular for high school students.
• Choose a provider carefully - a cheap course becomes very expensive if no one will hire you.
• Choose a provider who develops their own materials, offers classes (even if you don’t go to them), and who uses an integrated structure.
• The placement visit is essential to perfecting your professional practice and being offered employment.
• Read our article about studying teacher aide courses online ‘Online’ teacher aide courses should come with plenty of support such as regular tutorials and live webinars.
• In WA, the term education assistant or EA is also commonly used.
• Parental or any form of experience with children or caring roles, means you are likely to finish your teacher aide course much sooner.