There’s a particular kind of quiet that falls over a school trip lunch. You know the one: the children are scoffing soggy sandwiches under a tree, one is asking if crisps are a vegetable, and a teaching assistant (TA) is attempting to maintain eye contact with both the kids and her tepid coffee. It is not, shall we say, an opportunity for quiet reflection or the leisurely browsing of a paperback.
So when a Teaching Assistant recently sparked a fiery Facebook thread by asserting she’d prefer her lunch hour back—or to be paid—for the time she’d spend supervising pupils on a school trip, well… cue a thousand headteachers clutching their risk assessments in horror.
“Not part of the job!” cried some.
“Absolutely part of the job!” replied others.
“If you don’t want to go, work in Tesco,” was the perhaps inevitable refrain.
And somewhere in the middle of this was a truth far more unsettling than the arguments: we still haven’t figured out what fair looks like for support staff.
The Real Cost of ‘Goodwill’
We’ve built an entire extracurricular ecosystem on “goodwill.” Trips, fetes, evening performances, Saturday sports. The system only holds because people step up. But when a TA questions that culture—when she dares to suggest that eating a cheese sandwich while simultaneously preventing a child from vaulting a fence isn’t quite the same as a lunch break—she’s seen as disruptive.
This isn't about entitlement. It’s about recognition.
The truth is that many TAs are on term-time-only contracts, often minimum wage, rarely full-time. They give a lot already. And while some relish school trips (who doesn’t love a free pass to the Natural History Museum?), others weigh the effort, cost, and chaos against their contractual obligations. And they don’t always like the maths.
Contractual Clarity or Cultural Clash?
Much of the online fury stems not from policy, but expectation. There’s often an unspoken assumption that trips are part of the TA role—even if the hours fall outside the contract. Some schools navigate this neatly with Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) agreements or agreed overtime. Others rely on “team spirit.” But team spirit alone doesn’t cover childcare costs or bus fares.
The Equality Act 2010 is clear: part-time workers shouldn’t be treated less favourably than full-time counterparts. The Working Time Regulations 1998 define break entitlements. If a lunch break is taken on duty, it’s not legally a break at all. That’s not politics—it’s employment law.
Culture Eats Policy for Breakfast (But Who Supervises Lunch?)
School culture is powerful. When done well, it’s a shared belief in doing the best for children—together. But when that culture leans too heavily on unpaid labour, it frays. Resentment grows. And talented staff start looking elsewhere.
Rather than painting the TA as obstructive, perhaps we should see her stance as a timely nudge: to review contracts, clarify expectations, and compensate accordingly. Not because we must—but because we should.
Final Thought: The Hidden Heroes
Let’s not forget: the TA in question didn’t refuse the trip. She simply wanted to be paid for the time. That’s not lazy. That’s professional.
So next time a colleague raises a concern like this, perhaps don’t reach for the “go work in Tesco” jibe. Instead, reach for the staff handbook. And maybe the calculator.