A TEACHING assistant from Buckinghamshire is calling for the government to offer pay rises to staff who are the 'backbone of schools'. 

Kelly Worland from Steeple Claydon, Buckingham, has launched a petition to raise awareness of the lack of pay rises for support staff in schools.

In the 16 years of working as a cover teacher, Kelly has received only a £3,000 pay increase but her salary still doesn't make ends meet with the increase in fuel and cost of living crisis. 

She supports the teacher's strike over pay but believes the government should also provide funding to "award support staff" what they deserve.

Adding: "Now is the time to reward support staff for their loyalty, before they too decide enough is enough and strike for better pay and conditions."

Kelly told the Bucks Free Press what it is like working in schools at the moment. 

"Morale is quite low and with teachers being on strike, even though maybe at my school we’re lucky with the senior leadership team covering lessons, there's an expectation we’re there and to ensure students get to the right place and were not paid for that responsibility.

Bucks Free Press:

"Teachers get a 5 per cent pay rise and rejected this new offer, support staff have never had a pay rise. 

"The government have to acknowledge support staff are the backbone, caretakers open the school and there's a whole operational team that goes on. We want them to realise the job we do. We're not mums wanting a job to fit around their kids finishing at 3.30pm, I want the government to give us a decent wage." 

Kelly also believes there is no pay incentive for people wanting to work as support staff.

"Depending on what role you have at the school, you're expected to do 1-1s, become a supervisor, do classroom management at a moment's notice and come up with something on the spot, its more high pressure now than what it used to be as you would go into a classroom and get the class to work on a page from a book for an hour.

"Now you have to know which students have extra additional needs and differentiate between students to suit their needs.

"It's getting harder to recruit and retain good staff as they're getting taken advantage of with no pay increment.

"Especially with the cost of living crisis, I have considered leaving with the hours as the pay is not worth it. I get into the new term and count down the days until the next holiday."

The news comes as teachers in England plan to strike on Thursday, April 27 and Tuesday, May 2 after members of the UK's largest education union rejected a pay offer yesterday (April 3).

Teachers were offered a £1,000 one-off payment this year, and a 4.3 per cent rise next year. Starting salaries would also rise to £30,000 from September.

Kelly's petition hopes support staff will be considered for pay increases and so far, 2,407 people have signed her petition demanding for the same change.

If her petition reaches 10,000 signatures the government will respond to her. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament. 

Click here to sign it.