I would agree with Heike, teachers are trained to teach the Children and the TA's are there to help not to take over. Their role is to help with the equipment distribution, craft work with the Children and to help with the reading amongst many other things.
I have noticed that they are all too often used as a means of having time out of the classroom by some teachers who leave the Teaching Assistant to carry on whilst they are away.
This in turn leads to the structured teaching curriculum becoming 'watered down' as the Assistants do not always command the same knowledge, or respect, from the pupils as the regular teacher.
The Teaching Assistants have to attend courses to ensure that they are conversant with their duties and are usually a dedicated bunch, but they are not teachers!
