Author Archives: Sharon Wood

About Sharon Wood

Sharon Wood, aka NuttySupplier, launched the forum at SupplyBag.co.uk in 2005 whilst on supply. Having worked as a primary teacher for too many years, I chose supply teaching as a career, in order to achieve a good work / life balance.

Supply Teacher Agencies

SupplyBag.co.uk is the font of all knowledge for supply teachers. Resources, ideas, support, and here: a whole section dedicated to working with supply teacher agencies.
Supply Teacher Agencies, first choice for many new to supply teaching

In this section:

Introduction to Supply Teaching Recruitment Agencies – We look at what their role is, a few of the positives, and the negatives.

Working with Agencies – Choosing a supply teaching agency and building a good quality working relationship with them. Remember: they work for you as much as you work for them!

Call back times – Do they really call you the night before? Half an hour before? Should I call my agency? How often should you call your agency?

Feedback – Schools are in continual discussion with some agencies about their supply teachers, make sure you know how you’re doing and ask for feedback.

Support – What can and should your agency offer supply teachers in terms of professional support? Who else offers support to supply teachers?

Supply Teacher Agency Database – A growing list of supply teaching agencies and apps (online booking platforms) operating in your area.

Are you looking for information on supply teacher agencies?

Did you need more information? What have I missed out that you would like to see? There are other related sections, but if there is something missing from this section on supply teacher agencies, please let me know!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on supply teacher CPD course. Check out our resources area here too.

St Valentine’s Day Supply Teaching Activities

Oh, how blissful, those heady St Valentine’s Days in school.
Oh, how awkward, those cringe-worthy St Valentine’s Days in school!

No matter what your take is on the big day, St Valentine’s offers many teaching and learning opportunities… Here are a few easy ones for starters:

Lots of fun (especially in Numeracy) with these Giant Love Hearts [Image click is an affiliate link]!

$Love Hearts - lots of fraction fun on St Valentine's Day!$

What is the average number of yellow ones in a pack?
Can you do a tally of how many letters on individual sweets?
(Clean hands and then) estimate and actual of how many you can hold (in your hand, not mouth!)
How can we measure the circumference accurately before Mr Peachton eats them all?
Compare a pack of these ‘Giant’ Love Hearts to a pack of normal sized Love Hearts – how much bigger are they? Apply that percentage to your own heart. How big is your own heart? How big, therefore, might the giant’s heart be in a fairy tale?
Nutritional values: how much ‘love’ is too much in one day?!

These heart shaped buttons [Image click is an affiliate link] come in bright colours and are perfect for sorting challenges with the little ones (colours, sizes and shape) as well as motor skills activities. Crafting with the older children would be darling with them: think glue, threading, sewing, rubbings, printing and sequencing!

And who can resist a sticker? Not me. I can see these form stickers adorning cards up and down the country this year – and hair accessories, and cardigans, and pencil cases, an untold number of opportunities to get PVA glue stuck to your fingers for picking off later 😉 Go on, you know you like it, treat yourself, it’s the day for it! [Image click is an affiliate link]

Your turn – give me your thoughts on St Valentine’s Day in school

Tell me, what do you like to do on this lovely day in school? Do you embrace it with all your heart? Or would you rather hide it under the carpet and pretend it doesn’t exist?

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on starting out at school. Check out our resources area here too.

Engage Education – creators of iday

About Engage Education

Engage Education are market leaders in recruiting quality teachers and support staff for schools throughout the United Kingdom. Current holders of the Education Investor’s ‘Recruitment Service of the Year Award’ Engage is focused on finding the right school for every teacher we work with.

With offices throughout the UK – London, East Midlands, East Anglia and Leeds – as well as international offices in Ireland, Canada and Australia; Engage Education are specialists in supporting international teachers and school staff with their job search. Our services also ensure that every individual receives the highest levels of support, advice and assistance with every step in the process of relocating to the UK.

Secured Guaranteed Pay

For those teachers not looking to take on a full-time role, Engage offer Secure Guaranteed Pay (SGP) contracts, which allow candidates to work a guaranteed 4 out of 5 days a week as a supply teacher. Meaning that you will secure yourself a fixed income for at least 4 out of 5 days a week, even if there’s no supply work available!

By working through our SGP scheme, many of our supply teachers go on to secure a long term or permanent role in the future. SGP often acts as a great way for teachers to really get to know the school they are working with and build a relationship from which a long-term contract will be offered.

Registration

Upon receipt of a fully updated CV and written references, our specialist consultants will contact you to arrange a preliminary interview. This registration gives us the opportunity to get to know you, your career history, qualifications and experiences. It also allows us to explore what type of job/position that you are interested in, where you would prefer to be located and what type of school best suits your skill set and personality.

Once this is complete, we will begin the process of finding opportunities for you with our schools throughout the UK. This can result in telephone/skype interviews almost immediately or the prospect of arranging an interview for you to visit a school face-to-face.

CPD

Through our dedicated candidate care team, we offer continuous support to all of our teachers through a range of Continued Professional Development (CPD) opportunities and social events. CPD is an essential part of your teaching career, helping you develop your skills and progress in your career. Our insightful CPD workshops, webinars and seminars will help you keep up to date with changes in education teaching practice.

iday

Engage Education’s signature event ‘iday’ may also be of interest to you? idays are held throughout the year (mainly in central London) where you can interview with multiple schools on one day in one place.

Please click the following video link to learn more about iday:

This event is FREE for selected candidates to attend, with Engage covering the costs of any flights, accommodation and travel throughout the time that you are at the event (up to 5 days).

With iday, candidates are guaranteed the opportunity to visit 2 schools that they have met at iday, with a view to securing the right position for them. All positions are for at least 1 full year, with possibility for permanency and progression. To date, over 2,000 teachers have been introduced to schools through our iday events since it’s inception in 2006.

For more information visit www.engageeducation.co.uk or contact your local branch:

– London: 0333 800 7800

– Leeds: 0113 323 7630

– East Midlands: 01733 873 030

– East Anglia: 01603 518 400

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Art and design activities
Check out our resources area here too.

Headline – supplying staff for education

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For over 20 years, Headline has been successfully providing skilled and trained staff to various types of education settings. We work on temporary, long term and permanent placements. Headline runs its own PAYE for temporary staff, we do not currently work with umbrella companies.

Based in Cambridge, Chelmsford, St Albans and Woking we cover a wide geographic area, across London and the South East / East Anglia. We have supply teaching, teaching assistant and nursery work in all of these areas and many of the surrounding villages and towns.

Our aim is to provide a first ‘class’ (see what we did there ;-)) service to both candidates and clients… Made possible by our own personal backgrounds in Education. We understand first hand both the demands of working in education and also the stress involved with being understaffed within a setting. Combining our knowledge with a genuine desire to look after the people we work with, we take pride in being able to say that we are fast becoming the agency of choice for both settings and personnel. With our backgrounds in Education, we are well placed to help NQTs and overseas trained Teachers to start out on their teaching journey in the UK.

However at Headline, we don’t just offer ‘work placements’ for Supply Teachers, nursery and support staff. We have a sister company Red Apple Training offering CPD and accredited courses such as First Aid and Safeguarding, to our candidates. We also provide our team (you belong to our team as we understand that supply teaching can be a lonely profession) with social meet ups. So that you can come along and meet other people working in the education field, swap stories, hints and tips. In the near past these have been in the form of anything from a summer BBQ fun evening for our staff and their families and Easter themed afternoon tea, to home-baked goodies to show our appreciation.

On our website we have the basics – simple information on how we can help you to find temporary work or a new permanent position. But please don’t take our word for it that we can do this! Take a look at what our schools, nurseries and supply staff say about us on our testimonials web-page also.

For example, Jill Wright, Supply Teacher KS1 and 2 has this to say –

“The team at Headline welcomed me with coffee, listened to my reasons for starting to do supply work, then suggested I began slowly with an afternoon to get the feel of things. They provided me with a help sheet of ideas to try, ways to behave in a new school and essentials to have in my bag for a supply day. Everything from stationery to quizzes and just in case activities. They sympathised when I was ill and sent home from school, although it created extra work for them. More importantly each email is cheerful and personal, you are more than a number. A very pleasant team of professionals at Headline. “

What we would like most though, is for you to give us a good old-fashioned call! You can discuss anything, with no obligation…..we will be honest with how we can help! The team at your local branch would love to hear from you.

T: 01223 654 461
M: 07825 412 931
E: cambridge@headlineuk.com
W: www.headlineuk.com

Headline
Milton Hall
Ely Road,
Milton
CB24 6WZ

Dagnall House,
2 Lower Dagnall Street,
St Albans,
Hertfordshire.
AL3 4PA

Britannia Wharf,
Monument Road,
Woking, Surrey
GU21 5LW

Office 56,
Waterhouse Business Centre,
Chelmsford
CM1 2QE

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on how to become a supply teacher as an NQT Check out our resources area here too.

Prospero Teaching

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“The Magic of Prospero ….the stuff dreams are made on” Prospero, The Tempest

Prospero Teaching is an award-winning agency offering a range of exciting teaching jobs through our network of offices around the UK.

With dedicated teams of candidate managers, compliance and in-house teacher resources, Prospero is knowledgeable, caring, supportive, thorough and committed to providing high levels of service and best practice, borne out by the 100% Quality Mark Awards we have been awarded.

Set up in 2000 Prospero Teaching offers permanent, daily, short and long term contracts as well as permanent roles to teachers and support staff in thousands of nurseries, primary and secondary schools, academies, special needs and further education schools and colleges across the UK. Our specialist SEN team works with mainstream schools looking for SEN specialists, through to SEN schools and PRUs (Pupil Referral Units).

Most importantly Prospero Teaching is a people focussed organisation staffed at all levels by ex-teachers, which means that from your first visit to meet and register with us with us, through to briefing the consultant specialising in your region and stage, and the one-to-one, in depth interview coaching we provide, we take time and effort to get to know you.

Prospero Teaching also offers certified CPD courses, training and workshops to our candidates covering a range of subjects such as Behaviour for Learning, Effective Differentiation and Resolving Conflict in the classroom, all delivered by experts in their fields.

For further information please visit www.prosperoteaching.com or contact one of our offices

London 020 7404 6383 london@prosperoteaching.com

Birmingham 0121 227 2430 birmingham@prosperoteaching.com

Bristol 0117 332 2575 bristol@prosperoteaching.com

Cardiff 02920 021476 cardiff@prosperoteaching.com

Essex 01245 207280 chelmsford@prosperoteaching.com

Leeds 0113 887 2160 leeds@prosperoteaching.com

Manchester 0161 393 6725 manchester@prosperoteaching.com

Alternatively you can find us on Facebook and Twitter

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Protocol education. Check out our resources area here too.

How to get more supply teaching work – my top tips

Top Ten Tips: A handy little guide to getting more supply teaching work

Getting more supply teaching work 1. Contact schools in your area, that you’d like to work in: ask them if they’d be interested in seeing your CV. They may jump at the chance, and employ you directly, or they might tell you which agency they tend to call for supply and suggest you register with them. If they’re interested in seeing your CV, hand-deliver it for a golden opportunity to make a great first impression.

2. Call the agency they mentioned. If a school, or number of schools in your area, work with a different agency to the one you’re with, then join that one! It’s ok, and usual, to be with more than one agency.

3. If you want to register with more agencies, there are lots of places you can look to find them. I have a database of agencies here, a quick Google of ‘supply teacher recruitment agency in [your town]’ will bring back lots of results, or ask around.

4. Want recommendations? Although you can ask for them in the Supply Teacher Network, take them with a pinch of salt. That’s not to say don’t trust the members, but that we are all unique individuals with a different set of skills, requirements and experiences. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

5. Before you make your final choice of agency, take a look at their Twitter feed, their Facebook page, their website, see if they’ve done a Takeover Thursday and have a review file in the Supply Teacher Network upload section, and you could even ask for a preliminary meeting. Lots of agencies will want to register you at your very first meeting, but you may want to visit a few, as you would do a school, get a feel for the staff, the office (is it convenient for you if you needed to pop in?) the general atmosphere and ask to take away some documentation. They could be your representatives on the phone etc. to the schools, you want to be confident that they will work for you as you wish them to.

6. Want a longer-term position? My Twitter feed is full of jobs, my LinkedIn feed is full of jobs, all agencies that I know are recruiting constantly! Again, take a look at social media, it’s probably the cheapest and easiest way for agencies to publish jobs. I often retweet from my list of agencies, so follow me too! There’s a promotions section in my LinkedIn group. Look at national jobs boards. It’s going to have a redesign soon, but I have a little jobs board here. Agencies often have a jobs feed on their own websites.

7. Email me! I get lots of messages from people asking about getting started with supply work, or getting more work, and can often put them in touch with someone I think they would like to work with. Please note, I do not get referral bonuses: often promised, never materialised!

8. With your agency, keep yourself front-of-mind with your consultants. Read my article on making the most of your education recruitment consultant. Your personal consultant is also personal consultant to many other supply teachers! Have conversations with them, if you can sing, let them know! If you can juggle, let them know! If next week you’re free on a day when you usually wouldn’t be, tell them, and tell them it’d be great to have it prebooked!

9. Treat every day on supply as an opportunity to shine. Let that school know that you’re fantastic, that you’ve had a great day, that you’d love to return. Show them that you’re a team player, a grafter, a sponge… Make sure that when they next want a supply teacher, they call for you!

10. Be yourself. Honestly, if you’re not yourself, you’ll fear that you’ll be ‘found out’, and probably will be. Teachers are natural actors, the more they can inspire and enthuse the children, the better the day will be, but don’t try and be something you’re not. If you want to be something else, i.e. better at behaviour management or more confident, then work on it. Be a reflective practitioner, identify your weaknesses, formulate an action plan, ask for help. Do not be afraid to ask your agency for help either. They will help arrange CPD for you: you are their ‘product’, and the better the product, the more sales they’ll get!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Interviewing for a teaching job. Check out our resources area here too.

Taking Turns – Supply Teaching Tip

Younger children can find it difficult taking turns. At home some may be allowed to go first each time. It was youngest to oldest in my house for some time and my brother got to go first! Other children may not have experienced turn taking at all. For example, if they are an only child or if they don’t play such games with their parents. It’s a difficult thing to do when your whole body is telling you to go first, be first, and have more than one go at a time. This is especially true when you’re having fun or feeling competitive!

Classroom teachers often have their own methods of helping the children to ‘take turns nicely’. For whole group discussions, it is a great idea to let the children know the rules of engagement before they start. Some teachers may go for a particular order, reverse alphabetically, or the way they are naturally sat. Others have ways to randomise, such as throwing a teddy to the next person to show them that it is their turn. I thought this quoits set might be quite a fun way to do it. You pass a ring round and the children can take their turn if they hook it. [Image contains an affiliate link.] A tighter circle, or a mat to stand on to have your go is recommended for the younger ones. Of course, now I have given you the dilemma of how to organise taking turns with the ring!

Taking Turns – Your top tips

This quite kinaesthetic idea might make some supply teachers recoil in horror. Getting the children to sit quietly and listen to each other is hard enough for some. Consider this however: give them an inch, and they may just be grateful for it, rather than playing you and taking the mile? What do you think? How do you organise the little ones and help them to learn about taking turns? Let us know!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Teachers should hold an appropriate teaching qualification – by HistoryGrump. Check out our resources area here too.

Umbrella Companies / Payroll Services

If you work through an agency, you may well be introduced to an umbrella company, or asked which you’d like to work with. There are many to choose from, and although your agency may have a preferred payroll service provider, you could take a look at the others before deciding which to use.

Genie Education is part of the Orange Genie group who have successfully employed thousands of teachers for nearly a decade.

Other payroll service providers:
RACs Group
ePayMe
Zebra

If you would like to add your company to this new list, please do get in touch!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Understanding the World Activities for Supply Teachers in EYFS. Check out our resources area here too.

The Snail and the Whale

The Snail and the Whale is one of my favourite supply teaching books. Much-loved by all ages, you can glean stand-alone, emergency lesson ideas for almost, if not all, subjects in all year groups up to Year 6!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on thinking about supply work. Check out our resources area here too.

National Supply Teacher Week activities

A teachable event? Why, yes!

Here are some of the aims of #NSTW:

To highlight the importance of supply teachers in a child’s education
To increase respect for supply teacher
To help schools work with supply teachers more effectively

How often do the children get a peek behind the scenes at other schools? Let the children interview you about your role, what it’s like working in different schools, what it is like in different schools etc.
Ask the children to design a job advertisement for a supply teacher. Where would they display it? What are the main points they want to get across?
Ask the children to write a job description for a supply teacher. What characteristics are they looking for? What skills?
Ask the children to design a welcome pack for teachers visiting their school. Remember to include important information such as fire exits, a map, list of staff names, timetable and what to expect when they walk in.

Held in the 3rd week of June annually, National Supply Teacher Week lends itself to a whole host of activities! Are you prepared to put yourself in the hot seat? Take it in turns with the children to be in the spotlight with this crown… Be the King or Queen for 5 minutes! Three questions are allowed to be asked, and the poser of your favourite question gets to be crowned next! Other activities can include the children designing a Wanted poster for a supply teacher, highlighting characteristics that they must possess; writing a job advert and really selling their school to a potential supply teacher; or writing a story in which a supply teacher comes in and wows the classes a la Help! My Supply Teacher is Magic!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on supply teaching as an NQT. Check out our resources area here too.

Supplybag

The essential resource for supply teachers