by Sharon Wood

When I started supply teaching, it wasn’t through an agency.  I knocked on doors and hand-delivered my CV.  I felt I had no professional support.  I once contacted my (then) union about an issue, but unfortunately, unprofessionally, the concern fell on deaf (for deaf, read ‘friend of the accused / small world’) ears.  So, I turned to online support.  Don’t get me wrong, I was doing well, but I wanted to share my stories of how the day had gone, with someone who understood!  My partner isn’t a teacher, and I was new to the area.  I joined the TES forum.  It works for some, but it didn’t work for me.  There was an air of negativity about it.  About supply teaching.  And I was loving my work, I just had questions, queries, and suggestions to share.

I set up the supply teacher support forum and tried to lure other supply teachers to it by adding my suggestions and ideas to it!  It worked, and within a few short months it had become very popular!  In fact, in 2010, we even had a lovely weekend get-together here in the Lakes!

As we know though, supply teaching is a transitory profession for many, and very few of those lovely people we met here are still on supply.  I took time out with my newborn, and the forum fell quiet.

Here I am again however, like a bad penny!  Trying to create a wider sense of community for supply teachers.  I know the vast majority of supply teachers now work through agencies, I know some supply teachers don’t want to mix with other supply teachers, or feel they need to, but I still remember when I did… And I want to feel that I’m trying everything I can to help out anyone else who feels like that.  So we have the forum, the Supply Teacher Network on Facebook, I’m on Twitter, I’m on LinkedIn, I’m on Facebook, I’m on Google+, I have boards on PInterest, and I can be contacted by email… Get in touch, help grow, and feel part of the wider community!

Much of the stress for supply teachers begins before they reach the classroom.  In this series of articles looking at top tips for supply teaching, we look at practical ways to reduce this stress. By Sharon Wood.

New to supply teaching? New to the area?  Arrange to visit schools you would like to work in (think Key Stage, subject specialism, location, accessibility).  This give you an opportunity to find out more about them, introduce yourself (treat it as an interview walkabout) and ask how they source supply teachers.  If they use agencies, ask which is their preferred provider – and why!  The why bit is important: it may be that they have an ex member of staff on their books that the school always uses, in which case, it may be a case of dead man’s shoes trying to get work there!

I hear from many supply teachers who don’t talk to their consultants enough. Keep in touch with them! If they’re not speaking to you, they’re not thinking of you, not learning about you and your availability, experiences, skills and wishes.  Try and ensure you speak to your consultant once a week at least.  When they get a position to fill in that wonderful school down the road from you, you need to be in the forefront of their minds. Make sure you know when it is convenient to call however!  Agency phones are red hot with calls from schools before 10am and between 3pm – 5pm especially!

Be honest with your agency.  They need to place the right teachers in the right schools in order to be successful from both a client and candidate’s point of view.  If you don’t want to work in ‘that’ school, tell your agency why!  The more an agency knows about you, the better position they are in to place you in a school where you can flourish, and be invited back to!

Be willing to try new schools, and different year groups.  Are you used to working in Reception? Year 2 children are not that much older – give them a shot!  Your recruitment consultant will love that you’re flexible, and willing.  Make sure you feedback to them on how you found it.  Ask for help if you need it: if you want to try a different Key Stage, they may be able to place you on a Key Stage Transition course in the near future.  Did you hear about that school with the dreadful reputation up the hill?  Don’t want to work there?  Go on, try half a day!  Ask your consultant to perhaps place you there as a TA to gain experience first perhaps.

Have you cracked it? Do you get as much work as you want, in the schools you want to be in?  Let us know your top tips for supply teaching woes below, on Facebook, or on Twitter!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on tips for supply teachers on getting there. Check out our resources area here too.

Article kindly submitted by TeachWeb

Isn’t it a shame mothers don’t have a better pathway back to work after several years out having children? If more part time work were available – more work would be done by more mums, who have had a few years out to bring up children.

Time and time again I register skilled teachers at the agency, women who wanted to give their children their full attention for 4/5 years and then find themselves feeling that returning to full time teaching immediately is still a) not possible and b) too big a step given their slight “rustiness”. They join a supply teaching agency in the hope that we will be able to find PT supply teaching work in the London area.

I see the returning to work thing from 2 angles. Firstly from the husband angle and secondly from my work as a recruiter of supply teachers – we have many candidates who come to us seeking part time supply teaching work, many of whom are mothers and many of whom are very good teachers. If only we could put 2 of them together to work a full teaching timetable!

My wife needs a PT job role in the profession she qualified in (in her case as a lawyer, which took years and cost a small fortune)….but employers do not want PT (lawyers)  or job sharing lawyers – only your 12 hour day mum (with nanny since the age of 3 months is welcome) it seems! The same applies to teaching. The teachers who register with our agency  and want PT work suffer a similar lack of success, because although :

a)      They are often really excellent teachers and

b)      They teach in-need secondary subjects in an environment of teacher shortage, schools are reluctant to take them on P/T job share basis because of expense and because it is viewed as a risk.

I will explain what schools said about job shares further down this article.

For most families – life is simply too expensive to have one adult family member earning. PT work is a more attractive method, for a returning mother, of getting back into work than waiting until children are much, much older and then going back full time after a decade of  alienation from a professional work place – imagine using a computer at work after 10 years of not using one!

Inevitably it will put women in a really difficult situation –to get a job of any kind – they must avoid taking any significant time off work OR they must have fewer (or no) children!

It can be enormously frustrating for us – as a recruiter of effective teachers – when we see schools make poor recruitment choices because they do not want to hire part time job sharing teachers. We also see the frustration of mothers getting passed over in favour of candidates who are more available but arguably less able. The government is clearly keen on getting women back to work – it is heavily in their interests – but realistically whilst it suits some women to go back after 3 months of recovery and bonding time, there are always going to be many who want to stay out of the workforce for several years.

We need to make a pathway that encourages reintroduction gradually and sensitively to a group who have inevitably become “rusty”, but often have very valuable knowledge and in-demand skills and too much potential to be permanently put out to “career pasture”.

We hope that the coming post recessionary cycle – during which schools traditionally become desperate to recruit teachers– will help those teachers seeking job-share work a chance to gradually re-enter the school environment.

Article kindly submitted by TeachWeb

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

Much of the stress for supply teachers begins before they reach the classroom.  In a series of articles looking at top tips for supply teaching, we look at practical ways to reduce this stress.

Last minute bookings are often feared right from the start.  Indeed, it is often a good idea for those new to supply, and nervous, to avoid early morning calls altogether.  Talk to your recruitment consultant about only accepting pre-booked work until you have your increased your confidence.

There are ways in which you can help yourself however.

Take a road trip: get to know your area.  You may know the location of shops, friends’ houses and bars, but take a look around from the perspective of a supply teacher.   Find the schools! Learn where the schools are.  Learn the routes, think of alternative routes in black spot areas.  Work out how long it will take you to get there – in rush hour!  Make notes on the school, what parking is available, what bus route it is on, how long it will take you.   You’ll feel better informed when taking an early morning call, and be able to give your consultant and school a good estimated time of arrival.

Are you using your SatNav? Don’t rely on it completely.  If you are unsure of the whereabouts of a school, or the best route to get there during rush hour, do everything you can to double check.  Check the address and postcode online, i.e.  Google Maps before leaving.  Sites like Google Maps will show you the estimated journey time for different routes, any known road works, check AA Route Planner for live traffic information.

Keep an A-Z of your area in your supply bag, not only to beat the SatNav blues, but also to use as a teaching tool! You can spend an easy five minutes trying to locate the school with the children.

Missed the bus?  It may be worth checking another route, there could be a shortcut you can take on foot from a different stop.

Build in extra time. If you have calculated half an hour for travelling time, add some more on… just in case!

You will be calmer travelling, not clock-watching so much, especially if you come across the unexpected, such as a road traffic accident.  If you reach your destination early, then you can take time to go through the day in your head before entering the school, or arrive in school early taking the opportunity to better familiarise yourself with children’s name, the layout of the school, and the planning left for you.

Have you cracked it? Do you no longer fear early morning calls? Let us know your top tips for supply teaching woes below, on Facebook, or on Twitter!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on tips for supply teachers- after school. Check out our resources area here too.

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Where next? There’s a great quick read here on choosing to work as a supply teacher.
Check out our resources area here too.

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Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Umbrella Companies / Payroll Services. Check out our resources area here too.

Do you? Or don’t you? Supply teachers are in a funny predicament as we near the end of the academic year. Do they give the school they worked in a gift or not? And if so, then what to give? Do you gift your supply teacher recruitment agency? Your recruitment consultant? The children in the class? Where does it end?!

Of course, it’s entirely up to you. But I thought we could take a look at your options together:

Schools
You may want to work there again, and so take in a huge hamper of speciality tea bags, coffees, and chocolates for the staff room.
You may want to work there again, so wish everyone a happy holiday as you leave… steering well clear of what could be taken for desperate bribery.
You may not want to work there again, and simply snaffle as much stationery into your bag before you leave as you can!

Recruitment Agency
Some are simply too large a company to buy for. Your gift / thoughtfulness will be lost to red tape. A simple Thank You card can go a long way however, as they can pop it on a board in reception. Either that, or an email to say the same. It may not sound much, but it gives them an opportunity to use social media for something other than advertising the latest job vacancies, and they can add your message to the testimonial page of their website.
For smaller Agencies, either of the above work equally as well, but you may want to go the extra mile come the school holidays, give yourself some stickability! Think communal: pot plant? You could offer to feed it that once a week when you hand deliver your timesheet ;o) Big box of biscuits. Selection of cereal bars. Fruit hamper. Flowers. Lovely!

Recruitment Consultant
You will no doubt have built up a relationship with your dedicated consultant over the academic year. Hopefully they will have shown their appreciation of you throughout, and especially during National Supply Teacher Week. But it works both ways. Consultants work – very – long hours. Some supply teachers may complain about early morning calls, but think on, the consultant is already at work, and has found work for you, before you’re out of your pyjamas! They will usually finish work well after you have left school too, taking calls for future bookings for you from School Business Managers, interviewing, and delivering CPD courses for their supply teachers.
Take time to say thank you. Write a testimonial. Have a local good food delivered – my favourite thing to give at the moment is Cartmel Sticky Toffee Chocolates, quite local, quite delicious!

Whole Class Gifts
An entirely plausible idea if, for example, you have covered a maternity leave. The obvious route is to grab a bag of Haribo from the local shop, and split the pack on your last afternoon. You may want to put more thought into it however. Think whole class: Book for the library? Set of paints? Large display calculator? Educational poster?
Don’t go for two hamsters and a cage, as a departing family did with my class once! Eek!

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Guy the Grumpy Gargoyle
Check out our resources area here too.