Becoming A Supply Teacher
All you need to know about working as a supply teacher
Finding A School
There are many ways in which you can find supply work:
- through a private supply agency
- apply to a Local Authority Supply Pool
- through jobs on the Local Authority website
- applying to a school directly with a CV and a covering letter
- working through Proxi Education, the not-for profit cooperative supply service set up by members of the National Supply Teachers Network
Supply Agencies
You may find the easiest way to find work is through a supply agency. Over the last 20 years, private supply agencies have over taken Local Authority supply pools as the main way supply teachers access work in schools. The benefits of supply agencies are that the agency will contact you if there is work in a school. It is also easier for the school, as one phone call or email to the agency will hopefully mean that they will have a teacher, hopefully you, covering the class by the time school starts.
There is, however, a downside of working through an agency. Most of the time, you will not be paid to scale. Mostly, you will work on a salary that is below the pay of a newly qualified teacher.
Local Authority Pools/School Direct
There are still a small number of local authority pools left in England and Wales (East Riding, Norfolk, Wiltshire, Kirklees, Sefton, Stockport, Bury) where you can still work at a school through a local authority pool. The pools should work a little like an agency, finding the teacher work. However, in reality, you will tend to have to use personal contacts at schools or direct approaches to schools to secure work: the local authority merely process the pay. Also in this way, teachers can also approach schools independently in areas that don’t have a supply pool. Working in this way, you are effectively being employed by the school directly on an ad-hoc, zero hours arrangement. Again, the pay will be processed by the local authority.
If you wish to work directly with a school, you can find out how to do it on the Facebook page:
Directly Employed Supply Teacher Staffroom
In both of these examples, the main benefit is that you will be paid at the point on the teachers pay scale where you can demonstrate you are (usually, where you were on the pay scale during your last, full time employment). Being paid through the local authority also means that you can make contributions to the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS). TPS is far more generous than the pension schemes (Now and Nest are the two main ones) paid into by the supply agencies.
Bank Of Work
All supply teachers have their own way of working: the following is merely a suggested way of working. As you get more experienced, you will work out your own preferred working style.
When you get the call, first thing in the morning, you need to be ready to go straight away. You should probably be dressed ready for work, ready for the call from around 7:30 am. If you are pre-booked and know which school you are going to, aiming to get there for around 8:00 – 8:15 am. This should give you plenty of time to set up in preparation for the school day. You will have a chance to get your head around any planning that has been left, photocopy any sheets that are needed and locate any computer codes that you need.
If nothing has been left for you, you will need some resources in your supply bag. Here are some recommendations from Network members:
In your bag, you should have a USB stick with a number of these resources loaded onto it. Spend any spare moments at home loading useful worksheets or PowerPoint presentations onto your USB. One Network member suggested emailing some of your favourite resources to yourself, as there are some schools which won’t allow you to use your own USB sticks in their school (in case of viruses).
You can also carry physical resources, though there is a limit due to the practical issue of bulk and weight. Especially in secondary, a set of pens and pencils are useful due to locked store cupboards, though they will disappear (but can usually be replenished from the floor at the end of lesson (pre-Covid)). General stationary items to carry in your bag: rulers, rubbers and coloured pencils can also be useful. A pad or two of plain and lined paper can be useful for the child who hasn’t got their book. It is always useful to pick up at least one spare worksheet from a set lesson which went well and keep it for another day on another day. Always useful as well is to have a set of whiteboard pens and a cloth to wipe the board: quite often the ones in the class are on their last legs. A bottle of hand sanitiser could be useful in the current climate (also good for cleaning the whiteboard) and finally, a flask of coffee/tea with a cup: this avoids any staff room issues with coffee contributions and using school cups.
First Thing In The Morning
There are many different ways to approach supply teaching. Some people, often due to caring issues, often only take pre-booked work. In this is the case for you, make sure you leave enough time to drop off children etc. so that you still get to work in good time to set up for the day.
If you are waiting morning call, there are a variety of approaches: I will outline one here and you can adopt it to your personality and situation. Get up early enough that you are washed, dressed and have eaten by 7:30 am. Calls don’t often come in before this time, but it is always useful to have your phone with you, just in case. If you get to 7:30 am and you still haven’t had a call, then ring your supply agent at your agency. A quick, cheery, “Good morning, any work today?” lets them know that you are awake, available and ready to go to work. Though the answer will almost always be a, “No, sorry, but we’ll call you if anything comes in,” it is amazing how many times the agency call back within about 5 minutes with some work.
When you get a call to go to work, always confirm that it is teaching and how much you will be paid. Years ago, your rate was your rate, no negotiation. However, in recent years, many different levels of pay have crept into the industry, so a quick confirmation is useful.
Check the roads for any traffic jams or public transport for any delays, make sure you have your resource bag, your lunch and you are ready to go.
Arriving At School
The earlier you get to school, the more time you have to set-up your day. In Primary, you may be in the same classroom all day but in secondary or FE, it may be a number of classrooms, so you may wish to familiarise getting quickly from one room to another.
When you get to school, you will need to register at the office. Though DBS certificates are often emailed to the school, office staff often wish to see your paper copy, so have it readily available. You may wish to laminate your DBS certificate, as it otherwise quickly falls apart and new certificates aren’t regularly issued.
Some schools have teacher packs with all the relevant information about the school day in them. If they have one, the office staff will present it to you on your arrival. Some of these come with copies of key policies, such as health & safety and safeguarding. You don’t have to read these to the letter, as very often all these policies will be similar, if not identical, throughout the local authority. Once your have read one safeguarding policy, the rest will be roughly the same. If no welcome pack is forthcoming, then you may wish to ask at the office for any codes (door codes, photocopier codes etc.) that would be useful to you during the day. One resource worth having is a small notebook which you can have on your person at all times. The notebook could be used to write down any codes and useful names for use during the day. It is also worth keeping a diary: log the school, the agency who sent you and the pay rate each day, so that later you can check: Your Pay
The School Day
Some things you will definitely need to take with you: a packed lunch (you may not have anywhere to buy a lunch: you may not be even have time to eat your packed lunch), a flask or bottle of drink and a cup. In these times, it may be very worthwhile on all sides to have your own cup and cutlery.
Make friends with the office staff: you will more than likely need their help. The office staff can give you codes for around the school, can help with any emergencies you may have in class or will sign your pay sheet at the end of the day (if that is how your agency still operate). It is always beneficial to be on friendly terms with the TA in your class and any neighbouring classes. They can often lay their hands on resources very promptly or know where the key is to unlock a store cupboard. If you have time before school, it is often worthwhile to introduce yourself to the teacher in the next classroom and the Head of department/Key stage leader. Often they will introduce themselves, but it is always worth having the conversation about what should happen with any disruptive pupils (note all the important names for later use, if necessary).
Check with other teachers or your teacher’s pack about whether you are on yard duty and make sure that along with all your teaching resources, you have some time-filler activities in case a lesson ends early or the children cannot leave the classroom at the usual time (they can be physical, like word searches or on-line, like Hit The Button).
At The End Of The Day
Make sure you leave the classroom as neat as you find it. In primary, you will need to make sure all work is marked (unless instructed otherwise). One member suggested having a stamp which reads ‘Marked By Supply Teacher’, as she was sick of writing the phrase in every book. Each school will have its own marking policy, so look at previous marking in the books for the style and colour of the marking (always worth having a good variety of coloured pens).
Leave a written account of everything that has happened during the school day for the teacher. This should include: What happened in each lesson; any work that wasn’t covered and behaviour (both good and bad. This can be left either on the teacher’s desk (primary) or with the Head Of Department (secondary).
If your agency still have a timesheet that needs signing, don’t leave it too late before you get it signed. If the office staff have gone home, the cleaners won’t be able to sign it.
