The Survivor’s Guide to Supply Teaching

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Whether you're a newly qualified teacher or have been moulding the young minds of our future for years, supply teaching can seem like a different entity; an unknown beast with new challenges. Whilst supply teaching does come with its own challenges it also comes with some great benefits.

Supply teaching can be as flexible as you need it to be. For those with childcare requirements or other commitments, supply teaching can offer the flexibility to work around your needs. Supply teaching can also help you create a better work-life balance giving you more time to enjoy the simple things in life.

For those returning to teaching it can be a great way to get back into the swing of things poland phone number resource whilst getting to know local schools. If on the other hand you're near to retirement and want to drop the amount of work you do, supply teaching could be just the ticket!

Whatever your reasons for supply teaching, you will need to approach this new challenge with vigour and guile. With over 70 years’ combined experience in Education and Recruitment we thought we'd share some of our tips for not only surviving, but thriving in new classrooms as a supply teacher!


Prepare to be unprepared
As a supply teacher you'll realise that some teachers are better than others at providing what's needed to have their lessons covered. Some will provide detailed lesson plans with more than enough work to fill the expected period of cover, whilst others will fall abysmally short of the mark. We've all been there. The best solution is to prepare to be unprepared.

Take along a few of your favourite lesson plans or teaching activities with you in case the inevitable happens and you're left to wing it. Over time you’ll build up a portfolio of engaging lesson plans, ice breakers and mop up tasks to ensure that you can rock into any situation feeling confident.

Other than the annoying lack of lesson plans you'll also come across issues such as the wrong text books being left in the classroom, or technical issues such as a lack of computer logins. The best way to overcome these technical niggles is to do your due diligence and call ahead before you get there. Ask for all the necessary logins and technical information needed for that classroom. It's also worth asking if there is a colleague on hand to help you begin setting up before the class starts. Doing this will help to show that you are as organised and dedicated to making this period of cover run as smoothly as possible.