Life as a Supply Teacher

I've been wanting to write a post about my experiences as a supply teacher, just for those who are curious about what I am doing or for those who are interested in becoming a supply teacher in London...
By the way, supply teaching (as known in England) is basically relief teaching.

It all started with me going to a seminar in Perth about supply teaching in London. The seminar was organised by a recruitment agency called Protocol and they gave me a glimpse of what it was like to work in London as a teacher. They basically had me sold by the end of the presentation!
A few months later, Protocol organised a telephone interview with me about my teaching experiences and to also sort out some paper work before I left Australia.
When I arrived in England, they set up an induction for me. They helped me organise my registration, assisted with opening a bank account and told me all I need to know about supply teaching. Three words: all too easy! Signing up with a teaching agency before I left was part of the reason why moving to London was quite a smooth process...

Well I've been doing supply teaching for over a month now and I have worked at probably 5 to 10 different schools. It was interesting how I was pre-warned by so many people that teaching in London was going to be challenging and difficult. However, I haven't really had too much trouble apart from one or two classes which still  was manageable. It could be the teaching experience I have accumulated over the 3 years, especially when those  classes I taught back in Australia were even more challenging... I'm not sure why, but I have been given a lot of supply teaching at infant schools (Reception to year 2 classes). I was initially quite worried about teaching younger kids but I seemed to have enjoyed them more than teaching the older kids! The students in England are basically the same as any student in the world. Most are naturally curious, especially when you tell them your surname is Chan or you are Australian, some are cheeky and all of them have the typical English 'posh' accent. The schools in London are very multicultural, with over half of the students in each class coming from Indian or European backgrounds. I remember teaching a class where there was only 1 Caucasian child and the remaining students were from ethnic backgrounds.

The pay with supply teaching is not as much as what I get paid back in Australia but according to London standards, it is pretty good... I have been able to survive on the money earned to pay for my accommodation, food and even save a little for my upcoming holidays...

The best thing with supply teaching is the flexibility. This means that if I only want to work for 3 days in a week then I just let the agent know, and they will find work for me on the days I am available. The downside is that on days you are not given work, you will need to be on standby mode.  This involves you waking up early and getting yourself ready to work. Usually they call you between 7am and 8am in the morning. If they call you, they expect you to be out the door straight away and arrive at the school by 8:15, which at times is not quite possible. I recently was called at 8:45 to work, even though schools usually start at 8:55. I guess they were that desperate for a supply teacher, even though I said I was still literally in bed. I ended up getting ready in 10 minutes and arrived at the school at 9:40! Talk about being efficient!

I have just been offered a PPA position to teach 4 days a week for the whole of next term which means I will have a long weekend (Sat, Sun and Mon) every week! That will mean the possibility of short trips to Paris, Amsterdam etc... being on the cards! For those who don't know what PPA means, it is basically a support role where I will release teachers from their class so they can do their planning. The best thing with this position is that I will not have to plan, deal with parents and write reports!!!!!!!

So to sum it up, supply teaching is a good way to earn some money and to fund for your holiday abroad. It has also helped me regain my passion in teaching which might be because of the reduced stress from not being a full time classroom teacher?

UPDATE: A modified version of this has just been published by my recruitment agency: Protocol Education and I will get paid for it! Bonus :)

You still get drawings from students as a supply teacher!