Pros and Cons of Supply Teaching

Like with everything in life, there are pros and cons to supply teaching and it very much depends on your circumstances as to if supply teaching is for you.

In our experience, Supply Teaching is a great option for teachers who are:

• Teachers relocating to a new area and wanting to get to know the local education landscape and schools before applying for a full-time role.
• Teachers looking for a better work-life balance
• Semi-retired Teachers
• Teachers returning from maternity leave
• Early Career Teachers (ECT previously NCT) who wish to gain a wider breadth of teaching experiences before deciding on where they wish to focus their career.
• Teachers who are studying
• Looking after an elderly parent or loved one
• Teachers who need to rebalance and step back from the pressures and responsibilities of full time teaching – no marking, no meetings, no internal politics – just turn up and teach

Pros of Supply Teaching

Flexibility – You choose when and where you want which allows you greater freedom and a better work-life balance. You fit work around your other commitments.

Variety – You can work in a variety of different schools and setting across a range of year groups allowing you to gain a vast breadth of teaching experience with pupils of various ages, learning and behavioral needs and back ground; giving you a fantastic opportunity to work out where you may want to focus your career on.

Autonomy – Working supply allows you to leave on time, every day and allows you to leave your work at school. There are no parent or staff meetings, no lesson planning – you get to do what you love without the added pressures and workload of a class teacher – you get to simply teach!

Cons of Supply Teaching

Lack of meaningful friendships at work – if you don’t know anyone it can be lonely, however you also get to meet new people every day and escape the internal politics of the schools that you work in.

Pay & holiday pay – this can be lower than full time roles however this reflects the reduction in working hours, pressure and stress.

Change in routine – Just like some people may seem the variety of work on offer attractive, some people may struggle with the continuous change in routine however following Lizzy's Top Tips on what to do on your first day of supply at a new school can help the change in routine go smoother. 

What are the responsibilities of Supply Teacher?

The short answer is that it depends.

As a supply teacher, it is important to guarantee a safe, supportive and creative environment for pupils to learn alongside effectively managing the behaviour of pupils within your care whilst following the school’s behaviour policy.

Flourish Education offers a variety of different supply options depending on your needs:

• Day to day supply teacher – this requires you to cover pre planned lessons set by the class or subject teacher. You need to ensure that the learning objectives of each lesson has been met and if you are doing primary supply, you will also be expected to mark any work that has been completed that day.
• Long term supply teacher - may require additional responsibilities depending on the length of the booking so you may be expected to carry out planning, assessments and attend staff and parent meetings
• Temp to Perm supply – This has similar responsibilities as a long term supply teacher however with the option of a full time permanent contract with the school after a specified time. This is a fantastic opportunity to “try before you buy” to ensure you enjoy the school ethos and environment before committing to a permanent role within the school.

If you are interested in becoming a Supply Teacher, click on one of the buttons below to get in touch with our friendly team today.

We are currently recruiting for Primary, Secondary and SEN Supply Teachers to join our team in Birmingham, The Black Country and the wider West Midlands region including Walsall, Telford, Tamworth, Cannock, Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Bromsgrove and Coventry.