Supply Teachers.

[ForeverTeach]

I am a supply teacher, my choice as it works well for me and my family. I get to do the job I love without all the stress. I have been very fortunate in that the agency I work for furloughed me during Covid. This furlough will end at the end of August.

I am concerned about work for September and I am looking to go back to my previous employment (accounts clerk). Unfortunately My finance skills are old and things have moved on. Lots of jobs require experience in a particular field. My experience is Reception / KS1.

I have no immediate solution to my predicament although I assume there are others in the same position as me and just wanted to chat.
What are you doing and what skills do we have to transfer? I have looked online for supply chats and can only find TES.

I'm going back to supply teaching in September. I'm expecting that there will be more demand than usual, given that staff absence is likely to be higher. I won't be working through an agency though, just directly for two local schools.

@lazylinguist That was my thinking regarding there being a demand for September. I have been swayed by conversations about teachers not wanting supply to come into their schools, I do hope this is misinformation though. Do you mind if I ask how you get work without an agency and how do you know what to charge?

Our school have no budget for supply teachers this academic year... Literally none.
They changed all the HLTA’s contracts to include covering classes for up to 3 days a week if needed, to cover both planned and unplanned teacher absence.
From what I’ve heard, a lot of schools in my area are doing the same. It’s a combination of cost saving plus limiting the number of different adults in the school to protect the ‘bubbles’

hippohector It's a similar situation at our school. We can't afford supply, our budget is shocking after the last few months. Also using our own staff helps to reduce the risk, as a supply teacher could have been in several different schools in a short space of time.