Class teacher is a supply teacher!

[redskytonight]

It recently emerged that DD's class teacher is actually employed on a supply teacher basis (so she can -and does- take time off when she wants).

Why would the school choose not to employ a teacher on a permanent basis? (there are no primary school teacher recruitment issues in our area - teachers actually struggling to find jobs)

[teacherwith2kids]

Redsky, another factor that can lead to a class being covered by someone on a short-term contract is the relative inflexibility of teaching resignation dates, and then the knock-on effect on recruitment of another experienced teacher, particularly mid-year.

So I have encountered the situation in which an experienced teacher resigns on or close to the final date for resignation (usually just before half term, for leaving at the next holiday). This can either be because the decision to resign is taken late or can be because the teacher has got work elsewhere.

If this happens in the summer term, then there is usually a reasonable chance of recruiting a newly-qualified teacher for September, who of course has no notice period of their own.

However, if it occurs at another point in the year, or if the school would particularly like an experienced teacher, then there is no time to interview and appoint an experienced teacher before the deadline for them to resign their current job. So if an experienced supply teacher, perhaps one known to the school, is available to cover a term+, until the next point to run a recruitment round in time for an experienced teacher to be able to take it and resign from their current job in good order, then a school may well choose to do that.

It can also happen in a less-orderly manner - a new teacher recruited in the normal manner may fall ill, become pregnant etc after appointment (which may be in May, or even April, for a September start) - and the school may appoint a longer-term supply teacher instead as they cannot re-run the recruitment process in time for an experienced teacher to move schools.

Further, in some schools new contracts are routinely for 1 year, being made permenant after that point, one the teacher has 'proved themselves'.