Had anyone done PPA cover?

[KateBeckett]

I start anew job after easter, and will be covering PPA from year 2-6. When I first qualified I did supply and really enjoyed it, but I am now feeling a bit nervous and not sure what to expect!

Any tips? Particularly on how to set behaviour boundaries in the first few weeks??

If you really enjoyed supply PPA will be a breeze! I presume you'll have the same classes, same time, same days, each week? You'll get to know them, ask about the school's behaviour policy. The assistants are your best friends - make sure you know about any individual behaviour plans and whose responsibility they are.
Find out if you will be doing the same thing in each class each time - I do the same thing usually, EG: PE in Year R each week. Also find out if you will be expected to do any planning or will you only deliver what has been planned.
One of my hassles is finding out 5/10 minutes before I work what I'm doing despite asking ( and school policy is PPA staff should know the day before ). It's often not resourced properly and I have to ask LSA's who should be supporting children to go searching for stuff for me. Very frustrating because I want to do a good job, not babysit a class.
I love the variety especially as I have another responsibility the other half of the week in school. It's the first time in 28 years that I haven't had a class of my own - I was very apprehensive, but I'm really enjoying it. I still mark what I teach, but no planning, no parents evenings and no reports. I've been in this school for 23 years so know all the children in the classes I cover. However, I will say that I haven't taught the Year 2's since Year R and they have changed a lot so it was as if I didn't know them.
Don't be nervous, you'll have a ball!