The downsides of supply teaching

[leccybill]

Are there any? I want to know what it's really like.

I'm thinking of resigning my post as MFL teacher. I'm on UPS2. After 11 years, it's all gotten a bit unbearable at my current place. Special Measures, mismanagement, falling roll, redundancies everywhere. I hate it and it's making me ill.

Would I get work? How daunting is it going into a school you don't know? Do other staff make you feel welcome?
Can any supply teachers give me their experiences. I'm in the north west, always thought to be an overpopulated area for teachers due to the amount of training establishments.

It's a tax dodge.
The agencies have all sorts of tricks to limit their tax - great until HMRC catch up, then the small print exonerates the agencies and the teachers are left with the bill.

Why is it a tax dodge to reclaim expenses? When I worked in industry, wouldn't have dreamed of funding my own off site commitments.

I hated it, but I was a relatively inexperienced class teacher. Some schools were quite nice, others were truly awful. And some of those kids are huge and know they can get away with more with a supply. I was seriously quite scared at times. Very few staff were friendly; it was embarrassing to not know basic stuff like "where's the toilet" orc"where's this or that room"? I felt a right chump most of the time.

And in my area the agencies advertise work that is not actually available just to get you on their books. In the olden days you just phoned the LEA and got loads of work.

The difference is, then your employers paid your travel on top of your salary.
Now your umbrella company reduces your 'hourly rate' to the minimum wage and then bumps it up with 'expenses' to reduce their and your tax liability.
if you are okay with the morality of dodging tax, no prob, plenty of people are. (Though not usually those in the public sector who see the benefits of people paying the tax they owe for education health etc)

The key thing is the bottom line. If I drive a 50 mile round trip, getting travel expenses makes a difference.

When employers reimburse travel expenses, they make a claim against tax.

Same difference, at the end of the day.

Bottom line is that a supply teacher is a contractor, and contractors get to claim travel, subsistence and home office expenses.

AbFab,

You definitely have experienced a particular experience of supply. When I did day to day agency work, when you would be phoned up at 7am to go to a school you have never heard of, it would probably be a school that others have given a wide berth.

You would think that those schools were unattractive because of bad behaviour. I found that they also had the most unfriendly staff rooms. Classroom doors would be locked, and you would not know who to track down for the key. There would be no board markers, etc etc.

If you are doing daily cover, the best scenario is to get on the books of a good school so that they call you first. You get to know the students, and generally become a familiar face.

If you land a good school, or schools, it is brilliant. It's an excellent way to become a great teacher because you get so much experience packed into a short amount of time.

Thanks ginand I'm debating whether to give supply another go. I'm glad it's not just me with negative experiences of supply. One school I went to had keypads on all the doors to keep the kids out, and the secretarial staff were behind reinforced screens. It was more like a prison than a school. Awful place. I know all school are not like this; my dd' s school is lovely with a really nice vibe.

Another thing I found was that I was constantly renewing my DBS (CRB as was) check at 40-odd quid a pop. In the end the paltry bit of supply I got simply wasn't worth the aggro.

I think contacting schools direct rather than agencies is a good idea too.

With the DBS, you should subscribe to the update service. It costs £13 per year but saves the hassle of going through all your documents again and again.

Thanks again. I'm going to try that service!

I'm a NQT and I'm currently doing daily supply in Primary. I'm really enjoying it. Yes you have to be adaptable but I've found all the schools so far very welcoming. I'm currently enjoying doing no planning and very little marking! I think it's giving me good experience across ks1 and ks2 plus my behaviour management is quickly improving.

Did supply on and off for a few years and yes while the big pressure is off usually there are still downsides-

1. If you get put in very bad schools you can be sure behavior will be much worse towards you as kids know you are just supply, you don't have authority and won't know the systems so be careful of this as facing this constantly can ruin confidence and diminish passion. If you are serious about staying in teaching and find yourself constantly supplying in bad schools that are like zoos where you are merely babysitting and been abused rather than teaching then you need to examine your situation.

1. If you want to take along term position i'd strongly recommend to steer away from supply and apply directly schools if that's what you want as I have found that your rights,support and respect from senior staff can be compromised here. Put it this way-it's much easier for them to ditch you if you face a problem with supply, with a full contract they are obliged to support you more. That and you miss holiday pay.

1. Some staff too will regard you as lesser if you are a supply teacher- ridiculous I know but it happens and I've experienced complete condescending attitudes from staff in schools simply because I was supply. One even told me to my face schools wouldn't want to be hiring supply full time as they are not good enough.The same is true from slt, I've faced some very hostile behaviour from slt on supply gigs and any complaints from kids no matter how completely false will not be investigated properly as would be for permanent staff but they will ring the agency without having questioned you and give a child's version of some fictional incident and you get no say in it. I've had complaints that were completely and utter ridiculous made up chinese whispers.

1. Supply to many can eventually become boring especially if you are going school to school, it can prevent you from forming networks with colleagues and the kids. Moreover, if you are just doing different classes all the time the job satisfaction can be diminished, supply can lead to just going through the motions and not been challenged enough.

Supply is nice yes especially for those who want a break or struggle in full teaching and need time but the downsides are there too-i would not really say it's a long term ideal job for most.