Supply agency issues. Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Rhine]

I'm a supply teaching assistant. I've been doing it for coming up to a year now and really enjoy it. I now have my "regular" schools which I go to often and have developed a relationship with the staff and children there, which is good. I enjoy the variety and the flexibility, but the agency are starting to grate on me a little.

Obviously one of the advantage of supply is that you can pick and choose your hours, and I'm pretty much always available. However recently they've been phoning me when I'm down as unavailable, last week I had an appointment on Friday afternoon but the agency phoned me in the morning and pretty much begged me to go a particular school for the full day (they really liked me, they specifically asked for me back etc. The school is lovely, so stupidly I gave in and rearranged my appointment for this morning. However ive already had about five missed calls from the agency alone this morning, and one message asking if I'm available all day (they know that I' m not).

At the school I was working in yesterday there was another girl on supply from my agency who has another part time job elsewhere and she said that they'd been doing exactly the same thing to her, despite them knowning that she has another job. This is a new development and it wasnt like this before the summer holidays.

Also, a while back I received very bad feedback from one school. It was I felt very unfounded as they were hostile to me from the off. I was supposed to go back for another shift but they told the agency they didn't want me back. After that I said I'd refuse to go back and told the agency this, but they've phoned me three times in the last week asking me to go back to this school and each time I've told them I'm not going back and why!

Is this normal stuff for an agency? I often find them very pushy, and they try to send me to placements that I don't have the skills or experience for. I dont want to leave but am starting to feel I have no choice.

It doesn't sound great. Some crossed wires are to be expected in a busy office when they're getting frantic calls first thing, but I can see why it's grating. I guess they'll always try to get the most reliable people first, so you can see it as a compliment.

That being said, it isn't illegal to be on the books of more than one agency at once - ask around other supply staff and see which ones in your area have a good rep.

Thanks Itchy, before summer this was never a problem but I think it's possible that a lot of people have left the agency since July and they don't have enough supply to meet the demand anymore. But then that's not really my problem either. I've just looked up another agency that I've been told are good and think I will also apply to them.

They don't sound great!

Can I ask if you are ever asked to cover teachers?

I am a member of a supply teacher group (I'm not a supply, but was interested in seeing what the current issues/workload was) and they are often complaining how there's no work and if there is a phonecall, the agency is trying to get them to work as a teacher, but on a TA, HLTA or cover supervisor wage!

I've been asked to cover teachers, yes. I only did it once on a HLTA wage and it was awful and I was completley out of my depth. My agency seems to always have work for me, but I have a feeling a lot of it is from them cold calling the schools each morning. I've had two long term placements, one was for six months covering maternity leave and the other was for the last six weeks of the summer term.

Before the summer when I wasn't doing long term I pretty much always knew about my placements at least 24 hours in advance. For some reason it's on a daily basis only at the moment and I don't know why?

Don't answer the phone when you are not available!
Yes they are pushy - they are sales people working on commission, so will tell you any old guff jus to get a warm body in front of a school as their worst fear is another agency getting their commission.

I have answered the phone when I've been unavailable in the past, so I've probably made a rod for my own back there. The problem is they always show up on my phone as "unavailable" or "no caller ID" when they ring me, so it's hard to know if it's actually them or not. I suppose I could just let it go over to answer next time.

Do they all work on commission then? Call me naive, but I really didn't know this. Would explain why they are so very pushy and reluctant to tell the unpleasant schools that take the piss why they can't get regular suppy...

They are all sales people, hence why the turnover is so high and why they are economical with the truth.
They operate in a very competitive environment and will have enormous targets to meet.
And no, they will not tell a school to do one, because there will always be another mug they can send there and get commission.
They get commission form the umbrella companies as well, hence why they are so keen to con you into signing up with them (also enables them to evade tax) instead of going PAYE.

So basically every time a school phones them to ask them for cover and they find them someone, they get commission for it? Would also explain why they sometimes phone me asking if I want them to ring around and see if anywhere needs cover.

Someone posted on a supply teaching group I'm on today saying their agency rang and said they some days work for them but unfortunately they would be unpaid! The agency recommended that the teacher took them though as it would look good with the headteacher.

What??!!

Not sure why they aske you that - that's what they do anyway!
The most aggressive will call their schools at 7am. The others will wait for a call from a school.
Guess which is most likely to get the business?
One of my agencies has an online calendar, which is great - I put in when I am available, so when they call the schools they know they have XYZ available and can sell that person. So by 7,05 they call me, if I like the school I accept, so - kerchinggggg! the agency has made the sale.

The agencies will try any old lie. And yes, some teachers will be suckered by the 'free day' scam.
Only takes one - they can try several and one may take the bait.
You can be the agency is still charging the school, though.
So the loser is the teacher working for free, everybody else gains.
And sadly, if they agency thinks you are a mug you are less likely to get paid work - why pay you of you will work free?
If that school asks for you back, the likelihood is the agency will say you are busy and put forward someone else, while reserving you for the lower d/further out/less desirable schools because they know you can be conned.

How many agencies are you with out of interest? I'm thinking of of signing on with another that's been recommended to me a few times. I've never been phoned at 7am! The earliest has been 7.45, even though when I signed up they told me they wouldn't phone me before 8. Are schools even open at 7am?!

Agencies talk with forked tongues! I'm on the other end and the bollox I get spun. Especially the big corporate ones. My tip, find a smaller local one that can deal with your area.

If we are ill then we ring our Head between 6.30-7 at home so they can get in a supply. The head doesn't have to be in the school building to organise it.

Scrolled back thru my phone, and the earliest recently has been 7.07 (spookily that specific time twice )
One agency is the early bird - my other agency never calls before 7.30.
One that I don't go with any more used to phone me around 8-8.30 - but I only did a couple of days with them because they were sharks and messed me around over pay and fictitious bookings. (Where they book you in advance, to keep you available and declining other jobs then the 'booking ' is cancelled at the last minute and they offer you something that 'comes in that day' which is rubbish location etc and you wouldn't have accepted if you had known in advance (which I wager they did) ).
That agency is apparently known for it - I was naïve(r) last year so was unaware of their reputation.
Prob is - unless we all talk to each other, the agencies can play on our lack on knowledge of their weaselly ways.

Bloody hell, that is early!

I've got a hospital appointment at 12.30pm today, so have put myself as unavailable. Just popped out to put some washing on the line, came back in to find two missed calls and a message on my mobile asking me to "give them a ring". I'm unavailable, that means they shouldn't be phoning me!

Maybe they have work for you tomorrow?

They did have work for me for tomorrow. However they also tried to persuade me to apply for a long term position in a school 20 miles away, when I specifically said I would only work in this area as its not financially viable for me to travel miles out.

grrrr!
Left my phone at home today, and missed an email from a direct school I recently signed up with offering me work tomorrow.
Really annoying, as they are a ten minute walk from my house, and are paying considerably more that the agency rate.
Just got home and emailed, but prob far to late now

Phew - the guy emailed me back and the gig is on.
I am particularly keen to impress them because they are so near to home.

tried to persuade me to apply for a long term position in a school 20 miles away
they are so thick -skinned - they never give up!

Well, the weird thing is when I first signed up with this agency I initially applied to another one as well. My current agency pretty much got me work straight way so I let the other one slide, however for months afterwards the other agency kept phoning me asking me if I was interested in applying for a post in a school 20 miles away which I ignored- it was exactly the same position my current agency have suddenly decided to put me forward for!

What is that all about then?