Everyday schools rely on Supply Teachers to fulfil unexpected vacancies that arise. For over 10 years London Teaching Pool Ltd have built a reputable service in supplying teachers at very short notice to schools across London and the Home Counties. We rely on our supply teachers to consistently be skilled, reliable and deliver a quality service to all of the schools they are assigned to. The title ‘Supply Teacher’ often has negative perceptions associated to it, these include, having an ‘easy life’, being ‘job hoppers’, hold ‘no responsibilities’ and require ‘no planning’. We know this is completely the opposite and in fact supply teaching is far more daunting and stressful than it looks. Walking into an unknown school, into an unknown class and not knowing what planning or work or behaviour problems are ahead of you – it is not an easy way to make a living.  

Supply teachers are an essential part of the education system in the UK; without them the system would collapse. Schools prefer to recruit the same supply teacher particular those that left with a positive impression and often enough are offered much longer term and permanent contracts.  

Here are our top ten tips on being a first-class Supply Teacher

 1. Work closely with your agency

Choose a recruitment consultancy who specialise in teaching roles. It wise to stick to one agency where you can build a relationship with one consultant. Here at London Teaching Pool Ltd we provide supply for Primary, Secondary and SEN roles across London and the Home Counties. Each one of our 40 Education consultants are committed to providing a first-class service ensuring your best interests are always looked after. You will meet with your consultant and communicate regularly to ensure your needs are always met.

2. Be ready and flexible

Schools often rely on supply teachers due to a last minute absence. This means you will often be approached with little or no notice, for example, you may receive a call from your agency at 7:30am about a role that starts at 8:30am. It is important you are always ready and have a degree of flexibility to ensure you gain access to as many opportunities as possible. Let your agency know when you register that you are happy to be called with little notice. It is also important to keep your agency informed with your availability and to call them as well as them contacting you.    

3. Do NOT be late

Lateness of supply teachers is the biggest turn off for schools where timetables are extremely strict. Being late not only makes a bad impression to senior leaders and hiring managers but it will also set you off on the wrong foot with the children you are about to teach. By arriving on time or even better early, you will have the chance to familiarise yourself with the school and the other teachers. It will also mark you out as someone a school can rely on. Ensure you plan ahead before you leave and if you are going to be late inform your consultant so that the school can kept up to date.  

4. Do your research

As soon as you know what school you will be working at, find out from the agency if there is any more information they can provide you with. For example, are there any pupils with special needs that you might need to prepare for or who may require a teaching assistant present? Additionally, check out the school’s website as this can often give you a flavour of the school and tell you if it has any particular specialisms.    

5. Dress to impress

Make sure you always have a professional, clean, ironed work outfit ready the night before. It takes less than 10 seconds to make a first impression, so make sure your clothing sends the right message. Having an outfit ready means less hassle in the morning when you receive a last-minute assignment. Make sure you stand out to ensure you have the best chance of being remembered and called back for future work.     

6. Pack an Emergency Supply Kit

Sometimes the teacher you are about to fill in for may not have left any notes to follow especially if it is an unplanned cover i.e. sickness. It is essential you are prepared for such scenarios by bringing your own resources and activity ideas along with you. As a supply teacher it is always good to have something up your sleeves for the unexpected and always have a back-up plan.  

7. Before you leave

Leave a handover note for the regular class teacher as they will be in the dark about what their class has been doing. Always ensure the classroom is tidy and everything is put back as you found it when you arrived.    

8. Find out about routines

The start of the day is crucial to how well the rest of the day will go, so make sure that you are aware of the daily routine including as fire alarm drills. Children will be reassured those routines have not changed and that you are in command and will prevent you from being caught out whilst in the middle of teaching.    

9. Get to know the class

Before you start the lesson spend five minutes getting to know the children in your class. Introduce yourself and why you are there and go around the class asking all children to say their name and something about them i.e. their hobbies / favourite toy.    

10. Gratitude and feedback

It is courteous to thank the head teacher on your last day and let them know how you got on. As long as you have performed to your best this will greatly increase your chances of being asked back. It is also important to speak to your consultant and let them know if you would be interested in working there again so they can relay this to their client. Be open and honest, when we know what works for you and what does not we are able to tailor the work to you and ensure that your needs are met as well as those of the school. If you are unhappy, do not bottle it up, be honest about your experiences good or bad, we can and will listen and adapt things to help you.      

Supply teaching is a fantastic career choice, one that can provide flexibility and the ability to increase your experience in a short space of time, this is why in particular Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) are encouraged undertake such roles. Hopefully by following these tips you will give yourself the best chance of success. Good luck!  

View all our supply jobs and apply today!

The winner of The Great British Bake Off 2016 Candice Brown has made the agonising decision to quit her job as a PE teacher to pursue the "amazing baking opportunities" she has been offered since winning the series.

The 31-year-old, who beat Jane Beedle and Andrew Smyth in the final, shocked pupils when she returned to her post. However her headteacher told her to 'follow her dream' in order to inspire children. Over the past few weeks she has struggled to juggle her day job which involves working with children with special needs and as a PE teacher too much with the new commitments. It was advice from her headteacher not to approach her newfound fame "half-heartedly" that inspired a change of plans. 

After leaving the secondary school on Friday, Ms Brown said: "This has been such an agonising decision to make." "Never in a million years did I ever go into the show thinking this would happen. That is why I have been back at school teaching since I won the final." "I have been teaching for about eight years now and I love it. But since winning the final, I have also been completely bowled over by the amazing opportunities that I have been offered." With the whole school behind her, there are no hard feelings about Brown's abrupt departure – and it is hoped she could inspire youngsters to follow their ambitions.

"At first, I kept telling the school I would stay until December but they were so incredible and told me I had to grab everything whilst I could." Ms Brown said her school suggested she leave now, rather than at the end of this year, and that doing so would inspire the school's pupils to follow their dreams. The Bake Off winner said: "My headteacher told me: You've got to do this, you can't do it half-heartedly. I wouldn't forgive myself if you missed out." "It's not that we don't want you here but you have to give it 100%. If we can't encourage our staff to follow their dreams and inspire, then we are not doing our job properly.

You are showing the kids that anything is possible." Ms Brown added: "It was so incredibly lovely of him to say this." She plans to take her time to map her future and has signed up with a team of TV agents. She keeps pinching herself since winning the BBC1 show as she still can’t quite believe everything that is happening.  

A scheme to tempt successful business professionals into second careers as classroom teachers has been launched by Now Teach. The recruitment problems have gotten worse year after year, this year four out of five schools have struggled to fill vacancies and the latest government figures showed that nearly a third of teachers who entered the profession in 2010 had dropped out within five years.

A new organisation, called Now Teach, has been co-founded by journalist Lucy Kellaway, who is herself giving up her job as columnist and associate editor of the Financial Times to teach maths in a “challenging” London secondary school. The charity was set up this year to give established professionals in the business world an opportunity to “do something meaningful” when they come to the end of their careers, and avoid a "colossal waste of talent."  

The idea follows a similar suggestion by Baroness Warnock, who last year proposed Teach Last, which would give skilled retirees from a range of backgrounds the chance to teach as a “second profession.” The rise in birth rates over the last decade have already been felt in Primary schools for a while now and the pressure has now started to hit secondary schools. Unless something is done immediately this is only going to get worse. Recruitment is beginning for a pilot year in 2017/18 which will be restricted to London secondaries. To begin with the focus is on finding maths and science teachers where there the biggest shortage lies, but the charity says they are also training professionals who want to teach other subjects.  

For the second year in a row Education Secretary Justine Greening has been named overall MP of the year in recognition of her work with deprived, minority and under-represented communities.

The award was presented by the Patchwork Foundation and recognises the work Ms Greening has done with local community organisations such as Regenerate, the National Autistic Society and Arts4Dementia. She has been recognised before having won Conservative MP of the Year in 2015. In 2014 she was runner up for the same award. Commenting on the award Ms Greening said “I am honoured to have won the MP of the Year Award. The Patchwork Foundation does a fantastic job of getting young people involved in our democracy and political process, with its workshops and mentoring. That's all vital if we're going to have a political system that works for everyone and is inclusive. It’s been great to be involved as an MP and locally I do my best to work with our whole community on the issues that matter to all of us.”  

Admiration from the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister Theresa May shared her admiration, “I would like to congratulate the winners of tonight’s awards - MPs who are willing to go the extra mile to make politics accessible, relevant and open to all. I would like to congratulate Justine for winning the Overall MP of the Year Award. My driving mission in politics is to make this a country that works for everyone – where you can rise to the top no matter who you are and where you are from. At the moment, there are too many professions where those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds are underrepresented. Although we have made huge strides, politics is still one of those professions. We need to change that.”  

The award ceremony was sponsored by KPMG at Speakers House on Wednesday 2^nd November 2016. Siddiq Musa, KPMG Partner said: "We are delighted to sponsor these Patchwork Awards for the third year encouraging under represented communities to connect with the political process and celebrating those MPs from across the political divide who have really made a difference to inclusion. The work done by their volunteers and the time they commit will hopefully inspire young people in all communities to fulfil their true potential.”  

The Patchwork Foundation launched the MP of the Year Awards 2014 in association with Mosaic Associates, the Three Faiths Forum, UpRising and the National Union of Students earlier this year. The Foundation aims to promote and encourage the positive integration of under-represented, deprived and minority communities into British Political society.  

In BBC One’s last episode of the Great British Bake Off, 31 year old Candice Brown was crowned the winner. The PE Teacher from Bedfordshire beat rivals Jane Beedle and Andrew Smyth in the royal-themed final.

She says winning the Great British Bake Off is the “biggest moment of her life” and will change her as a person. Throughout the ten week series she won ‘star baker’ three times and wowed judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry baking items that included a tiered filled meringue crown featuring prosecco-soaked strawberries, mango curds and glittered pistachios in the signature challenge. Her Victoria sponge sandwich in the technical challenge left her in second place as the jam had not set but she won marks for a well-baked sponge.    

After triumphing in the 49 piece showstopper, which consisted of 12 sausage rolls, 12 fruit and custard tarts, 12 scones, 12 mini quiches and a chocolate cake, judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood declared her the BBC’s last ever Great British Bake Off winner. Candice said: "That means more to me than I think anyone will ever realise." "I saw and I wished and I hoped it was OK but you just don't know. Jane and Andrew are so good."

"I did it. I'm good. I'm good enough." Swapping her PE kit for an apron the amateur baker became famous among fans of the show for her ambitious bakes, using family memories to inspire her cooking, and her brightly coloured lipsticks which included a different shade each week. Highlights of Candice's Bake Off career have included a marzipan peacock and a gingerbread version of the pub she grew up in, complete with a sticky carpet.  

Mary Berry said about the win: "Well deserved for her determination and passion, she really has excelled. For her wonderful flavours, and everything always looked gorgeous.’ Paul Hollywood said: "Candice is very much all or nothing. When you look back on some of her bakes, they have been beautiful. When she nails it, she's one of the best." Candice a teaching assistant, made it through to the quarter finals, where she failed to amaze the judges with her iced box hedges.

After the final, Candice revealed she had hidden her winners’ trophy in an antique chest. She said: ‘I love baking and this has increased my love of baking. If I can get my little vintage shop selling tea and cakes with random antiques that would be my ultimate dream.’ We will be waiting in awe!  

Latest government figures have revealed of the 21,400 new teachers who began teaching in 2010, by 2015 30 percent (7,230) had left the profession to pursue a different career. These figures are a “damning record” of Michael Gove's term as education secretary says the Liberal Democrats and warned that ministers must work with teachers to deal with the factors that make the profession feel "demoralised and under-valued". Nick Gibb presented these figures in a written parliamentary answer to a question from Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland. A more worrying revelation is that 13 percent of had dropped out of the profession in their first year. After just two years this rises to 18 percent and after three years to 23 percent.  

Long hours and high workload leads to no job satisfaction
These numbers reflect the growing number of teachers who say their job has become less satisfying. In July this year, findings from the latest "Barometer of the Teaching Industry" conducted by TLTP found 61 percent felt that their job as a teacher had got less satisfying over the last twelve months and over 55 percent said they would not recommend teaching as a career. The main reasons were down to excessive paperwork, working long hours, worsening student behaviour, too many changes in policy, lack of resources and the struggle to fill vacancies.   Stressed and reduced to tears Many teachers are still not getting the help or support they need leaving them work/life balance many teachers have opted to take huge pay cuts and instead work as teaching assistants rather than contend with the vast workload expected of them. Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the NUT, said it was “deeply regrettable” that such high numbers were leaving teaching, and he called for ministers to take “immediate action.” Excessive workloads and attacks on salaries are responsible for driving teachers away from the profession.

Mr Courtney added that schools have become “more difficult and less rewarding places” to work in in recent years. For this we can thank Michael Gove,” he said, “who as Education Secretary routinely denigrated the profession, questioning their capabilities and worsening teachers' lot through higher workload and real terms pay cuts, freezes, and, for good measure, a sledgehammer to pensions.”

“They [ministers] need to face the fact that schools have become more difficult and less rewarding places in which to work. Intense workload and the demands of high-stakes testing‎ create an environment where job satisfaction is becoming rarer,” Mr Courtney said. “As a result of staffing problems, many schools are relying on desperate solutions: overuse of supply teacher agencies, and asking teachers to cover roles outside their specialism. The quality of provision is being lowered - and ministers must take responsibility for this.”

Michael Gove was Education Secretary from 2010 to 2014 and is being blamed for demoralising the teaching profession[/caption]   Liberal Democrat education spokesman John Pugh also blames Mr Gove, who turned more than half of secondary schools into academies, reshaped the curriculum and rewrote the exam system. It is bad enough that dedicated teachers are being driven away from the profession they love, but this is also laying the foundations for a disastrous teaching shortage in years to come if we cannot train new teachers fast enough to replace the ones which leave,” he added. “The Government must urgently work with the teaching community to address the many factors which are making teachers feel demoralised and undervalued, as well as reversing their devastating cuts to school budgets which are putting increasing pressure on teachers and schools.”  

A Department for Education spokesman insisted that teacher retention rates had been “broadly stable” for the past 20 years and pointed out that British teachers enjoyed higher salaries than the average in OECD countries. “Teaching remains an attractive career and we have more teachers entering our classrooms than those choosing to leave or retire,” he added. “We want every child to have access to great teachers that aren’t weighed down with unnecessary workload so they have the time and freedom to do what they do best – inspire the next generation. We recognise teachers’ concerns and are continuing to work with the sector to find constructive solutions to this issue.”    

Education Secretary Justine Greening has confirmed pupils who fail tests at the end of primary school will not have to retake them and instead they would be offered support to catch up. She has also promised there will be no new national tests or assessments for the next two years.  

The spelling and grammar test for seven year olds introduced in 2015-2016 will remain non-compulsory for schools next year. The plans for pupils to resit exams raised concerns from teachers who feared some pupils would be labelled as failures when starting secondary school. The news was welcomed by leaders and unions who have all been threatening to boycott next summer’s Sats if no changes were made to primary assessment.

 The changes come after a difficult academic year for the Department for Education over assessment. As new tests were introduced, teachers complained materials and information were slow to apear and there were a number of tests leaked. Ms Greening said in a written statement: "Summer 2016 saw the first pupils taking the new assessments in English and mathematics at the end of primary school. They were set against the new national curriculum, which has been benchmarked against what the highest-performing countries around the world are teaching their children.

As a result, the new assessments rightly raised the bar on what we expect pupils to have been taught by the age of 11, better preparing them for secondary school and beyond." But she said teachers had risen to that challenge with 66% of pupils meeting or exceeding the new "expected standard" in reading, 70% in maths and 74% in writing. Ms Greening said: "The pace and scale of these changes has been stretching.” "Our objective is to make sure that children are ready for the next stage of their education. We know, and Ofsted inspectors understand, that the 2016 assessments and results mark a break with the past and are not comparable with the preceding years." In recognition of this, Ms Greening said no school would face any intervention, such as being taken over and turned into an academy, on the basis of these results alone. Commenting over the ban in Year 7 resits, she said: "Rather, we will focus on the steps needed to ensure a child catches up lost ground.” She has suggested a targeted package of support will be created to ensure struggling pupils are fully and correctly supported by teachers. Christine Keates, head of the

Nasuwt teaching union, said: "It appears that the Secretary of State has now recognised the real challenges around statutory end of key-stage assessment. The recognition that there were problems with the 2015/16 data, and that because of this no schools should face harsh sanctions solely on the basis of that data, is a welcome step towards relieving the pressure and anxiety some schools have been experiencing."  

Reporting to the TES, Ms Greening concluded: “I have listened to what teachers and headteachers have been saying over the last three months. But also, my sense was that when a child gets an outcome at key stage 2 and then has a summer holiday and then comes back to school, it wasn’t clear to me we were going to get our objectives achieved by the resit.”
“I felt it was much more important to focus on the underlying problem of why children were not getting to the expected standard.”
“I’m genuinely approaching this in an open-minded fashion,” she said. “I am looking at primary assessment in the round rather than looking piecemeal at how we should evolve key stage 1, or piecemeal what we do on key stage 2 and resits, or piecemeal about baselining. I don’t think that’s a sensible approach.” The consultation will mean that the early year foundation stage profile will remain in place as the Department for Education gathers views as to what stage of primary school a pupil's progress should be measured."

The previous attempt to introduce a baseline test was abandoned by ministers after they decided that the results of different tests could not be reliably compared." "We need to get this right because the work that had been done had not resolved this," Ms Greening said. "It’s now time to have an open consultation about what is the right way to measure progress and what is the right starting point for that.”

The lack of positive role models in primary schools is becoming a worry as one in four still have no male teacher, the equivalent to nearly a million primary school children not having a male teacher. Statistics from the Department of Education show 26% of teachers in England are men - accounting for 38% of secondary and 15% of primary school teachers. Despite Government efforts to get male teachers into the workforce, women still dominate the force. There were 31,600 male primary teachers at the last count, compared to 151,200 females – one man for every six women in the role. That rises to one man for every four women in headteacher roles. And there were 3,727 primary schools in England without any male teachers at all, up from 3,680 in 2014.  

At such a young age boys often fall behind and find it hard to catch up and the imbalance of male staff could be to blame. Dr Martin Robb, senior lecturer with The Open University, said: “It’s important to have a gender balanced workforce for all kinds of reasons, but the gender of the worker isn’t actually the most important thing for boys.” “And other factors - such as personal qualities of consistency, care, respect, etc - are deemed to be much more significant by boys themselves. “A range of commentators has argued that the absence of fathers and the allied absence of male role models from the lives of many young men are key factors in their involvement in crime and in educational under-achievement.” “But consistent carers are more important than male models for boys.”  

Top 10 areas with no male teachers

1. North Yorkshire
2. Derbyshire
3. Hampshire
4. Lancashire
5.  Essex
6.  Hertfordshire
7. Cumbria
8. Norfolk
9. Surrey
10. Staffordshire

The Department for Education said: “Our priority is getting the brightest and best teachers into classrooms, including male staff of all levels.” “That is why we are spending millions of pounds on recruiting high-quality teachers.” "We can be proud of the fact that teaching is an increasingly popular profession, with more young men and women embracing the opportunity to inspire and shape the lives of the next generation."  

Are you a teacher looking for a job? We are recruiting, register with us today. 

Philip Morant School and College have taken their own approach to help teachers overcome the current workload crisis by banning traditional homework.  
In a letter the secondary school has told pupils and parents that they will no longer set homework and will instead select their own "appropriate" tasks through an online portal.  The scheme is optional, there are no limits to the number of tasks pupils can complete and there are rewards for completed tasks.   The school has called the new approach 'Prove It+' at Key Stage 3 & 4 and Independent Study Tasks at Stage 5.  

Principal Catherine Hutley believes by scrapping homework it will allow teachers and staff to make better use of their time to plan better lessons to ensure the individual needs of each pupil is met. Currently, they do not have the time to mark and prepare lessons or give each child the attention they need. Ms Hutley accepted the move was controversial but was “genuinely excited” about the innovative approach and is convinced students who are aged between 11 and 18 will benefit.  

Catherine Hutley, Principal of Philip Morant School and College in Colchester has replaced traditional homework with an out-of-hours task based online portal so staff can spend more time planning lessons.[/caption]   She said: “The job of a teacher is impossible. There are not enough hours in the day for a teacher to teach, set homework, mark homework, and plan their lessons.” “It is a move away from a more traditional approach but we would not do anything which would hinder the progress of our children.”
“We have the most dedicated and committed staff you could possibly ask for. They are working every hour God sends but planning lessons can fall by the wayside.”
“We want it to be the number one priority so teachers can plan for students’ individual needs and keep on top of their progress on a daily basis.” Too often homework was made up of finishing curriculum work which had not been completed in class. This new approach would stop children who do not complete their homework from falling behind. Ms Hutley said the move away from traditional homework had been discussed for a year and parents have been involved in a consultation period. 1,650 pupils attend the Ofsted rated 'good' school and has already removed academic banding and the use of mobile phones at school.

The change is not the first to happen, just last year the independent boarding school Cheltenham Ladies' College announced plans to ditch homework in response to an 'epidemic' of mental health problems.

In 2013 Jane Austen College, in Norwich, said pupils would be expected to complete all their work during timetabled hours, and extended the school day to 5pm.

Meanwhile over in and instead asked to spend more time at home with their families. Ms Hutley added: “If, for any reason, we start to see this new approach to homework is having a negative impact on students’ progress, we will do something about it.” “But I do not believe that will happen.”

Could this be the start of something widespread?  

UK based charity World Wide Education Project (WWEP) is encouraging all teachers to try ‘Naked Teaching’ on Friday 30^th September to raise awareness of children around the world who go tomakeshift schools in slums, in refugee camps, under trees and under bridges.

Naked Teaching is nothing dodgy! Honest!

It is an opportunity for teachers to experience what it is like to teach without any resources. It’s a chance for teachers to stick the supplies back in the store cupboard, unleash their inner inventiveness and undress their lessons. You could even take the kids outside and lose the walls and the chairs too.

To help you get started, try one of these 5-minute resource free teaching strategies that can be adapted to teach just about anything: (But beware – as Naked Teaching goes, the following ideas are hard-core because they don’t even involve paper or pens.)

Nina Jackson, a teacher who helped to come up with the campaign, advises: "Connecting and developing purposeful learning relationships with the children is key. Good eye contact and a great smile always works. It exudes safety, support and confidence. Even if you’re feeling nervous yourself!"

The charity hopes to raise awareness and funds for many impoverished children around the world. To donate go to justgiving.com/ww-ep

Will you be brave enough to strip down, boldly join in with #NakedTeaching and #NakedTeachingDay and share your pics and ideas with us. 

If you are not working on the day you can still take part in other ways such as no TV or radio, not using any forms of transport, or even going as bold as not using your mobile phone!

Go on....give it go!