Working on supply can provide you with a number of life lessons, but we picked up on three in particular, that stood out unanimously. While you’re busy planning engaging and intriguing lessons to feed the young minds of our future, reflect on what supply teaching has brought to your table too.

Resilience

As you slowly start to build your contact base with different schools, you’ll find that you may have to meet with different people every day. Supply teaching is a fantastic opportunity to build your confidence and character. On a daily basis, you’ll communicate with people in different sectors and roles within the industry.

If you are working day-to-day in different schools, you’ll always be looking to impress. By making the effort with a positive attitude and can-do approach, they’ll hardly forget about you. The pressure to deliver can be emotionally draining, but if you can handle this challenge with composure, and the frame of mind that each day is different to the next, your sense of resilience will only grow over time.

 Quick thinking

Supply teaching is certainly a role where quick thinking is a must. If you don’t really consider yourself one to think on your feet, teaching will certainly help you to develop that skill (whether you like it or not)!

Sometimes when you’re picking up where another teacher has left off, you have no choice but to come up with solutions. Whether an incident occurs and you haven’t seen the school behaviour policy, or you’re presented with a totally brand new, never before tackled situation. Supply teaching is unpredictable, and you have to be able to adapt quickly.

Which brings us to our final life lesson…

Adaptability

If you are presented with an opportunity to think fast, be prepared for ‘Plan A’ to fail. Maybe you were called into a school last minute, and your initial thought was that there should be a lesson plan prepared – in reality, this may not always be the case.

So what’s the best way to tackle this situation? Do you A) Claim hopelessness because there is no work to give? Or B) Take a deep breath and find out what they have learned previously. Then, come up with a few activities related to that particular subject?

Supply teaching will most definitely teach you to anticipate the worst possible scenario. Learning how to adapt to potential problems before they occur is something you’ll pick up quickly, so that next time around, you’ll have a lesson prepared, just in case there is nothing left for you. You’ll also identify the school\’s behaviour policy before you step into the classroom. What is certain is that with a bit of preparation and flexibility, each school will see a well-prepared teacher, willing to make the effort on their behalf.

What life lessons has supply teaching taught you? Leave a comment below!

The post Life lessons you’ll learn from supply teaching appeared first on Connex Education Partnership.

Supply teaching is a great way to get in to teaching. You can learn a lot and gain plenty of practical experience. However, you need to be prepared and you need to have the right attitude towards it.

We sat down with a couple of our primary development managers and asked them what they thought made a great supply teacher and how you cam get into supply teaching …

1. Flexibility

The more open you are to working in different areas at any time etc., the easier it is for us to place you in to schools. Make yourself as available as you can, and be willing to take on new challenges.

Heading to a new school and having to meet a bunch of new people can be tough, but if you’re willing to take on a new challenge and work in different environments, this could open a lot of doors for your career.  If you’re adaptable to any situation, you’re a diamond in the rough.

2. Reliability

Reliability is one of the most important things when you’re working with an agency. It stems from the very beginning – if you don’t pick up your phone first thing in the morning, that’s one thing – but if we leave a voicemail asking if you are available for work and you don’t get back to us, that’s another.

When we ask for teachers to be reliable, this doesn’t necessarily mean whether we can place you or not – it’s perfectly fine to pop us a message or call back back to say that you’re not available – as long as we know this in good time, we can always find another teacher if you aren’t free.

Try not to make a habit of it, though…the less available you are to your point of contact, the less likely it may be that they expect you to be free for work. Always maintain a steady stream of communication – the more we know about your availability, the better! At Connex Education, we give you an availability calendar, so you can update your availability in two ticks!

3. Passion

A teacher who can engage with a class about the lesson is simply, a superstar. Showing your passion helps to create a positive learning environment. A teacher who has a passion for their subject will always get the best results, and they’ll be remembered.

4. Professionalism

A supply teacher who is professional in their approach, is more likely to be placed. This includes a number of aspects – how you dress, how you assert yourself, how you communicate and how you perform.

A professional supply teacher who takes pride in their appearance is hugely important – especially when you are consistently trying to impress.

5. Preparation

Jason says: “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail!”

An excellent supply teacher will have designed lesson plans for different key stages, so that if a school gets an unexpected sickness etc. – this candidate is ready, with work prepared for the class.

On a personal note, being over prepared can really help to conquer those last-minute nerves of heading in to an unknown school. The school will be absolutely delighted to see such a well prepared and confident teacher who is ready to deliver, the second that they walk through the door.

Find out more about supply teaching by checking out our latest jobs.

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When you have a job as demanding as teaching, the last thing you want is to deal with a consultant that doesn’t understand your needs. It’s not enough for supply teaching agencies to know your qualifications – a relationship must be developed, so that we can best match you with the right school.

And even though getting to know you inside out isn’t exactly in our job description, we like to go that extra mile anyway…

Our staff love working for us, our schools love working with us

We have hundreds of loyal schools, academies, nurseries and special education centres who use us weekly – many of them on an exclusive basis (so you won’t find their vacancies anywhere else).

We have terrific consultants, who want to listen to you. They take the time out of their day to find out exactly what you are looking for, so they can match you with the right work, but also the right setting, whether it’s day-to-day or long-term roles. Imagine!

What’s the benefit of getting to know my consultant?

Our consultants work hard to develop a positive working relationship with you, because they want to match you with the right schools. Whether it’s nursery, primary or secondary, we really look after you, and if there are any problems, we’ll address them at once. The more we know about you (and we try really hard to do this), the easier it is to match you to a role you’ll enjoy.

Why is Connex Education different?

Put simply,  we’re not like any other supply teaching agency …we are service-led, and committed to delivering for you, and our schools. here are just some of the pluses to working with Connex Education:

• A supportive one-to-one consultant you can build a relationship with, and they will manage all your Connex work life
• Regular contact with your consultant, because we genuinely want to deliver excellent service
• Professionally-written and presented personal profiles to give you the best advantage when you\’re introduced to schools
• A wide range of education settings to choose from
• Work to suit your needs and requirements
• Online timesheets
• A unique choice of monthly or weekly pay
• An online portal & easy-to-use app so you can sort your work life on the go
• Plenty of opportunities to broaden your experience
• Free accredited Safeguarding training

If all of this is what you’re looking for, then why not pop into one of our branches for a quick chat? Or you can give us a quick call on: 0845 266 0650

Our door is always open…

Find out more about our supply teaching agency, here. 

The post The best supply teaching agencies know you inside out appeared first on Connex Education Partnership.

A substantial amount of teachers are choosing to work on supply, and it could well be down to the number of advantages that working in a school on a permanent position can’t provide.

As well as being a good fit for a number of teachers, teaching on supply can also help Newly Qualified Teachers as they launch their career, allowing them to gain experience and expand their set of skills.

For schools, supply teachers are essential. Teachers working on supply cover for illness and any kind of short or long-term absences such as maternity leave, etc. A high demand is very common.

We spoke to our teachers to get their thoughts on the advantages of supply teaching and here is what they told us:

1. “It’s a flexible career to have”

As we’ve previously mentioned, supply teaching gives you the freedom to decide when and where you work, and it allows you to work in a plethora of different schools to develop your experience, without very much hassle at all.

2. “It made looking for work much easier when I relocated”

You can pick up right where you left off with supply work if you have made the decision to relocate. There are plenty of education recruitment agencies across the country to choose from, just be sure it’s the right one for you.

3. “I appreciate that I’m not in the same place every day”

Supply teaching gives you the opportunity to work in many different schools and gain a wider range of experience than most full time teachers who decide to stay in one school for a portion of their teaching career. Many teachers enjoy the challenges that come with going to a different school each day, as well as meeting and working with new people.

4. “Work-life balance”

If you have found it increasingly difficult to achieve your desired work-life balance in a permanent role, but still love to teach, supply could be the alternative for you.

5. Don’t forget the benefits…

The real bonus is if you’re working with an agency that understands your needs and requirements, placing you in to an environment that is the right fit for you and the school. Of course, hearing about the benefits you could receive are always helpful too…

With Connex, you get a very warm welcome, as well as:

• Your own friendly and dedicated consultant (working on supply can be lonely, but we’re here to support you every step of the way)
• A wide range of assignments all matching what you want
• Flexible work hours
• A huge range of schools and nurseries (many of which only work with us)
• Competitive pay
• A unique choice of monthly or weekly payroll
• CPD training
• Support and guidance
• Healthy work:life balance
• On-the-go app for managing your work life

Of course, we can’t make this decision for you. But what we can advise is, before you choose your teaching supply agency, make sure you’re choosing the agency that offers you the most.

If you’d like to hear more from us, why not give us a call today on: 0845 266 0650, or pop in to your local branch and say hello?

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