I had reached the point of burnout and my mental health had been compromised on a couple of occasions, enough to need significant amounts of time off work to recuperate.
In order to reduce the stress and day to day demand of endless rounds of meetings, assessments and report writing, I thought I would give supply teaching a go, but would restrict myself to short to medium term contracts, not day-to-day (I'd heard that was particularly difficult in its own special way).
I was amazingly fortunate that my first foray into the supply world was a placement in a lovely school, within a great department. Unfortunately, the person I was covering for came back! I'd work there again at the drop of a hat.
Since then I have had a few short to medium term placements, with varying success...
One in particular was excellent. The Head of Dept was very supportive and trusted me, as an experienced teacher, to sort out work for the classes I was covering and run my classes as I saw fit. There were zero issues, great communication, and the experience, although relatively short, was productive and positive for all parties.
Unfortunately, amongst those recent placements, it was certainly an anomaly.
Two other placements did not work out so well, for similar reasons.
One of those reasons is that some schools see supply teachers, even those booked for long term placements, as a way of relieving pressure on their permanent staff by giving the supply the dirty jobs to do.
In those two placements I was given groups that had been specially created so that the underachieving and behavioural issue students were all in one group...with no support...no TA...
...I'm sure you can imagine how much fun that was.
Another reason was SLT who seem to be unrealistic in, or incapable of, recognising poor behaviour. Going in cold to a school as a supply teacher can be tough. Kids have a great knack of smelling the "blood in the water" and recognise, very quickly, when a supply teacher has been dumped in a room and left to get on with it.
A third reason is lack of support. I don't know about you, but I think the function of a teacher is to teach the students, not babysit / keep them busy for an hour. This is really tricky when you find yourself being second guessed, or worse, criticised in front of the students when you need to use the school's own discipline policy, especially in the sort of group as I have described.
Yes, it does take a while to become established and not seen as someone who won't be there tomorrow so who cares, but this needs to be fully supported, not second guessed and critiqued. Kids WILL recognise when supply staff are / are not being supported and WILL behave accordingly.
A final commonality is the lack of awareness that some SLT can have about behaviour across the school. As a set of fresh eyes, who the kids are not wary of, corridor behaviour in particular is not as hidden. A recent conversation with a member of SLT, in which I asked about a group of six or so kids who had been running around the corridors for an hour, throwing classroom doors open and disrupting lessons, was met with disbelief, as if I had hallucinated the (not isolated) incident.
Having made contact with some like-minded people who do supply, I am aware that SLT taking advantage of supply staff is not isolated to a few inconsiderate schools.
My message is that supply teaching can be rewarding, but only under circumstances where there is a decent level of support, realistic expectations, and respect for your professionalism.
Be nice to your supply staff...you need them as much as they need you.
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