Supply teaching – the positives and negatives

The Secret Teacher shares their experience of working as a supply teacher. Read on for an honest look at what supply teaching is really like!

Supply teaching is tricky. Let no-one try and tell you otherwise. There are perks, of course, but the job often amounts to some of the most frustrating aspects of being teacher. Over the last 18 months, I have worked as a supply teacher in the North East after a 13 year spell at the same school in London. I have done everything from day-to-day placements to a year long maternity cover. Here are some of the positives and negatives that I have found supply teaching brings.

Building relationships and gaining experience if you’re supply teaching

One of the biggest challenges of supply teaching is the lack of continuity and consistency in your relationships with both students and colleagues – something most teachers will rank as one of the saving graces of the profession. Unlike permanent teachers who have the opportunity to build rapport and trust with their students over the course of a school year, supply teachers often find themselves in a revolving door of classrooms where germinating meaningful connections never has the opportunity to materialise. Similarly, the absence of long-term relationships with colleagues can lead to feelings of isolation and detachment from the school community. I’m thinking of seemingly small things like missing invites to the pub or a chance to join the 5-a-side football on a Friday. This lack of connection can make it difficult to effectively collaborate and access support when needed, ultimately hindering professional growth and development.

When I began my teaching career straight out of university, I initially worked as a supply teacher. At the time there was disappointment at not getting a permanent job immediately, but in hindsight I believe it was a defining time in my early career. The nature of “supply”, meant it provided an unexpected opportunity for professional growth and skill development due to the wide variety of challenges and the diverse educational settings. I was forced to adapt to various teaching styles, classroom environments, and student populations, which totally enhanced my versatility and resilience as an educator. Some examples of these challenges include different types of school, varied behavioural policies, a range of levels of help and support from the school, a mixture of super welcoming and friendly staff rooms versus some that don’t even notice you. By navigating so many different schools and encountering unique challenges on a regular basis, supply teachers can cultivate a broad range of pedagogical strategies and classroom management techniques that contribute to their overall effectiveness as teachers. This exposure to diverse experiences not only enriched my teaching practice but also prepared me for the varied and dynamic schools I have worked in since. I think we should be encouraging all young teaching graduates to spend a period of time doing supply teaching as a way to expose themselves to the sort of variety that can take years to acquire. I believe there is a reciprocal benefit (between the school and the ITT) that would come if all PGCE students did a week or two of supply teaching during their teaching practical. For me this was a complicated period to navigate, but in hindsight it certainly proved to be an opportunity to fast-track my experience.

Routines and day to day tasks

One of the first and possibly the biggest challenges is having to do your job in different schools. Every day is different for teachers and this is why it is such a rewarding vocation. However, within that refreshing variety, there is reassuring routine; for instance predictable timetables, helpful colleagues and trusted managers. These are all the things we fall back on during a challenging day or a stressful time of year. So when you get the phone call from your agent (yes, two actually) at 07:15 and get asked to go to an unknown school as quickly as possible, it can be an anxiety inducing experience. You don’t know who you’re meeting, or how much time they can afford you at 08:00 when they themselves are juggling numerous other tasks. You often get a timetable minutes before the first bell rings. How long are the lessons? Where am I going? Where are the staff toilets? Are phones allowed? Can children go to the toilet during lessons? The list of mundane questions that a permanent teacher would handle without a second thought suddenly become a concern even before they arise.

I mentioned above that supply teaching can amount to some of the frustrating aspects of the teaching profession. However, it does free you up from two of my worst; old fashioned marking and planning. I have always enjoyed the classroom interactions with pupils but definitely started to lose patience with marking and planning. Some research from Dylan Wiliam suggests huge amounts of teacher energy and effort is expended on marking / making comments, even though it often proves to be ineffective as a tool to aid progress. My specialisms are geography and history, so when I get a placement where they want me to cover those subjects, it is truly refreshing and rewarding. Doing all the classroom stuff is a pleasure, and something most teachers relish. However, it is increasingly satisfying knowing that at the end of the day, I don’t need to mark some maths books, photocopy 30 sheets about the Romans, or create a PowerPoint about Rivers. There are many days when I walk out of school at 3:30 having had a brilliant day. As a permanent teacher, even after a good day in the classroom, you might have reports on your mind, an academic intervention you need to take, some outstanding homework to chase, a set of assessments to grade etc.

Managing hours, pay and job security when you’re supply teaching

The drop in pay and the absence of a consistent monthly salary is a difficult change to cope with. In the North East, the daily rate varies from around £110 to £140 per day depending on experience. If you get 5 days a week this actually feels really fair. However, I did have weeks where I could only get 2 or 3 days and this makes paying the bills much more complicated. Missing a day due to illness or an appointment obviously means no pay. The largest obvious financial hurdle though, is how you manage the holidays. I tried to do some tutoring and coaching to supplement my lack of money but even with that you might have 6 weeks without a pay cheque. It is far cry from that smug feeling you get when you are a permanent teacher and you don’t have to work a day in August (I know many do!), but still get paid. However, if approached in a positive way, the 5 or 6 weeks over the summer gives you a rare opportunity to engage in a side hustle, develop your career with a course or qualification, volunteer with a charity or learn a new skill. Some careers might allow you to take a short unpaid spell to do some of the above. This unpaid holiday situation could be viewed as comparable.

Supply teaching in the summer months did wonders for my wellbeing. I have had periods in my career where I was a Head of Year and even when my classroom role was running smoothly and pupils were making good progress, there were regularly emotionally draining pastoral situations that required huge amounts of my time and focus. Some evenings I would lie awake in bed and I could not switch off from the job; a phone call I needed to make tomorrow or a pupil I needed to follow up with. I found this started to affect my personal relationships and I wasn’t always a relaxing person to be around. With the warmer weather and the longer evenings, the 08:00 to 15:30 nature of a supply job meant I could leave work without the anxiety and stress that is pushing some permanent teachers out of the profession. For me, knowing that I could leave school and head straight to the gym, go for a swim or even meet a friend for a coffee or beer was a really energising mind-set to have.

Going a little deeper on the idea of day-to-day work, supply work by its very nature means there is an absence of job security and many of the benefits typically associated with permanent positions. The issue of less money is one that is easy to understand but strategies and careful planning can go a long way to combat this. Concurrently though, the mental impact of this weighs heavy too.  Many teachers would argue that the flexibility that comes with supply work is overshadowed by the uncertainty of not knowing when the next assignment will be available. This unpredictability can create mental strain and anxiety, especially during periods of low demand or unexpected gaps in employment. Additionally, supply teachers often do not have access to the training or professional development opportunities provided to permanent staff. This can be deeply troubling and further exaggerate feelings of instability and insecurity in the profession. I personally have concerns that some schools might see a long spell of supply teaching as a negative on my CV and this could potentially count against me in future applications for permanent roles.

In conclusion

Overall, supply teaching will not suit everyone. It certainly creates a wide range of speed bumps that can make the planned and expected journey of a teacher much less comfortable. However, once you have acknowledged those issues and developed a few reliable strategies to manage them, supply teaching can tick a lot of boxes for some in the career. I believe it is a form of teaching that does offer a few perks and benefits that permanent teaching doesn’t allow. This should be considered by all teachers who need a recharge, reset or a recalibration of what we are each individually looking for in the profession.