justteachers are with you every step of the way to ensure you are always classroom ready!
We are delighted to have you on board and are looking forward to finding you lots of opportunities within our partnerships schools. Whether you are looking for day-to-day supply or longer-term assignments, we have collated some useful information for you to review in order to ensure your supply goes as successfully as possible. We want to keep you as busy as you wish!
A thorough background about the school and the vacancy, the department/ position you will cover, start times, who's who and what to expect.
The name of the contact you will need to report to upon arrival, the name of the safeguarding lead, the route in to school and parking facilities.
Information about the class / classes you will be teaching and where applicable, the subject. We will advise whether work has been set or not.
We will always remind you about our contact policy. Call us at the end of your supply to let us know how it went and whether you would be keen to go back!
Justteachers is the best teaching agency I have ever worked in during my 15 years of supply teaching. They are genuinely committed to the welfare of their staff My contact regularly phones me to check in on me and always lends a warm and sympathetic ear whatever I say Justteachers are a brilliant agency Their ethos is one of compassion and concern for the teachers.
Teacher, March 2024 for
There will be occasions where you will need to contact your dedicated consultant at short notice, for example; if there is a chance you might be late for your assignment, you need to notify us of sickness or cancellations of future cover, or simply you need a reminder of whom to ask for upon arrival into the school. Make sure you save our contact details in your phone- you will find your Consultant's telephone number within a correspondence email or simply visit our website and select the 'Contact' tab at the top of our home page.
All of our teaching and support staff are paid on a weekly basis- all monies owed will be paid into your account every Friday, following the week in which the assignment was completed You can access all your pay slips on the Eezytime pay portal https://eezytime.co.uk/meritportal/
If you need to reset your password at any stage, simply follow the steps accordingly.
Our jt payroll team will contact you via email regarding your details to access payslips, P60's and pension information
N.B. If you haven't already done so, view and complete our online Safer Working Practice Training video and workbook on our website, along with the downloadable DfE guidance documents to retain for your reference. It is our job to ensure you are getting the most out of your supply experience and that you thoroughly enjoy the schools we place you in. We value your feedback and encourage regular and transparent communication, so that we can keep doing what we do best...listening to our candidates! We will, from time to time, send surveys to you to complete- your input can help us shape the world of supply and also the CPD that we can offer to you in the future to keep your knowledge and skill set relevant and up to date.
Your Recruitment Consultant will support you every step of the way along your supply journey, providing you with information about the classroom you will be teaching / covering and what is expected of you. Due to the nature of supply, a granular level of detail is not always guaranteed, with some cover being organised with very little notice. We highly recommend you make use of additional resources we share with you from time to time and to keep an eye on our ongoing blog posts, which will signpost you to current affairs, CPD and useful hints and tips when working in supply.
You may want to take work with you or require inspiration for activities to set should there be any pupils within the classroom without tasks already in place
There are many online platforms geared towards supporting teachers and their workload and below are some of the more popular sites we highly recommend:
Teaching Ideas
Classroom Assistant Twinkl
Primary Resources
Teach It
We regularly share resources, content, hints and tips and links to free CPD via our social media platforms and blog section on our website.
We regularly share hints and tips and links to CPD via our social media platforms and blog section on our website.
As well signposting towards external blog
As well as signposting you towards external resources, we often keep our staff up to date with internal justteachers news, celebration days and much more! Our blog posts cover current affairs, as well as a plethora of historical content that you may find useful at some point in your supply journey.
The following blogs are our most frequently visited and likely to be most helpful in the early stages of your supply career:
FAQ for Supply Teachers registering with an agency
Interview and Trial Day Tips
Overseas candidates: A guide to the UK classroom culture
Tips for managing teacher workload
Supporting pupils with their Mental Health
Umbrella Companies- Know the facts
Securing an interview is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that you have the right knowledge, skillset and experience required for the role. Preparation is the key to interview success and with that in mind we have put together questions that, from our experience, are likely to come up depending upon the role you are interviewing for and insights as to what responses the interviewer will be looking for. You also need to remember to have a list of questions prepared to ask the school to demonstrate your interest in the position.
Dress appropriately
Dress appropriately and be aware of your body language and eye contact. If you are unsure what to wear then dress smartly and don’t wear trainers or jeans. Go into the interview or trial day with a smile and present yourself confidently and professionally. Make sure to maintain good eye contact, whilst speaking clearly and not too fast, during your interview.
Be positive
Use positive words in the interview - avoid words such as Don’t, didn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t, haven’t, no and can’t and replace with ‘developing’, ‘looking forward to adapting my experience to’. Use positive examples to illustrate your individual potential.
Describe your enthusiasm for the post - ask positive questions about the school and the extra-curricular activities that you would be happy to help with.
It is paramount to promote yourself through personal examples of your success. Have some stories ready and explain how you could adapt these methods to suit the school. Think about your difference, your individuality – why you versus someone else with the same qualifications deserves the post. It may be your coaching / extra-curricular activities / your experience / your life experience, etc.
Showing commitment in your interview or on your trial day is equally as important to the school as your subject knowledge and experience. If you do not sound committed to the role, you will not get offered the position.
By now you should feel more prepared and have information on the role and school from your consultant, have done your own research and have a few examples of your previous successes and answers for interview questions in mind.
The interviewer is looking for you to demonstrate your background research about their school and that you are able to discuss why the way they work appeals to you. This may be through reviewing Ofsted reports, progress data reports, reviewing their website and social media platforms (which will communicate their mission statement and ethos/ culture) and learning about the staff.
Make sure you have reviewed and make reference to:
-The school's last OFSTED report
-School Progress Data
-Research schools in the local area
-Familiarise yourself with the School context- size, location, % FSM, % EAL, etc.
Things you should be able to answer, if asked, about the school
What do you think makes a school successful?
What is your impression of the school?
What will you contribute to this particular school?
Why do you want to work at this school?
Safeguarding children is an important part of our work. Can you give me some examples of how you would contribute to making the school a safe environment for children?
Tell me about a time when a child or young person behaved in a way that caused you concern. How did you deal with that? Who else did you involve?
Why do you want to work with children? What do you think you have to offer? Give an example of how children have benefitted from contact with you.
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Why did you train to become a teacher/teaching assistant/ Support staff? What was your inspiration?
How do you ensure you are keeping abreast of legislations and government updates consistently?
Teachers who are not punctual are less likely to be asked back for future assignments. Check the directions before setting off to a booking. For last-minute bookings and day-to-day supply, schools are quite often happy to accommodate a slightly later start if they are given a realistic estimated time of arrival. If you get lost, contact us as soon as possible, providing it is safe for you to do so
Get to know the timetable for the day, the school’s classroom layout, class rules for behaviour, (including rewards/ sanctioning policies) and how children are expected to move around the school.
The start of the day is a crucial time to make sure you are made aware of daily routines to ensure there are no unexpected disruptions. Pupils will be reassured those routines haven’t changed and that you are in command.
Where possible, please arrive at school at least 30 minutes before school starts There are a few key things that you will need to be familiar with once you arrive at the school, so it makes sense to arrive there in good time wherever possible This might include: the school’s behaviour policy, the teacher’s written plans, staff toilets, tea and coffee-making facilities and where you can prepare resources. for many more reviews
It’s a good idea to have suitable teaching ideas up your sleeve so that you have something to fall back on if required. There are plenty of websites that offer free resources that you can utilise to avoid any lastminute panics.
You should be made aware of any learners with particular needs, so that you can organise the use of teaching assistants, adjust any plans and take into account those who would find the change difficult. Also, find out if there are any children who need medication.
Have names of pupils and relevant groups to hand so that the class can be easily organised Be firm, fair and consistent in your use of rewards and sanctions and ensure you actively seek opportunities to use public and private praise for the whole class and individuals
Arrive 30 minutes early where possible. There's plenty of things you will need to cover before entering the classroom.
Adhere to our contact policyif you are running late or feeling unwell, then call your Consultant as soon as possible
Leaving a small note can make a difference to the returning teacher, who may find the break in continuity unsettling Leave a note at the end of the day, detailing the work done, where you are up to in set work, any incidents, whether books were marked (if applicable – all primary work should be marked appropriately), and if so, where they’ve been put For secondary school teachers, this will mean more handover notes, one at the end of each lesson Even a brief sign-off, saying either that a lesson went smoothly or naming any miscreant pupils, is useful information to a returning teacher. Keep accurate records of any instance of challenging behaviour exhibited by pupils.
Thank whoever has been looking after you during the day. Some larger schools have a dedicated supply supervisor or a parallel classroom teacher who sits next door and is on hand for your queries. If you have had a good day, tell them – schools enjoy getting positive feedback–and let them know you’d like to be re-booked. If the school does decide to ask you back to cover specific dates, then make sure you communicate this to your justteachers consultant ASAP so that they can ensure your availability is booked and that all team members are all aware This will also avoid any delays in your payments
Contact names within the Senior Management Team
Is a school map available? (including the location of the staffroom, cloakroom and toilets)
Can you review a copy of the safeguarding and behavioural policies and procedures?
What are the assembly and registration arrangements?
Do you have sufficient information about the class, the lesson, resources, and seating arrangements?
Effective behaviour or classroom management is intrinsic to successful learning and is one of the major concerns of schools and supply teachers. As a supply teacher, it may be challenging to walk into a new classroom, full of pupils you have never met before, and to manage successfully the behaviour, and therefore the learning, of those pupils. There is no one way of effective teaching and learning - every teacher has their own particular style, approach or 'toolbag' of skills and techniques that they deploy in the classroom.
You will find that every school has different behavioural policies. justteachers recommend that you familiarise yourself with the policies and procedures of the schools where you have been placed. Do not assume that all schools have the same behaviour policies, they do not.
The following blogs around behaviour and behaviour management in the classroom may be useful to review:
If for any reason you cannot familiarise yourself with the school's individual policies and procedures, justteachers recommend that you adopt a strategy to encourage good behaviour. Please do not leave your class unattended for any reason
If for any reason you cannot familiarise yourself with the recommend that you adopt a strategy to encourage good behaviour. reason.
Difficult children should be dealt with in a calm and firm
Difficult children should be dealt with in a calm and firm manner. Please do not point or shout at a child, or have any physical contact with them.
If there are any incidents or accidents, however minor you think they are, please ensure that you report them to a member of school staff as well as to your assigned justteachers consultant, followed up with a written account.
If you should encounter any extremely disruptive or violent behaviour, whether directed at yourself or another child/adult, please send for a member of staff immediately.
justteachers is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment.
Everyone working with children and young people in education settings has a responsibility to act professionally and to provide a safe and supportive environment which secures the well-being and best outcomes for the children in their care.
Our candidates understand the following principles:
The welfare of the child is paramount
Their responsibility is to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils
They must use professional judgement to assess whether their actions are warranted, proportionate, safe and applied equitably. They are working in a position of Trust and Authority and should always maintain appropriate professional boundaries
They should adopt high standards of personal conduct in order to maintain public confidence in their ability to safeguard the welfare and best interests of children
It is essential that everybody working in a school understands their safeguarding responsibilities.
All candidates must read at least part one of Keeping Children Safe In Education (statutory guidance for schools and colleges).
All our candidates are asked to provide evidence of annual safeguarding training through accredited CPD resources. We offer online safeguarding training to those candidates without the relevant training.
Teachers and Support Staff working through justteachers must ensure they:
• Protect children from maltreatment, neglect or harm
• Provide a safe environment in which children can learn
They should be aware that breaches of the law and other professional guidelines could result in disciplinary action being taken against them, criminal action and/or other proceedings including barring by the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) from working in regulated activity, or for acts of serious misconduct prohibition from teaching by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)
They are responsible for their own actions and behaviour and should avoid any conduct which would lead any reasonable person to question their motivation and intentions
Please refer to Guidance for Safer Working Practice for those working with Children and young people in education by visiting our website.
All schools, colleges and childcare providers are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. This duty, known as the Prevent duty, should be seen as part of schools’, colleges’ and childcare providers’ wider safeguarding obligations.
Prevent deals with all kinds of terrorist threats to the UK. This includes safeguarding children, young people and adult learners from extremist ideologies and radicalisation.
In order for schools and childcare providers to fulfil the Prevent duty, it is essential that staff are able to identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified. Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation should be seen as part of schools’ and childcare providers’ wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other harms (e g drugs, gangs, neglect, sexual exploitation), whether these come from within their family or are the product of outside influences
Tackle the ideological causes of terrorism intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation
Enable people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate
The aim of Prevent is to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent also extends to supporting the rehabilitation and disengagement of those already involved in terrorism.
Awareness
Against Hate
Talk About It
The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It regulates how and when information relating to individuals may be obtained, used and disclosed.
Schools hold a vast array of personal data on children, parents and carers, staff and governors, which means there must be appropriate safeguards and procedures in place to ensure it is managed effectively and securely. Please ensure when on assignment that you familiarise yourself with the school’s data protection policy, every school will be different, do not assume what was permitted in one school will be permitted in a different school. All schools will have a Data Protection Officer, make sure you know who they are or how they can be contacted.
All school staff including supply staff have a duty to protect and safeguard children and the processing of their data forms part of that.
A personal data breach can be broadly defined as a security incident that has affected the confidentiality, integrity or availability of personal data. This generally refers to the possibility of affected individuals facing economic or social damage (such as bullying), reputational damage or financial losses.
Data breaches are nearly always the result of human error. The most common data breaches occur when personal data is left on desks unsecured, or when paper files or USB sticks are lost. If you suspect a security risk or a personal data breach has taken place, then it is your duty to report it to the school’s designated data protection officer.
Treat other people’s data like you would your own Perform anonymisation by replacing personal information with non-personal identifiers where personal information is no longer required.
Get in to good habits. Always log out of your computer when you leave the room at work or home
Keep anything that identifies children and others in locked drawers
Use a shredder or confidential waste bit where data is no longer needed
Have a clear desk policy
Encrypt removable media USBs (memory sticks), so that if they are lost they cannot be accessed
Password protect documents, especially before you send them by email and if the data is sensitive
Before sending an email, double-check that the ‘to’ recipient is correct
When sending an email to different people externally, use the Bcc option not the Cc option
