Last Updated on 13 March 2024 by Colette
l have been teaching on supply for over 11 years – officially more than half of my teaching career. It was never the plan – I thought I was set to be a full time class teacher until I retired but actually, when it came down to it, life with my family and doing the best for my kids turned out to be more important.
I left full time teaching in summer 2012 at which point I had two children under three. The cost of full time childcare plus the fuel to drive to work and back took up my full M6 wage and we realised that the only thing I was giving up by leaving my full time teaching post was maternity pay and my pension – I would actually earn more money teaching a couple of days a week on supply.
So that was that, I joined two agencies in September 2012 and quickly learned that I needed to stand my ground and make sure I got paid what I was worth (which soon meant I was choosing to work solely for one agency). I also learned to be firm with my boundaries around when I was and wasn’t able to work – with two very young children and childcare to organise I couldn’t take on work at short notice. I soon realised that much as I liked my consultants at the agency, it was their job to make as much money for the agency as possible and that I had to look out for my own interests – making sure I got paid on time, that my pay wasn’t sneakily altered in my contracts (yes this happens), that I got my AWR payments and that I didn’t go back to schools I didn’t want to work in just please someone else.
I’m often asked if I will go back to full time teaching but I really can’t see that I will now. I know that I can’t be the teacher I want to be whilst being the mother that I want to be – on those weeks where I’ve taught full time, I find that I’ve used up all my patience on someone else’s children and my own suffer as a result. The flexibility of teaching on supply works well for me – I get to do the bits of the job I love whilst neatly swerving the bits that really wind me up.
If you’re considering making a move into supply teaching, I’ve pulled together everything I’ve written about being a supply teacher into one handy guide – and if you think there’s something I’ve missed then let me know and I’ll see if I can get it covered!
I’ve lost my balance
7 years of supply teaching
Supply Teaching – Six ways to get re-booked
Why I will continue to supply teach
The downsides to being a supply teacher
6 reasons why I love being a supply teacher
8 signs you’re a supply teacher!
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