Supply teaching: the ultimate portfolio career

By J&C Team

For the majority of professionals considering a career in education, supply teaching might not be the first option that springs to mind. However working in this way provides professionals with a number of benefits that permanent teachers don’t have access to, including the ability to work across a variety of locations and schools. So with this in mind, how is supply teaching the ultimate portfolio career and what benefits can it offer?

As mentioned above, perhaps the main perk gained from being a supply teacher is the freedom afforded by being able to move from role-to-role. Professionals aren’t limited to working in one particular region and have the freedom to move anywhere they like, should they so wish. One supply teacher that we’ve worked with had two concurrent roles in Guernsey and London, providing him with a huge range of experience of teaching in different socio-cultural environments. The two schools differed dramatically in education standards and expectations and this allowed him to experience the true variation that teaching can offer. Working in this way means teachers are likely to gain wider skill sets as they’ll have a considerably larger range of opportunities to test themselves. The challenges in a rural school and an urban one are also likely to be very different and will ensure professionals are pushed in their roles.

Supply teaching can also benefit professionals who want to experience a higher degree of autonomy in their careers. For permanent teachers, much of their role is likely to be taken up with arduous meetings and paperwork; however supply teaching – particularly short term cover roles – removes the majority of these tasks from the laps of the professionals, meaning they have more freedom to do other things. Supply teachers are also less likely to be caught up in the day-to-day bureaucracy and competitiveness that can sometimes pervade the permanent arena, something that may appeal to many professionals.

Perhaps one of the largest drawing factors is the chance to work on a more flexible basis than would be possible as a permanent teacher. These professionals are limited to when they can take holidays, something that isn’t normally an issue for supply teachers. However, this isn’t the only type of flexibility that they gain. Supply teachers can balance their personal priorities around their professional live meaning they can take days off should they so wish, creating a much higher degree of freedom than a permanent role could provide. For teachers approaching retirement age, supply teaching also gives them the opportunity to step away, whilst still keeping a foot in the door. It can be hard to remove themselves from the teaching environment after spending so long working at a school and working on a supply basis is certainly one that suits recently-retired professionals.

Finally, working as a supply teacher can give professionals the perfect opportunity to ‘try before they buy’ and experience what life as a permanent staffer may be like. Teachers change roles all the time and it’s likely a permanent vacancy could arise at the end of the school year. Working in a supply role allows professionals to get a real feel for what their school is like and if they’d be interested in working there on a full-time basis, something that permanent teachers don’t have access to.

What do you think are the main benefits of working as a supply teacher?

Let us know by commenting below.

Mohammed Azam is Managing Director of Capita Education Resourcing.