Future Supply Teacher Query

[brendo]

Hi guys,

So glad I found this forum to help with my fact-finding!

I'm currently in my 2nd year of a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at university in Australia. When I finish I will be 31 years old with 3 x 10 week terms of practical experience in primary schools, including a 10 weeks internship in my final year of uni (30 weeks total).

I plan on coming over the England to teach almost straight away, as I would graduate in November '11 and it seems there is a supply teacher shortage in winter?

My question to you is, as a 31 year old male with classroom teaching experience, am I likely to find it easy to pick up supply work? Would my gender and age/life-experience give me an edge over others looking for work?

Ideally I would like to get a fulltime primary teaching job for the holiday pay, but accept this is a challenging market. I have a British passport so will have no work restrictions. I want to teach in England as I would like to make the most of cheap Europe travel during school holidays, and have been told the resources for teachers/schools are better in the UK compared to Australia.

Thanks for your help!

[ruby_tuesday]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I hate to rain on your parade, but, to my knowledge, there isn't a shortage of supply teachers at winter or any other time. In my experience, more the reverse. We have a lot of supply teachers and NQTs who often find it difficult to get supply and full time work.

Having said that, it does differ from area to area and in some places there is more demand than in others. We are in the situation where teaching assistants pick up a lot of short term cover work, half days and days and schools seem to prefere that option as the children already know the TA and it is a lot cheaper for them. We also have agencies who are the first port of call in many authorities, although by no means all.

Despite this, there is supply work. I don't think your gender or age would be a factor. Once you've been to a school initially, if you do a good job you have good chance of getting asked back and should be able to build up a bank of 'regular' schools.

I only did supply for a short while but got nearly all of my work through contacting individual schools myself.

Good luck.

[brendo]

Do you know which areas are better? I'm hoping to teach somewhere in Sussex. Trying to find a relatively cheap rental area.

[janeb]

Hi brendo,

Welcome to the forum.
I agree with Ruby Tuesday's comments and wish you luck when you come over.

I'm in Sussex and would probably recommend that you set yourself up in one of the bigger towns, e.g. Brighton, Worthing or Crawley. Would you have access to a car? Obviously that would enable you to access more schools and would allow you to live outside of town in a cheaper rental area.

[mary25]

I work for a supply agency called Protocol Education 0208 371 7900. Many people come over from Canada, South Africa and Australia and secure long term posts. It is worth getting in contact with them as I know they do have many incentives available. I do not however think there is a shortage of supply teachers over here but I may be wrong!

[Hectare]

Most things in British education go in cycles, ie. there are a lot of supply teachers nationally at present, but this is likely to change as there have been shortages in the past. If you can, wait for a clear shortage before joining supply registers.