Supply teachers in Norfolk are highly sought after and rare. We are finding many primary, secondary schools and academies want good supply teachers across the county but there is a struggle to always find the appropriately skilled supply teacher for such a large area.
The local authority have had the Norfolk Schools Supply Teaching Services which has been in place for a considerable time. This is an option for Norfolk schools and supply teachers to use, however, there are other very good options that schools and supply teachers can use too.
We are finding that a number of supply teachers that were registered with the Norfolk Schools Supply Teaching Service are registering with 4myschools simply because the process is easier more responsive and we offer more assignment opportunities.
Supply teachers in Norfolk will know that once they have taught for 12 qualifying weeks under the Agency Workers Regulations they must be paid the same as an employee of that school so the difference between working for the council and 4myschools is the quality of service and being offered more work opportunities.
Many Norfolk schools and academies spend a fortune on advertising teaching jobs and the Teach Norfolk web site runs adverts for schools. Using social media to improve the candidate field for any jobs board is a must. The 4myschools complimentary schools job board is used by Norfolk schools regularly – the school is able to put their details onto their vacancy and the applicants apply directly to the school. The exposure the 4myschools jobs board gives to the school vacancy via social media helps Norfolk schools to improve the field of potential candidates.
By helping schools to advertise their vacancies we are helping teachers to find work and if the school is unsuccessful in appointing somebody orevents suddenly change we are able to typically help the school by funding a supply teacher to step in.
By Norfolk schools using supply teachers they get the opportunity to assess the quality of the teacher and if the supply teacher would fit well with the school as an employee. Being a supply teacher enables the teacher to see if they like the Norfolk school too. All recruitment supply teacher agencies have an option for supply teachers to go from a temporary assignment to a permeant position or long term contract with the school. There are many options to support the school which enable schools to access a flexible workforce and to remove some of the stress of running the school.
Many Norfolk schools are keen to use good supply teachers for their pupils and we share that objective. One of the best ways for a school to get good supply teachers is to refer good supply teachers to good agencies.
The number of schools and academies that use supply teachers as part of their workforce is significant but no different to neighbouring counties that equally make use of supply teachers. It is difficult to find reliable figures as to the extent to which Norfolk schools use supply teachers; during 2012/2013 Norfolk’s primary, secondary and special schools paid out £9.2m on supply staff which was a 12% rise on the year before. These figures will not have changed much and I suspect with more stress in the system these figures will continue to rise. Regardless of the actual figures this is money that is spent on teaching children – if it is spent on supply teachers that are good at their job then it should be seen as a good investment in our children’s education.
Demand will continue to increase for good supply teachers from schools and we are looking for more Norfolk supply teachers to work with 4myschools. We are keen to support teaching and learning and by helping school through the access to a flexible workforce we are doing our bit to support teaching and learning.
If you are looking for work in Norfolk, why not register with us today? We can help with finding you work, ensure you are paid well and you’ll be making a difference to others:
