Effective Supply Teaching

All teachers can remember with a shudder, how difficult it can be to go into a new class and school for the first time. As supply/substitute teachers, it can be difficult to obtain any respect from your students, when they have never seen you before and may never see you again. One of the fundamentals of effective behaviour management is being consistent and always carrying out the action you initiate – this is where teachers and schools need to work together to support each other.
Teamwork is imperative to this working – schools don’t want to have to nurse a supply teacher through the day, likewise, teachers don’t want to feel they have been abandoned and left to fend for themselves. At Axcis, the majority of us are teachers, so we know this feeling of abandonment, and we know how difficult it can be for schools that have been sent a teacher that cannot hold their own. Below are some tips we give to both our teachers and schools, to ensure the day for everyone, runs as smoothly as humanly possible!

Teachers

Be Prepared

• Plan your journey and get to the school early
• Take extra work, pens and paper
• Dress appropriately – tidy, practical for PE etc.
• If you are running late, phone Axcis so we can tell the school

Upon arrival

• Sign in at office/reception and find contact person.
• Find out school systems and expectations;
  Discipline procedures, time table, map of school, times of day, occurrence of bells, break/lunch/form duties, marking of work, wet day procedures, emergency systems.

End of Day

• Leave class tidy, mark work (expected in primary schools), leave notes for teacher on work reached, any discipline action taken.
• Report back to school contact, hand in keys/maps/handbooks, timesheet signed. Always ensure that you keep a written record of any incidents that occur.
• Tell the contact how the day went – everyone needs constructive feedback. If you really like it, they are more likely to ask you back again.

Overview

• Be Prepared and plan for the worst case scenario
• Be Professional and remember you are a qualified, trained teacher
• Be friendly, adaptable and ready for anything

Also remember that there must be NO PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH PUPILS AND NEVER LEAVE PUPILS/A CLASS UNATTENDED.