Teachers for Supply

Supply Teachers Blog

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How to make maths lessons fun

With most of the UK school children on lockdown, many parents and carers are having to turn their hand to teaching. This is a huge as of people that have no teaching experience and often struggle to get their children to sit still and concentrate like they do at school.

When it comes to maths or any lesson, it is important to try and make it fun. This will help keep the children’s interest and also help them take in what is being taught better.

Maths is one of those subjects that pupils either love or hate and this often comes down to whether they are good at it or not. Maths is a very important subject to do and is one of the main ones that you will use throughout your daily life.

For many students they simply find maths boring and therefore do not want to learn. When teaching younger children, you can often make maths fun by making the tasks more physical. So rather than being sat down working their way through a written task, why not go outside and use hop scotch as a way of counting. This not only gives the children a bit of excitement but will also help them to remember what is being taught.

Working as a supply teacher in a new school

It can be quite stressful when you have the call to go into a new school to cover a teacher’s absence for some reason even if you are an experienced supply teacher. When you are going into a familiar setting you usually know the other staff and the normal daily routines such as assembly and break times however in a new school everything is unfamiliar, and it can lead to feelings of anxiety.

Forward planning is vital so that when you are offered work in a new school you can confidently accept the work.

By looking on the school website, a requirement of all schools, you can see the school staff and make sure you know the names of the senior staff members and the school administrator, often your first point of contact. The website might also give you information about the daily routines and school rules making you feel more prepared when you are standing in front of the class you are teaching. It is useful to find out if you will have any additional support in the classroom as teaching assistants are an invaluable help when navigating the routines. They will also be able to help with classroom organisation such as seating plans and will be able to make you aware of any children who will need extra support in class.

First job after finishing school, college or university

Over the last decade there has been some big changes in the education industry. In 2015 the law was changed to state that children were required to participation in some form of education or training until the school year in which the child turns 18.

People start their first job at a variety of ages. Some people chose to start work straight after their GCSE’s, as soon as they are legally old enough to do so, whilst others may not actually start looking for work until they have been to university and possible even taken a gap year.

Choosing which career path to take must be decided based on your own personal circumstances and career that you wish to go into. Some professions require you to have a degree in which case you will have to do some sort of education whether it be open university, traditional uni or on the job training. Other professions are more flexible and will accept people who are self taught with some experience if they show knowledge and willing.  There is no set right or wrong time, everyone is different and many will follow different routes. if you are looking for teaching jobs then these are normally advertised in local papers, government /local authority websites and specialist sites such as TES and you will need to have done your PGCE to apply.

Finding a school that suits your teaching style

If you are a teacher looking for work then not only do you need to find a school that is within your geographical location that has an opening, but also one that suits your teaching style.

Many schools have quite a lot of say over how they are run and therefore you might find that the policies and procedures at one school differ quite drastically from another.  IF for example you are used to working in schools in rural areas, then you may find that switching to work in a school in an urban area is quite different.

When looking to apply for a teaching job be sure to read all the recent Ofsted reports that are available and have a good look through their website and recent news. You should be able to find policies on the school’s website about their ethos and what they expect from their pupils. This information should give you a good overview of the setting, but it may be that you do not get a real feel for it until you are invited in for an interview. At this stage you can ask any questions you may have and take the opportunity to have a good look around the school.

Fitting your work in around school holidays

With the Christmas holidays fast approaching many parents are trying to plan their work around the time the children are off or having to find suitable childcare to allow them to continue going to work.

Most jobs, unless you work in the education industry carry on as usual during approaching and following Christmas and that can be hard for parents as not only do they want to spend time with their children but they will also have to fork out for childcare.

You may be able to save some of your holiday up throughout the year and book a few weeks off around Christmas, but many companies will have a policy that Christmas holidays must be shared so you may only be allowed some of the time off. If you are going to be using childcare for a period of longer than 6 weeks then you can possibly get help from the government towards the cost.

IF you are a teacher or work in the education industry then you will most likely have the same sort of time off as your children give a day or two, but you may still need to work from home or go in to school during the holiday to do making or planning.

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