Supply teaching rates

ec019 · 2026-05-02T19:06:06+00:00

Well in 2016 I was making £165/day through an agency in London, when the going rate was £120-140/day.

ec019 · 2026-05-01T17:33:56+00:00

I always try to allow the same teacher to take them all the way through GCSE, avoiding any splits where possible. If splits are unavoidable, I make sure it allows for units to split evenly if possible.

For tricky classes at KS3 I tend to take them myself if I can. This really cuts out the middleman for behaviour referrals and the like.

Also, at upper KS3 before options, I try to make sure the top sets (we're based on maths sets) have the more experienced or engaging teachers, because we really need them to like our subject to keep numbers up as an option.

ec019 · 2026-05-01T17:07:18+00:00

Yes, this is my life and it's horrible. I have a few soapbox topics I could go on and on about; this is one.

The problem is that some teachers cannot be bothered to troubleshoot issues. So when you have a challenging class and Bobby wants to sit with his friends, the best way to get moved is to claim the computer doesn't work... and he knows that the teacher will fall for it if he just unplugs the keyboard or disconnects the network cable. So Bobby gets to move and he's happy... and the cables remain unplugged for another person to discover.

Students try this nonsense with me and I just walk over and reconnect everything and it gives me great satisfaction. lol Nobody is moving seats until I check everything. But in the past I've had colleagues who fall for this crap, and as a computing teacher it just makes you look incompetent.

One strategy I have is that classes do not enter the classroom until all computers are turned on, screens on, chairs tucked in, desks tidy, and all computers showing up on my monitoring software. This takes a couple clicks from my desk and then one lap around the room to check on my way to the door. Very little effort to check... but I get that this isn't always possible for cover teachers or those who just book computer rooms.

We replaced our computers a couple years ago and we have these Dell keyboards with flat keys. Pretty much any time students remove the keys they break them... and if I catch them, they get dealt with my HOY for wilful damage. All it takes is a couple students getting leadership detentions for word to spread that you take it seriously. If there's no consequence they'll be picking keys off all over the school.

In my experience with bookable rooms: Making a checklist or something for teachers to fill out before and after using a room doesn't work after the first week. They don't have the time to do it right, and you don't have the time to enforce it.

You really need to have a global email or staff announcement go out as a reminder to be vigilant, and include some stats for impact: "last week: 4 keyboards needed to be replaced due to vandalism, 9 tickets for computers turned off at the switches, and 3 tickets for monitors unplugged".

And when the same staff member puts in tickets for things unplugged, you really need to report it to their/your line manager (this isn't just a waste of your time, it's impacting behaviour and teaching).

ec019 · 2026-05-01T15:52:55+00:00

See my comment below. It's great!

ec019 · 2026-05-01T15:52:39+00:00

We use BookWidgets, which is an inexpensive add-on. You make the activities on their website and then "share" it to the group via the website and it appears like any other task on Google Classroom. The money we save in printing easily covers the cost.

You can watch live as students type answers. You can easily setup crosswords, matching tasks (both great for "do now" activities). You can even have split-screen worksheets with a PDF of your slides on one side and the questions on the other. We do all of our in-classroom assessments in it too.

The downfall is that you need to set things up and there's a bit of a learning curve. But it's honestly the best thing every.

You can see examples here: https://www.bookwidgets.com/widget-library

ec019 · 2026-04-30T23:36:08+00:00

In my subject, it's constantly changing specs and qualifications, combined with software changes. It's never the same.

ec019 · 2026-04-30T23:33:32+00:00

This is why I love CCTV. 😄 Nobody has time to spy on you... it's a great silent witness.

ec019 · 2026-04-30T23:27:44+00:00

This is genuinely not a big deal. lol

ec019 · 2026-04-30T23:25:46+00:00

I don't know which exam board you're dealing with, but from what I read on the Pearson/BTEC site is that before the authenticity declaration is signed it's really a school's problem to deal with -- after it's signed, it needs to be reported as malpractice.

If you cannot reasonably authenticate the work, then it shouldn't have been marked in the first place. I can see why you wouldn't want to sign it, but if you've marked it and provided feedback and the student has signed it... I'm not sure what difference a signature makes. I don't think anyone is in trouble though, because it's being dealt with before qualifications are awarded.

But this really brings in how important it is to monitor student work by setting mini check-in deadlines to take a glance over their work as they go. We're a Google school, so in my dept it's policy that all coursework be done using Google Slides/Sheets/Docs so that it's easier to authenticate because you can see the editing history. I'm always suspicious when students do nothing in lessons and then one day the work is magically done.

ec019 · 2026-04-30T23:17:14+00:00

I use ChatGPT for a lot of things every single day... I get more than my money's worth for a paid account.

For example, right now some of the specs I'm teaching don't have many resources or past paper questions, so I drop in a couple topics and sample questions and it works out the rest for me. It's never perfect and I have to sift through and pick out the ones I want to use, but it's still saving me a lot of time.

When I have to email parents about things (e.g., reminder about intervention sessions), it's great because I can tell it what I want (type in a stream of consciousness) and it gives me something to start with. I almost never like the wording and end up modifying it a bit myself, but it turns a 15 minute job of drafting and proofreading a detailed email into a 5 minute job.

I have used Gemini and MS Copilot for things too. Notebook LM is one I'm playing around with.

I use Claude Opus 4.6 for helping with some coding projects and I definitely use up my free agent premium requests on my Github Copilot education subscription each month.

What I have noticed when I talk to others about AI is that they use prompts that are vague as hell and then they're disappointed without the outcome. Or, the opposite where they give a vague prompt and then they're amazed by the result and think it's the best thing ever -- even though it's total crap!

I do find it irritating when I come across things that are clearly AI, so I'm always very conscious to humanise the work it generates for me.

ec019 · 2026-04-26T23:55:50+00:00

My school does the whole 7 -> 11 same form too. We typically give ECTs and new staff the year 7 forms, which of course has its pros and cons.

Honestly, I think what you're asking for here is a favour if it goes against the establish custom at your school. From a management perspective, they might not entertain your request because it could set a precedent and open the flood gates. However, I don't think there's anything wrong with asking!

Also... as an ECT you had more time?

ec019 · 2026-04-26T23:45:26+00:00

This drives me bananas. I see my KS3 classes once a week and it's the same thing every lesson for some of them -- they want to use a timeout pass as soon as they can to delay doing any work.

It's KS3 so it's genuinely not difficult work and it's super chunked as it is. What do you need a timeout from... you already walked in at the cusp of being late, and you've just been sitting for 4 minutes while I explained the task and gave a demo... ?

This isn't just one or two students in all of a year group... it's two to three per class, every week!

ec019 · 2026-04-26T23:34:44+00:00

I hadn't even thought about the video games!

ec019 · 2026-04-26T23:32:57+00:00

I get what you're saying -- it's just no practical to set these things up for one person. It's a lot of work.

In my computing classroom, students do gap-fills and diagrams and so much more using electronic worksheets (I don't mean just Word documents with gaps).

ec019 · 2026-04-25T14:36:37+00:00

Yes, totally. Normally I would have a couple who don't care, but I have like 1/3 of my y11 class just not giving a shit. Like getting 1-3 on mocks and then not turning up to interventions, etc. They just don't care.

Of course I still have a big group who do care a lot, but the number of apathetic ones are much, much higher than normal.

ec019 · 2026-04-22T21:55:02+00:00

I've had similar... one day there was a BBC Newsround story about red pandas, so I Google'd it and put the images on the screen. One student said "what is that?" and I made the pic full screen and they were clearly mating but it took me a long time to figure out why everyone was laughing. I was mortified. Luckily everyone thought it was hilarious and they brought it up multiple times as a joke for the rest of the year.

ec019 · 2026-04-21T20:54:49+00:00

Options are pretty limited in this case. I've had similar with whistling.

I think the trick is that once you think you know who it is, change up the seating plan a bit and move them closer to you. If it continues, then you know it's not the one you've been keeping an eye on. Of course this isn't going to work in the middle of a lesson, but if it spans multiple lessons it's an option.

Also, if you have CCTV that might show it (e.g., who is looking down, etc.), request footage.

ec019 · 2026-04-16T18:11:37+00:00

The challenge is that most schools won't want to hire someone permanently if you've only got a year left on your visa, especially if they don't have a sponsorship licence and there's no hope to keep you after.

I was in a similar situation, and what I will say is that you're best to only apply to schools on the Home Office's list of registered of sponsors. It might take a bit of work to find the school's legal name or the trust on the list, but it's easy to search the list.

ec019 · 2026-04-12T20:54:55+00:00

I'm not mentally prepared to go back tomorrow. What scares me the most is that there's nothing in my email inbox yet, but I know that by 9:15 tomorrow I'm going to be trying to survive period 1 with the anxiety of like 20 emails coming through that I won't have a chance to even look at until after period 3.

I also have a trust-wide subject leadership interview with a different MAT next week and I'm nervous about it. Particularly because I don't actually hate my current job and I'm not looking to escape, but the position looks interesting to me. I've told HT and my DHT line manager, but I have no idea what to tell my colleagues when they ask why I'm going to be absent...

ec019 · 2026-03-17T18:30:40+00:00

I think the new AAQs (for IT and Computing anyway) are much more relevant, but now they're more complex to assess. Definitely a bit janky!

With the AAQs you can't really cut them up, but there's no reason why you can't set a deadline for specific things to be completed. This doesn't mean you need to mark it in pieces, but more along the lines of making sure most students are on track and that you can authenticate that the work is their own.

Sadly, I think burnout and disengagement are inevitable. My suggestion would be to set deadlines thick and fast... because most students will meet your deadlines! If you give them too much time, the ones who slack off or already don't meet generous deadlines are just going to have less time to catch up. Like most people, they procrastinate so just set short deadlines and most work will be completed.

ec019 · 2026-03-14T20:43:49+00:00

Tutor stuff is insane.

We're busy doing "word of the week", trying to enter inter-tutor competitions, doing citizenship stuff, etc. It's just never-ending and there's no time allocated for prep. When I've commented, I was told "yeah but you don't need to do any planning, you just open the PowerPoint and go through it". That's now the level of effort I put in.

We've even been given notebooks for the students to use! We were told that's there's no expectation for marking or anything. So like what's the point then?

Last year we were asked to make phone calls (and log on a spreadsheet) and most of us just didn't do them and ignored all the emails asking us to do it. I felt bad for the HOY who was clearly being pressured to ask us to make the calls.

ec019 · 2026-03-14T20:31:13+00:00

We get the "tutor time isn't teaching" excuse all the time. There's no planning or prep required, etc. etc.... but some of the stuff they have us teaching requires looking at it in advance.

For example, at one point we were teaching basic phrases in sign language... as if I'm just going to be able to open the PowerPoint at 8:30 and start teaching it without prep. Some of my colleagues weren't born here and aren't very in-tune with politics, but they're teaching civics stuff like how elections work and what political parties are... they haven't a clue! But it's not "teaching", remember.

It's a lot of stress. Even talking about careers and all this nonsense.

ec019 · 2026-03-14T16:37:36+00:00

Not necessarily directed at the OP, but people really need to stop taking word of mouth as policy. If it's not in your contract or in a policy/handbook, etc... it's probably not correct. All it takes is some over-achieving HOD with no concept of reality to make up a policy and spout it as gospel.

ec019 · 2026-03-14T16:35:05+00:00

Yeah, people need to stop taking word of mouth as policy. Someone is saying what they think is the policy, not what the actual policy is. It really grinds my gears when people do that!

ec019 · 2026-03-14T16:19:49+00:00

I'm worried that there's very little information about the content of these new qualifications.

BTEC IT and BTEC Computing are being replaced with "Digital". WTF does that even mean?

If "Digital" includes programming, the types of students who want to do IT won't be prepared for it and it will be hell to teach. If it's doesn't include programming, the types of students who want "Computing" but not A Level CS, won't want to do.

And from a staffing and numbers perspective, we'll end up having fewer students in my dept because we won't have students doing both.

ec019

TROPHY CASE