Being right next to London has many benefits for some people but not always for some Hertfordshire schools and academies. Being close to London is very attractive to teachers who are able to choose between working in London and getting inner, outer or fringe London pay rates.
A number of supply teachers simply take a half hour train trip into London and benefit from the variety London schools provide and the improved pay.
This sometimes leaves schools and academies in certain boroughs within Hertfordshire short whilst they struggle to attract permanent and supply teachers to fill vacancies.
The main pay scales difference for an M4 teacher, between fringe and inner London is about £3,366 or £17 per day if one takes 195 teaching days in the academic year. As a supply teacher you would naturally consider carefully if the additional £17 per teaching day is worth the “enjoyable” journey. For a non-fringe based assignment in a Hertfordshire school the pay difference would be slightly greater but questionable when one considers the travel and the time.
For most supply teachers living in Hertfordshire it appears to make sense to work locally in Hertfordshire and avoid the pain of the travel.
This assumption is that you are being paid well and if you’ve qualified under the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) you are being paid as you should as per the school pay policy.
4myschools pays teachers that work in Hertfordshire who have met the AWR 12 week qualifying period the correct London fringe pay based on 195 teaching days.
Where are the ‘London fringe’ areas?
- For Hertfordshire London fringe areas are: (Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn and Hatfield),
- Berkshire areas are (Bracknell Forest, Slough, and Windsor and Maidenhead),
- Buckinghamshire areas (South Buckinghamshire and Chiltern),
- Essex is: (Basildon, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow and Thurrock),
- For Kent it is: (Dartford and Sevenoaks).
The question for most supply teachers in Hertfordshire is if they are paid fairly for the work they do in Hertfordshire schools. This is typically down to the schools that you are undertaking your assignments in and the recruitment agency that places you in that school.
What a supply teacher might want to consider when choosing their preferred agencies to work with (and there are plenty to choose from), is how well you are treated as a professional, the integrity with which you are dealt, the pay rates you regularly receive and the frequency of offers for assignments in the schools you prefer to work in. Quite a few considerations when you potentially have access to inner London and better pay, but that is just one of the aspects for consideration in comparison to working for local schools in Hertfordshire.
4myschools have been working with Hertfordshire primary and secondary schools since 2009, there have been several preferred Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) supply pool agencies, specifically eteach, Supreme and now Randstad (Supreme was part of Randstad) running the Hertfordshire County Council supply teacher pool. Each requiring supply teachers to register, each with different contacts and different processes. Thankfully 4myschools has been able to watch these changes with interest and simply continue to offer supply teacher services to many primary and secondary schools and teachers across Hertfordshire.
We look forward to more schools, academies and teachers continuing to transfer from the Hertfordshire Education Supply Service HESS & HESS+ pools to use the 4myschools service. The Hertfordshire County Council supply teacher pool is retendered every four years so there is a relatively short period before the next supplier is appointed by the LA for schools and it all changes again.
By joining 4myschools you are not subject to tiresome 4 year changes and you are able to work across schools in Hertfordshire and you enable 4myschools to offer our services to more schools in Hertfordshire which will result in more work for supply teachers and 4myschools to do more to support teaching and learning.
Hertfordshire schools are a great place to work, we enjoy working with them and our supply teachers do too.
If you are looking for Supply jobs in Hertfordshire, why not register with us today:
