Yes, teachers should be supported and paid more, supply teachers should be paid more too. Teaching should be one of the best paid and invested in jobs there is. We want the best teachers in the world instructing our children and to get the best teachers in the world we need to encourage lots of very capable people to take up teaching as their first-choice career.
By having lots of good teachers entering the profession schools will have greater choice and this will improve the quality of teaching available for children.
The alternative is that teachers continue to be paid and supported poorly, teaching becomes less attractive, fewer teachers enter the profession, choice for schools is reduced, recruitment of teachers is difficult, schools recruit from overseas and children must make do with unqualified teachers that do not inspire them.
It can’t be changed overnight because of the complexity and size of the education system. The lag between cause and effect is significant. A new education minister has little chance of seeing the outcomes of their policy before their role changes or a new government is elected, and this is part of the problem. Like the health service it can takes years to see the results.
The best investment Government can make is in the education of the children and the future workforce it is responsible for. Key to investment in education is teachers, investment in teachers’ pay and CPD support is crucial.
There is a woeful pressure on the education system to reduce costs, increase exam “success rates,” curriculum changes and relatively low pay and low investment in CPD which means more teachers are getting out of teaching full time and fewer students are taking up teaching as their chosen career.
If the government wants to make a difference, then it needs to steadily increase the pay and conditions of teachers and to maintain teaching as a well-paid attractive profession. Letting teachers’ pay slide is costing us all with a less well-educated workforce resulting in social costs increasing. To reverse this trend, we need more good teachers that are well paid to inspire school children and help them to succeed sooner rather than later.
Teachers and support staff are superstars winning the heart of the nation
Lockdown has created change in the heart of the nation as to how they view the teacher responsible for the day-to-day care and education of their children. Long may this last and hopefully the respect for the teaching profession and supply teachers will grow. 4myschools and our committed supply teachers and support staff have been responsible for many schools remaining open during the pandemic, we are proud of this. So many of our candidates have embraced innovative technologies which a year ago they had barely heard of, their ability to adapt and embrace these new skills has been astounding.
The change to the way NQT’s or the new terminology Early Career Teachers is managed is a welcome start to how teachers are inducted into the profession. It seems reasonable that support should continue longer than just one year to improve the exceptionally low retention figures in the past. 4myschools work with many NQT’s and will continue to do so with the new Early Career Framework.
4myschools Rates of Daily Pay for Supply Teachers and Support Staff
4myschools supply teachers and support staff are paid 195th of their last Main Pay Scale or what the school would pay them if they employed them directly after completing 12 qualifying weeks.
AWR (agency workers regulations) is a legal requirement, 4myschools will always try to work with schools to gain Main Pay Scale or as near to it for all long-term assignments before the 13th Week.
For adhoc daily supply cover you will receive a standard daily rate to reflect the role you are completing which will not involve planning or further commitment to the school. Some candidates want this freedom and the reduced daily rate compared to their last full-time position which required more commitment is acceptable to them.
If the school requires a longer-term commitment for a full or part-time cover assignment 4myschools will always try to get you a higher rate negotiated with the school from day one. We believe this is right and shows a commitment from you, the school and 4myschools improving pay for supply teachers.
4myschools support all teachers through CPD sessions from several different facilitators, including behaviour management, curriculum changes and NLP techniques. CPD has been a core value that will continue to grow with our brand, we are committed to excellence and can only maintain this through education for life.
For more information about being or becoming a supply teacher, get in touch with us.
