What Skills Do You Develop as a Supply Teacher?
If you want to get into a career of teaching, becoming a supply teacher first could be the step that sets you up for success. The skills you develop as a supply teacher will ensure that you can manage a classroom, communicate effectively, adapt to new environments, and organise your life in a way that most permanent teachers simply can’t—making supply teaching a key stepping stone for many, and something that we strongly recommend you consider if you want to become a teacher.
Why Does Supply Teaching Build More Than Just Experience?
You can gain more than just experience when you do supply teaching, and this will help you throughout your career. Supply teaching helps your career by giving you diverse experiences and the opportunity to improve and hone various skills in different classrooms and environments. It teaches you about adaptability and instills a confidence that many permanent teachers won’t have, while also putting you in contact with other teachers and faculty members in different regions, where your reputation as an excellent teacher can spread, making you more desirable.
Because of the improved work-life balance that supply teaching offers, you can have more time for CPD, and can be involved in classes, seminars, mentoring, and more, which can all help you further your career.
The skills you develop as a supply teacher cannot be overstated, and they are often the reason for someone’s success in the teaching field. While it is possible to do well as a teacher without doing supply work first, it can make it easier by providing you with the tools you need to thrive.
Is Supply Teaching Good for Gaining Experience?
Supply teaching is arguably the best way of gaining teaching experience, improving your skills, and making yourself desirable as a teacher. It is a particularly good route to go down if you are a newly qualified teacher and little experience working in a classroom, as you will be challenged from day one and grow immeasurably.
This is also a particularly good route for teachers who do not yet know what to specialise in, and want to experience more of what teaching has to offer before making their choice. In either situation, supply teaching will take you to numerous different schools and environments, and you will have the opportunity to hone your skills while also networking and building relationships that can be mutually beneficial down the line.
What Are the Top Skills You Develop as a Supply Teacher?
The skills that supply teachers learn range from classroom management and communication to organisation, self-motivation, and flexibility. Supply teachers will experience new challenges with every placement they go on and with every new environment they work in, allowing them to improve on their skills from the get-go, and build on techniques and methods while also experimenting with new styles of teaching in different classes.
Because of how challenging supply teaching is, it truly does give teachers the best opportunities to grow and become better at their job. However, it’s worth remembering that supply teaching will not be for everyone, and there are pros and cons that should be considered before you jump into it. Like anything, some people will feel like it is made for them, while others will struggle with various aspects.
Key skills you develop as a supply teacher include:
- Adaptability – you will need to adapt to routine changes, quick preparation and organisation, new environments, and so much more as a supply teacher
- Classroom management – new classrooms and new students mean that you will learn different ways of managing classes and dealing with different kinds of behaviour to nurture an environment that is safe and suitable for learning
- Communication and collaboration – you need to communicate with your agency, school faculty, students, and more as a supply teacher, and communication skills will quickly improve as you work in the role
- Quick rapport building – building relationships and rapport with faculty and students alive is key, and you will learn the tips and tricks for quick rapport building as a supply teacher
- Lesson delivery flexibility – not all students learn and understand the same, and supply teaching allows you to explore alternative methods to delivering lessons to be suitable to a diverse range of learning needs
How Does Supply Teaching Enhance Long-Term Career Opportunities?
When you work as a supply teacher and build your skills, you are also exploring different environments and schools—and this allows you to network and form mutually beneficial relationships with teachers, principles, and other faculty. This alone can go a long way to enhancing long-term career opportunities in different ways.
These relationships will ensure that you are the first person who comes to mind when they have a position to fill, and will get in contact with you, whether it’s for a short-term or long-term placement, or even to become a permanent teacher at the school. Supply teaching as a whole allows you to build a reputation, and different schools will hear about you—but you need to be aware that they will hear both the good and the bad.
Long-term career opportunities can be impacted by the skills you develop as a supply teacher more than you might think, and this is why you should aim to make the most of your supply teaching and learn as much as you can.
How Often Do Placements Turn Into Permanent Roles?
It isn’t uncommon for supply teaching placement to turn into permanent roles if the placements are long-term. However, short-term placements rarely provide this opportunity, as you do not typically have enough time to showcase the full extent of your skills and build the relationships. These shorter placements are also typically only there because of sick days or annual leave, which means that there is no need for a school to find a permanent replacement.
With that being said, if you want to get a permanent position at a school, we encourage you to go after long-term placements, or to do supply work at the same school frequently. While you may not always have the opportunity to do this, it can help to build relationships and bolster your reputation, making sure that you are the first name they think of when the time comes and there is an opening that you can fill.
Real-World Scenarios: Putting These Skills Into Practice
The skills you learn as a supply teacher can be put into practice every time you go to work, but you can also work on them outside of school in CPD in the form of classes, seminars, mentoring, and more. Put your skills into practice by working with a variety of students that will challenge you and cause you to learn and evolve, and take the time to specialise to further skills and open up new opportunities.
How Can First Class Supply Support Your Professional Development?
Teaching is never an easy job, and supply teachers can have an even harder time at work due to the ever-changing environment and students that you work with—but these are just opportunities to become the best teacher you can be. With the freedom to explore teaching styles, improve skills, and network, supply teaching could be the perfect way for you to learn and grow your career.
The skills you develop as a supply teacher, such as classroom management, adaptability, communication, rapport building, and flexibility, are all crucial for teachers, but not all teachers get the chance to build them up like supply teachers can—so use your opportunity to succeed.
Looking to grow your skills and confidence as a teacher? Join First Class Supply and start developing the experience that schools value most.
For more information, why not check out our community support, testimonials and meet the team? We also have information for schools and teachers, and like to keep you up-to-date on news.
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