‘Do you speak German?’

I don’t speak any German, but I still went and did the day. The rest of the conversation centred around, ‘Don’t worry, there’ll be planning’, so I went along with it, and by the end of the day, I could at least say a sentence. This was a regular occurrence whilst I was working on day-to-day supply.

I qualified at a turbulent time in teaching. The Conservative government had just scrapped levels and the chaos that ensued completely destroyed any joy I had in teaching during my training year. So much so that I vowed I’d never do my NQT year. I even went on to start another degree, just to have something else to do; another option so that I didn’t have to take up a permanent teaching job.

It was whilst studying that I found the joy of day-to-day supply. I couldn’t commit to full-time or even regular hours, so I agreed to be the teacher on the books that filled the gaps when a supply teacher was needed for a day. At first, I worked in secondary schools as my PGCE was in secondary science. I think that in all my time supplying in secondary, I did one day of science and it was physics (my subject was chemistry). I covered ICT, art, English; you name it, I covered it. I learned something about every subject on the curriculum and I loved every minute of it. The best part was that if I didn’t enjoy a particular school, I never had to go back. Wonderful.

Cut to a couple of years later, I’d dropped out of my second degree as I wasn’t really interested in it and I was now supplying full-time. I decided to take on primary supply. It’ll be fine, I reassured myself. What could go wrong? I’ve turned up to lots of schools teaching all kinds of things and it has always been fine.

I don’t think it’s possible to have been any more wrong. You see, the thing that I relied on when supplying in secondary was that I wasn’t expected to know every subject on the curriculum, so planning was almost always given. There were textbooks and other teachers in departments. It was all fine. What I was completely naïve about was that I was now expected to bring planning. I was expected to have resources and ideas. Oh. I had none of those things and no experience whatsoever in teaching primary anything. I also often arrived at schools where the partner teachers were adamant that they didn’t share planning.

It was at this point, I started looking online for what was available resource-wise. I started with TES and primaryresources.co.uk, as there was a lot of free resources. I found that the quality of the resources varied greatly as they aren’t really regulated in any way; they’re just uploaded by individuals. That’s not to say there wasn’t some amazing work on there, it was just more pot-luck as to what was available. So I looked to a paid subscription. I needed to be able to rely on someone to provide me with something of quality. True to my nature, I didn’t buy just one, I bought three or four different subscriptions and they became my lifeline. I didn’t care about the cost. I just needed something to tell me what to do as I didn’t have a clue. They were BRILLIANT.

After my time on primary supply, I felt confident in taking a permanent job in a primary school, where I remained until I took my current role at Classroom Secrets. Pre-made resources played a huge role in my persistence. I can fully imagine had they not been a thing, I wouldn’t have continued supplying in primary at the very least. I might never have completed that NQT year I was so adamant I’d never entertain.

What are your experiences of working as a supply teacher? Have you done day-to-day supply or have you been more long-term in one place? What is your advice for supply teachers? Let us know in the comments below!

Ellan Winter is a proofreader and also the lead blogger here at Classroom Secrets. In her spare time, when she is not sprinting after her incredibly active toddler, she loves learning languages and reading anything non-fiction, particularly around science, education, medicine or anything language related. Ellan obtained her BSc (hons) in Forensic and Analytical Science in 2013 and then qualified as a teacher in 2014 with a PGCE in secondary science (chemistry). She worked across Key Stages 2-5 in a number of settings before leaving teaching for her current role.