Primary Teachers for London

1. Daily supply work is defined as working as a relief/substitute teacher replacing an existing classroom teacher for a day, days, a week going up to 6 weeks.

2. Long Term supply work is being the classroom teacher for a class for a half a term, approx 7 weeks, for a term, approx 14 weeks, 2 terms approx, 28 weeks or for a full year,approx 42 weeks.

A permanent placement is a completely different type of work and comes with very particular criteria and considerations.

Day to Day Teaching

This type of work has many challenges and many rewards. Being versitile and adapting to different situations day after day is important.

The opportunity to work in an assortment of schools across boroughs (regions)of London is certainly rewarding as you are able to meet a variety of staff an students.

Over a period of time, as you build up a good teaching reputation you will be asked back many times.

This means that not only will you experience challenges conducive to your professional development, but in some schools you will also have the chance to build longer lasting relationships with staff and students.

The advantages of Day-to-day work are that YOU can choose when you work, and where you work.

You have the opportunity to have time off for travelling at any time during the year. The minuses are that you need to phone us or we will phone you a lot! It can get tiring not knowing where you may go the next day... but we try hard to match you to your preferences and to keep you working with advance bookings.

Managing Daily Supply

Ring/TEXT the office anytime to let us know your preferences and your availability during the week. Once you have accepted the post, you will be given details about the position - the school, class, any special requirements or considerations... and practical information such as travel details, the contact person at the school and phone number of the school.

CALL D.J.M.'s office if you are lost or not sure about how to get to the school. At the end of the day, call the office and talk about your day - how it went, what you liked, if you would go back... We enjoying hearing feedback about your teaching day.

Long Term Teaching

Long Term positions opportunities to manage your own class of students. The pay is higher because the responsibilities and expectations of you, as a teacher, are far, far greater. The school considers you a member of their staff, and expects you to fulfil all the responsibilities associated with this - attending staff meetings, meeting parents, planning and programming for teaching and learning, assessing the students, writing reports...

It has far greater responsibilities attached to it and none of the flexibility of Daily Supply. Teachers are not able to have time off during the term to travel and are expected to take part in all whole school activities.

Long Term work however, gives the best opportunities to develop your curriculum expertise through planning and programming, to improve your classroom organisation skills and to thoroughly develop your classroom management strategies.

Managing Long Term Supply

If you would like a Long Term placement, it is a significant advantage if you have already taught in the school doing daily work. In this instance, schools already know you and your expertise and often ask you to do the Long Term position.

If you do not know the school, we organise a visit or a teaching day so that you can see if this is the position you want.

Do not accept the post unless you are fully prepared for the responsibilities and the tenure of the post. Once you have committed yourself to the position, you can look forward to working with the whole school community - students, staff and parents. We often organise a planning day prior to the start date of the position so that you feel well prepared to begin teaching.

All in all, a very good opportunity to be fully involved with school life like any other member of staff.

The UK has both public and private schools within all sectors of the education system.

Primary Schools cater for 4-11 year olds. Infant Schools cover Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and Junior schools Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.

There are approximately 195 days in the British school year and three terms in the schools year:

Autumn term: first week in September until the third week in December.

Spring term: first week of January until Easter.

Summer term: one or two weeks after Easter until third week in July.

School holidays are two weeks at Christmas time, two weeks at Easter and six weeks in Summer. In addition, there is a mid term break for one week, in the middle of each of the three terms.

The National Curriculum

The British National Curriculum sets out a clear and statutory entitlement of learning for all pupils through all levels of schooling. It determines the content of what will be taught, and sets attainment targets for learning.

The National Literacy Strategy and The National Numeracy Strategy detail specific learning objectives to be achieved in the literacy and numeracy learning for students from Year 1 - 6. Both provide daily lessons to support student literacy and numeracy learning. The Foundation Stage Curriculum describes the expectations for learning in the Nursery/Reception Years. They detail stepping stones to show how students can achieve the expectations described at the end of the Foundation Stage.

For more details regarding the National Curriculum and what is taught within each subject area visit the Department of Education and Employment website www.dfes.gov.uk