Our recent exposé on agency fees charged to schools generated much heated debate from schools, agencies and teachers. Now it's the teachers' turn. Here we’ll shine a light on the other side of the coin -- agency supply teacher pay, and the often indecipherable fees, deductions and accruals that appear each week on the payslips of agency [...]
The Challenge Many schools use agency staff on a long-term basis. In fact, some agency staff can work in schools for years and still be 'on the agency's books'. This incurs a massive accumulation of cost that's crippling school budgets and hurting teachers – but it's been the price of having off-payroll staff for [...]
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably sick to death of people outside the profession telling teachers how to teach. If everyone’s an expert, then the craft is debased into non-existence. That’s why it's always exciting when someone who know education from the top and bottom offers their guidance. Teacher Booker were honoured to be [...]
Over the weekend I was delighted to spy this brave blog post on Teacher Toolkit, the UK’s most followed education blog. Titled ‘Why Supply Agencies are the new ‘Del Boys’’, it is as forthright as it is faithful to the facts in summarising the current state of play in how agencies and schools interact. Numerous issues in this dynamic [...]
Technology is a divisive subject among teachers. Some are ardent acolytes, fully persuaded of its ability to change the educational landscape, introducing students to new experiences and dissolving the orthodox approach to schooling that remains dominant in Anglo-American schools. Others are deeply sceptical, sensing a fad in full flow – tech will never [...]
Bzzz bzzz bzzz. I’m sorely, sorely tempted to bash that snooze button again. But this time it’s the phone, and one of my teaching agency consultants. She’s reeling off a jumbled list of instructions and information that it’s far too early for and which is consequently only sort of half going into my brain all [...]
