Substitute Teaching Question

Tommo3434343

Hi folks,

This is my first year teaching and I was lucky enough to get a school from September to this February covering maternity leave. I will be finished there at mid-term however and I'd imagine that I will have to get through the rest of the year with bits and pieces of subbing. I have no experience of living off of random subbing since I'm a new teacher so I'd love to hear from some people that are currently living that way or have done so recently. How much subbing is out there? How many days/hours would you normally expect to get in a week and between how many schools? How do you usually find this subbing? Do you regularly have problems with subbing offers clashing? My subjects are History and CSPE. I understand that everybodys experience is probably a little bit different but any and all information and advice would be appreciated. Thanks

mtoutlemonde

Tommo3434343 wrote: »

Hi folks,

This is my first year teaching and I was lucky enough to get a school from September to this February covering maternity leave. I will be finished there at mid-term however and I'd imagine that I will have to get through the rest of the year with bits and pieces of subbing. I have no experience of living off of random subbing since I'm a new teacher so I'd love to hear from some people that are currently living that way or have done so recently. How much subbing is out there? How many days/hours would you normally expect to get in a week and between how many schools? How do you usually find this subbing? Do you regularly have problems with subbing offers clashing? My subjects are History and CSPE. I understand that everybodys experience is probably a little bit different but any and all information and advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Congratulations on getting a maternity leave in your first year - that's a good start for the CV.

Regarding living off subbing - you can go to social welfare and sign on. You tell them you're a sub teacher and they will put you on casual dockets which you submit every week but has to stamped by the school you work for. If you work a few days, you won't get any social welfare but if you don't, you get social welfare for that week. It's not ideal but at least you have a constant income.

It's very difficult to say what days/hours you will get - probably sick leave which could be a day to a term.

To get subbing, print off a few copies of your CV and hand deliver to the schools where you would like to work/are close to where you live. Ask to make an appointment with DP if you can't be seen straight away. Dress smartly and wear a smile Also register on subteacher.ie

Schools do clash with subbing - it happened to me a few times. What I did sometimes was who asked first. Secondly if I had subbed previously in a school that I liked, I wouldn't let them down if I could help it. Also if you have agreed to sub in a school and your 'regular' school rings for subbing - go with the first one - don't let them down at the last minute - you probably won't get a call back and subbing in different schools is beneficial.

Apply for correcting, it will enhance your cv.

Your subjects are oversubscribed so you will find it difficult to get work in those subjects alone. Definitely with CSPE because it is used as a timetable filler.

I hope I have answered your questions - have a look at recent threads about subbing - I know I put similar advice in a thread a few weeks ago - there was also info from moderators who are in management which is good. Best of luck with the subbing - it's a long road to travel.