LEAs in the North East group NECLEA (North East Consortium of LEAs) have worked together to develop an online service to meet the supply teaching needs of 570 schools and thousands of supply teachers in the region. It is the first time that so many LEAs have collaborated to produce a unique, joint supply service. 7 LEAs; Darlington, Middlesborough, Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland, Stockton, Sunderland and South Tyneside, using online teacher recruitment technology from Eteach.com and call centre support, will launch the online supply pool this month.
The pool, approved by the leading teacher unions; NUT, ATL and NASUWT, enables efficient and swift matching of temporary vacancies with suitable supply teachers. From this new academic year, for the first time schools in the area will have access to a pool of local accredited supply teachers, where one phone call to their dedicated supply team will mean a suitable supply teacher is booked for them and briefed on the post. Teachers can register to become part of the pool by completing a single online application form or calling 0845 108 1700 at any time. Supply teachers using the pool will work directly for the Education Authorities and generally receive better pay and conditions than working through an employment agency. Agencies rarely pay supply teachers to scale.
NUT regional secretary, Elaine Kay, welcomed the initiative ëIt will help schools cover absences effectively and efficiently with properly qualified teachers who will enjoy the benefits of being paid to scale, access to pension benefits and relevant professional development.í
Chris Fletcher, Regional manager of Eteach.com comments ëOur own research shows that over 80% of teachers are on the Internet at home so this is an ideal medium to use to reach them. This is the first regional pool in the country and it could spur other LEAs to join together to do the same to achieve efficiencies, economies of scale and better working conditions for supply teachers.í
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The North leads the way in online Supply teaching - ETeach
7 LEAs join to create probably the largest supply pool of teachers in UK
