P-05-805 Fair Deal for Supply Teachers, Correspondence – Hoop Education to Chair, 23.08.19

Dear Janet,

We thank you for your invitation to provide our views on matters relating to the petition on fair pay and conditions for supply teachers. Here at Hoop Education, we take great pride in our personalised approach to the supply teaching sector. We are operated by teachers, for teachers, and as educational professionals that are fully committed to the terms of the new framework, we share a mutual desire to significantly raise the standard of education across Wales.

Despite the preconceptions of supply teaching agency motives, to us at Hoop, the role of a supply teaching agency is to ensure that in the absence of a permanently employed schoolteacher, an arrangement for a fully qualified and compliant supply teacher to attend the school is to be made, ensuring that the learners’ education is not negatively hindered in any way. The agency is to be fully accountable for the administrative processes and compliance checks to determine the supply teacher’s eligibility and suitability to teach, as well as to provide their supply teachers with sufficient opportunities for Continued Professional Development (CPD), in order to facilitate the quality of their teaching. We are an audited education provider here at Hoop, holding REC Accreditation to Gold Standard.

As a teacher-led agency, we are particularly committed to the provision of CPD opportunities for our supply teachers. In addition to our partnership with the accredited educational training facility, Educare, we provide several internal training courses for our teachers, free of charge, offering practical advice and guidance drawn from our own knowledge and experiences as practitioners. The main areas within which we offer training packages for our candidates are Child Protection, Use of Reasonable Force, Moving and Handling, First Aid and Behaviour Management.

We maintain regular contact with the Education Workforce Council and respective consortia, tailoring our training provisions in line with curriculum developments and educational priorities.  We have also heavily invested in developing our support package for Newly Qualified Teachers completing their Induction on a short-term supply basis, with a particular focus on sourcing and collating suitable, high-quality evidence towards the teaching standards, managing their Induction portfolios and conducting regular progress reviews in preparation for observations with external verifiers.

With regards to the changes that we foresee as a result of the new framework, its implementation is something that we feel very confident will increase the standard of education in Wales. With our commitment to pay our teachers in accordance with the M1 spine point as a minimum daily rate, and the provision of CPD opportunities, we anticipate an increase in job satisfaction for our teachers, thus an increase in the quality of teaching delivered to learners. 

Due to the transparency of the relationships we have with the schools we work with, we have discussed the implementation of the new framework, addressing any concerns that they feel might arise due to the changes predicted. The consensus based on the conversations we have had, is that there may be an initial decrease in the amount of supply teachers requested due to the restrictions of school budgets. We are confident however, that the quality of the teaching being delivered will instil a great deal of confidence within schools, with such a positive impact being made on pupil progress. It is our prediction that the supply teaching agencies maintaining an ethical approach to the provision of supply teachers in Wales will thrive, sharing a common desire to improve the significance and recognition of the role of a supply teacher and therefore the standard of education provided as a result of this.

As previously stated, Hoop Education are fully committed to paying our qualified teachers a minimum daily rate of £121.64, in line with the M1 pay scale point. There are no payroll or agency fees involved whilst working with Hoop, with the above daily rate being paid to the assigned teacher in full. This rate is inclusive of holiday pay, which is accrued weekly and can be claimed by the teacher at any point. Reminders are sent to teachers on a regular basis so that all holiday pay is fully claimed.

In accordance with the proposed national pay increase for teachers, awaiting final confirmation of this, we will align our daily rate of pay to reflect this increase. A comprehensive breakdown of the charges is provided to the schools that we work with prior to the booking of any supply cover. We do not actively seek to charge schools any fees for sourcing candidates that may lead to an eventual permanent position within the school.

As a team comprised of experienced teachers, we recognise that there may be instances whereby additional responsibilities and higher-level teacher leadership roles may be requested, therefore candidates taking on such assignments will be compensated in monetary terms to reflect this. This is dependent on the financial circumstances of each individual school. Our intentions are to ensure that any teachers working for Hoop are paid fairly for their contribution to education. 

Hoop Education thank you again for allowing us to provide our views on the petition for a fair deal for supply teachers. We are very happy to answer any further queries that the committee might have for us regarding the matters in question, however we hope that the information provided will be satisfactory. 

Yours sincerely, 

Hoop Education