Cover Supervisor Role

Demanding but rewarding! - The role of a cover supervisor.

Even though it is demanding, the role of a cover supervisor (CS) is and can be very rewarding!

Cover Supervisors are being used more and more by schools. One advantage is to reduce supply costs to schools, but it also improves continuity and behaviour within cover lessons. Because of this, there are opportunities to work as a CS in nursery, primary and secondary school settings.

There are a number of tasks a CS will need to complete. Some daily and some as required.

On a daily basis:

·      Supervise tutor time / registration, giving out any information relevant;

• Supervising class work that has been set by the teacher;
• Manage the behaviour of pupils whilst they complete the work set, including issuing detentions and/or rewards;
• Help and support the pupils work and behaviour;
• Deal with any immediate problems or emergencies. For example, a fire drill;
• Collect all work (if possible) after the lesson and return it to the appropriate teacher;
• Report back as appropriate on the work completed, the behaviour of pupils during the class, and any issues arising.

As required:

·         Additional support for a teacher in the classroom;

·         Administration tasks, for example, inputting student exam data;

·         Display work;

·         Assist with the organisation of trips and visits;

·         First Aid room cover (if trained).

The list could go on. Because of these, the role is varied and no two days are the same. Most schools will allocate their CS a department to work with. This will then be their base in which they can build relationships with staff and gain experience. A CS could be placed to cover for that subject area first then distributed to elsewhere if needed. For example, yesterday, my day consisted of drama, maths, maths, history and history.

If you are unsure about whether you would like to teach and would like to gain experience in the classroom then a CS role would be great. There are a number of ways in which you can progress within schools from this role. You could first start by adding to the role and become a form tutor. This in itself could lead to head or year/house roles. Training to be a HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) will also give you extra responsibility within the school. Undertaking lunch duties, running clubs, supporting student voice can also develop you further.  But the experience you gain from being a CS is priceless if you want to go into teaching as a career. There are a number of routes to take after this, such as GTP, RTP, PGCE, etc.

See the TDA website for more information about these courses.