Subbing Questions Answered

Hello there everyone,

I hope you are all well on this miserable Sunday afternoon. I am starting my second full week in the school I am subbing in tomorrow. I am really enjoying it thus far. I am getting too attached already though and I will miss the children when I finish up after midterm. That’s the worst thing about subbing in my opinion! I have had many queries about subbing in the last few weeks and I will attempt to answer them here.

1. Is it okay to email your CV to schools rather than call in?
Yes. I emailed my CV to every school in Dublin. Every single school. I have been meaning to email it to the surrounding counties too but it hasn’t been necessary so far. I have called into schools, but the majority of my subbing has come from the schools I emailed CV’s to. I have work now for a few weeks, but I had a phone call every morning last week for substitute work, which I couldn’t take.

2. Do we need to include the statutory declaration form, garda vetting and teaching council registration?

Yes and no. Some schools wrote to me and said I will not be added to the substitute list until I sent the necessary documentation. Others were happy with just the CV. As a precautionary measure I would attach all the documents mentioned above in the email, just in case.

3. How far would you commute for work?
Obviously this is different for everyone. Personally, I would travel an hour and a half for work, that is my cut off point.

4. Do I give homework as a sub?
I do. I just check their journals to see what they usually get and give the same.

5. Do I need a subkit?
I do! It can be a very long day if the teacher hasn’t left work and you have nothing prepared! It makes life easier to have a few lessons up your sleeve.

6. What books would you recommend?
There’s so many, it depends really. I have my relief teacher toolkit ( which is reviewed on my  blog), a hard drive with power-points and a variety of worksheets. That is plenty.

Always have a variety of quick games up your sleeve too, such as Deir Muzzy, Thumbs up Heads Down, I spy, etc.
Don’t rely on the IWB like I did. I have learned my lesson since and I don’t miss it quite so much anymore.

If you have any more questions just ask in the comment section underneath.

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