I was casual supply for three years which suited me fine as I had my regular schools and could be flexible. On year 4 I was then sent a workforce and staffing email from [council removed] completely out of the blue with a year full time fixed post, with absolutely zero context. I loved the school, so I accepted the post even though I was not seeking full time employment.
At the end of this year, the school had another maternity post and asked to keep me. I also wanted to stay and it made perfect sense for me to stay as it benefitted both me and the children. The council gave the post to someone else who also wanted to stay in their own school and there was zero flexibility around it, even though the HT continued to fight for me.
As my service was over 80%, I was given a post at another school which I did not like. I asked if there was a second option (I know SLC offer this) and was told no, like it or lump it. Two days later this post was rescinded without explanation, after I had wrapped my head around it.
I was then given another year post at a very difficult school, but only found out upon visiting the school that it was full time until [date removed] when it dropped down to 0.4. The council did not tell me this.
This is answer 169 of the 269 written answers that teachers let us quote anonymously in the Scottish Teacher Employment Survey 2026. It answers the survey’s last question: what do the people who make decisions about teacher employment need to know?
We have corrected spelling, added paragraph breaks and removed details that could identify anyone. Words in square brackets are ours.