At this point I feel it is pointless even sharing experiences. I am struggling to make ends meet, struggling to cope with the pressures of finding supply. This situation is not only rough on MY mental health, but is beginning to impact those around me. My relationship of 7 years is struggling as we cannot move on in life as I can’t get any sort of long-term or permanent work in teaching.
I recently took up supply in a school I was in for THREE YEARS. The supply was for one week then 2 days the following week. I then found out they had taken another person to work the supply job I was already working.
This new person had previously been at the school for a year probation, then took up a job in the nursery. They let that person give up their nursery contract to take on a supply post, that could be short term or long term. No one mentioned anything to me.
The same HT also took on another probationer from another school, after letting 4 members of staff go, as “a favour”. What chance have we got when HTs have no loyalty? We are just pawns in this horrific game.
This is answer 67 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.