The price we pay for being new, all the time, is something that doesn’t get talked about but in my view is huge.
Even within the same local authority, every school I have so far worked in since probation has been so different, and so every year (or part year long term supply contract) I have had was a new learning curve, required significantly longer than usual (and certainly longer than contracted) hours to be able to be “a good enough teacher”, and every time I leave a school it is an emotional price, and waste, again.
This is all due to not being able to secure a permanent contract. My decision has been that if I can’t by the end of this year, which would be my fifth year of teaching, I will need to leave this career altogether.
This is answer 92 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.