I have worked with Primary and SEND Schools for the last 7 years. I set SupplyGo up in 2020 with Dylan in order to provide an honest, financially attractive, completely transparent and more personable service to both our staff and our schools.
For schools: We aren't trying to re-invent the wheel of how supply is done, but we are trying to get away from the negative stigma that surrounds a lot of agencies. The one-size-fits-all, constant cold calling and no listening approach is outdated and although it clearly has its successes, I personally don't feel it's well-received by schools as a whole. For me, a consultant for a school should be available 24/7, be completely transparent/honest and always send good staff, even if that means not sending somebody at all on some occasions. As a consultant, I want to add value to the schools I work with the staff I send. A lot of the schools I work with trust me to send the right staff in and usually have a list of familiar faces they like. When the relationship is built, the job of working with an agency should become easy. Supply takes up 1% of a school's day, an agency should take the stress out of a school's day when it comes to staffing, not add to it; to me, that's the whole point of the service.
For Candidates: The list of problems I hear from so many candidates with agencies is long and it is always the same feedback. They were overpromised work, felt as though they were underpaid, felt exploited, thought their agency was lying to them, did not get suitable work run by them, had a new consultant every week calling them, or didn't feel valued. In such a saturated market with so many different agencies, it can be difficult to work out the best agency for you. The natural reaction is to go for the biggest-looking agency, with the most job on their websites. My honest advice is to speak to 3 or 4 agencies. Ask them what schools they work with, how well they know the area you are based in, what type of work they usually get in and see if the agency takes time to learn and understand you. Every agency is stronger in one area than another, the larger the agency does not always mean the more regular the work! If you are a Primary Teacher or Teaching Assistant looking for work, I am confident we could be the agency for you!
Outside of work, I do very little other than watch football and run - it's a simple life.
