Lesson planning for supply teachers: what you actually need

Supply teaching is a particular kind of professional challenge. You arrive in a classroom you don't know, with children you've never met, and a set of expectations that may or may not have been clearly communicated. You need to be able to pick up whatever is in front of you and teach it competently and calmly.

The planning requirements for supply teaching are different from those of a permanent teacher, and it's worth thinking through what they actually are.

If you're the class teacher leaving work for a supply

The best work you can leave a supply teacher has four qualities.

Clear. The instructions should be intelligible to someone who does not know your class, your school's systems, or your particular shorthand. What looks obvious to you may not be obvious to a stranger.

Structured, not scripted. A supply teacher does not need a minute-by-minute breakdown, but they do need to know the shape of each lesson: what the learning objective is, how to introduce it, what the main activity is, and what done looks like.

Achievable without you. Avoid plans that depend on resources that aren't where you say they are, technology that may not work, or knowledge of your class's individual needs that a supply teacher couldn't reasonably have.

Honest about the class. A brief note about anything a supply teacher genuinely needs to know — a child with medical needs, a pupil who will need extra support, a seating issue — is helpful and professional. Don't leave anything that could affect a child's wellbeing out of the handover.

If you're the supply teacher

Walk in knowing the following before the first lesson: where things are (toilet procedure, fire exit, how to get help), the rough schedule for the day, any medical needs in the class, and the names of two or three children you can rely on to help you navigate.

The lesson plan is secondary to the relationship with the class. A supply teacher who gets the relationship right in the first ten minutes — warm, clear, interested, consistent — will have a better day regardless of whether the plan is good.

For lessons without a plan, or where the plan is inadequate: a strong lesson framework that works across subjects is: brief settling activity (something quiet and independent), input with a clear objective, a task, and a plenary. This pattern is recognisable and workable in almost any subject.