“They see a cover teacher and they see them as weak. They see them as a failed teacher, an easy target and an easy lesson.”

Jane Davis (not her real name) is a former supply teacher, and is describing a feeling that might be familiar to anyone who has stepped into a cover lesson: the sinking sensation of knowing that you are already on the back foot with managing behaviour. 

It’s a feeling some teachers might have experienced more than usual in recent years. 

Despite the provision in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document that teachers should only be asked to cover “rarely”, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the sector’s existing struggles with teacher absence and retention - making cover lessons all the more likely.

According to four in 10 school staff who took part in a recent Tes survey, rates of staff absence are now higher than they were before the pandemic, and data from the National Foundation for Educational Research shows that teacher vacancies were 93 per cent higher in the academic year to February than they were at the same time in the year before Covid.

Supply teachers and members of school staff who provide internal cover have played a key role in plugging the gaps - yet that doesn’t mean they are always appreciated by the pupils they support. In fact, in a survey of supply teachers in England, published in February by the NASUWT teaching union, 36 per cent of respondents said they were rarely made to feel welcome by students in schools in the 2021-22 academic year - while 3 per cent said they were never welcomed.

Disruptive behaviour is a big part of the problem. At best, this can include actions that pupils may see as funny, such as deviating from a seating plan or giving a false name to the cover teacher. At worst, it can pose a danger to the teacher and other members of the class - Davis says that she was threatened with a knife and a metal pole while working in cover. And she’s not alone: 12 per cent of supply teachers or lecturers said they experienced violence from a pupil several times a week in 2022 YouGov research. 

While these scenarios are undoubtedly extreme, Davis believes there is a longstanding culture of misbehaviour in cover lessons in UK schools. Even during her own school days, cover teachers were viewed as “easy prey”, she says. 

Tom Bennett, lead behaviour adviser at the Department for Education and founder of researchED, has a similar view: “There is definitely a very strong culture among many students in many schools that a cover lesson isn’t really a lesson. Some schools can exacerbate the problem by creating a culture where cover lessons are seen by them as low status and low value.”

So, what can school leaders do to shift this culture? 

Cover lessons: tips for leaders

1. Be visible

According to Bennett, leaders need to create a strong presumption among students that cover lessons are regular lessons, in which the usual standards of behaviour apply. 

“School leaders need to let all supply and cover teachers know that if they have any behavioural issues, they will be supported,” he says. 

Saniya Zia, a head of history at a school in Birmingham and author for Access Education GCSEPod, suggests that leaders can send a clear message of support by making themselves particularly visible where they know cover lessons are taking place.

“Senior leaders could consider learning walks and drop in on cover lessons from time to time, to send the message that the expectation of good behaviour still stands,” she says.

2. Have the right protocols in place

Establishing protocols around the lessons themselves is also useful, says Annelies Paris, a primary school teacher in Dorset, who runs the YouTube channel Petite Primary. 

She encourages cover teachers to leave a note for classes’ usual teachers about how their lessons went, and also stresses how important it is for the usual teacher to leave thorough notes in the event of absence. These are practices that can be enforced by senior leaders. 

“We wouldn’t prepare children to fail, so why would you prepare a cover or supply teacher to fail,” asks Paris. 

Zia adds that senior leadership teams can also ensure that cover staff have easy access to the same resources that permanent staff do: “This could be something as simple as granting cover teachers access to a shared drive or the school’s edtech platform in plenty of time, paired with a clear explanation about how to best utilise the resource.”

Doing this might be easier said than done when a teacher’s absence is unexpected, or last minute, but having established procedures can make all the difference, says Bennett. 

“If you teach teachers protocols and strategies to have more effective cover lessons - either delivering them or setting them - then you will get higher-quality lessons, a better learning speed for children and better behaviour,” he says. 

To this end, he encourages every school to have a bank of meaningful and easy-to-deliver cover lesson plans, noting: “It makes it a lot easier for emergency cover to be set.” 

3. Create consistency

Bennett also recommends that schools use the same cover teachers as much as possible - after all, pupils will be more aware of what these teachers are unwilling to put up with.

For Marie Gentles, a DfE behaviour adviser and former headteacher of a pupil referral unit, this consistency can have a big impact. 

“The majority of young people feel emotionally safest when they feel connected to the adult that’s teaching them,” she says. “Cover teachers can be the nicest people in the world, but the young people often don’t know who they are. That can throw them off emotionally, and that sometimes manifests as undesirable behaviour.”

Cover lessons: tips for teachers

There is plenty that senior leaders can do to limit misbehaviour, then. As Zia points out, in most cases, the quality of cover lessons comes down to planning, the resources available and the behavioural support systems in place across schools. 

However, there are also things that cover teachers themselves can do to make lessons more likely to play out effectively.

1. Do your reading

If supply teachers are being drafted in to work in an unfamiliar school, Bennett encourages them to read the school’s behaviour policy, so they know how to deliver cues, consequences and praise. 

“Know a few names in the school, and try to have somebody in a nearby classroom that you can quickly turn to for assistance if things go south,” he says.

It’s wise to have some backup work with you in case no work has been set for a cover lesson, but Paris recommends having a selection of easily-adaptable behavioural strategies, too. 

“You could also read up on supportive strategies for different special educational needs,” she says. “You can’t generalise - what might work for one pupil, might not work for another - but this at least allows you to potentially understand some of the triggers of behaviour for children who have those needs, and it enables you to make a more educated attempt to resolve and support that behaviour.”

2. Set clear expectations

Paris also encourages cover teachers to “go in with confidence and have high expectations of themselves and the class”. 

A good way to do this is by being prepared: Bennett suggests cover teachers should try to arrive at their assigned classroom before everyone else does, if at all possible.

“Put students in the seating plan if you have one, and ask them to put their books, planners or similar objects out in front of them to confirm that,” he advises. “If the seating plan isn’t available, I strongly suggest you seat them yourself.”

Once children are seated, the cover teacher should then take a couple of minutes to clearly lay out their expectations for the lesson. “You can be positive, but you’ve got to be sincere and quite assertive as well,” Bennett says. “You’re telling the pupils: ‘This lesson and work matters.’” 

Gentles similarly believes that it’s important to make things as clear as possible: “It’s really important that the students know what’s going to happen because that gives them a sense of security.”

Having a well-structured lesson may also help to reduce potential behaviour problems. According to Bennett, a simple model for a cover lesson involves the teacher providing a small amount of explanation, issuing materials and getting the students to work, with the option of them asking for help where needed. 

If the class is exploring a topic that you are unfamiliar with, Bennett suggests being open about that.

“You can say: ‘I’ll do my best to help you in this, and if I need to, I might ask for assistance from somebody else in the class,’” he says.

3. Be positive, but firm

Gentles encourages cover teachers to use positive behavioural expectations and model the behaviour they would like to see in the classroom. 

Cover teachers should try not to lose their temper, Bennett adds, although they also need to quickly push back against any standards that are not being met. 

“You cannot allow a student to challenge you in front of others in the classroom, otherwise the students will think: ‘Why should I listen to this person?’” he explains. 

“If they know you’re the kind of person that’s going to challenge misbehaviour, they will very quickly start thinking: ‘Maybe I should just crack on with this’ - particularly if, for instance, you get assistance from the teacher next door.”

Cover lessons can be tricky to deal with, and things don’t always go to plan. However, if the right school systems are in place - and cover teachers are supported to draw on them - there is a better chance of ensuring they aren’t simply seen as “easy lessons” where there’s an opportunity to misbehave.

Kate Jones is a freelance journalist