Role Title:

Cover Supervisor

Reports To:

Cover Manager

Role Purpose:

Under the professional direction of a teacher to supervise classes during staff absence.

Organisation:

Head teacher – Assistant Headteacher – Cover Manager

Hours

8am to 3pm Monday to Friday, term time only with 30-minute unpaid lunch break

Salary

Band C – £18,469 – £19,244 actual (£24,405 – £25,430 FTE)

Accountabilities

Accountability Statements

Support for Students

• To supervise classes of students using material planned by a teacher to engage students in learning activities.
• Establish productive working relationships with students acting as a role model and setting high expectations of work and behaviour.
• Assisting the inclusion of all children to ensure optimum learning opportunities including dealing with behaviour issues in accordance with the school behaviour policy, in both academic and pastoral settings.
• Respond to students’ general queries and keep them on task.
• Report any concerns about individual students to the appropriate person e.g. Pastoral Support, Head of Year and Tutor.
• Assist teaching staff when not required to cover lessons (as directed by SENDCO)

Support for Teachers

• Provide objective and accurate feedback to the teacher on the conduct of the lesson including keeping appropriate records as agreed with the teacher.
• Comply with instructions requested by the usual class teacher.
• Promote positive values, attitudes and good student behaviour, dealing promptly with conflict and incidents in line with established policy and encourage students to take responsibility for their own behaviour.
• Take responsibility for any follow up action required, such as recording sanctions or rewards on Arbor.
• Act as a support tutor as and when required.
• Support classes on an alternative timetable as directed by the SENDCO.

Support for Curriculum

• Make appropriate use of equipment and resources.
• Comply with lesson plans and instructions from class teacher.
• Review the quality, quantity and suitability of the work set and report any issues to the Head of Centre and the Cover Manager.
• Maintain a bank of resources for use in case of emergency.
• Take part in/accompany students on school day trips and/or residential visits.

Support for the school

• Be aware of and comply with policies and procedures relating to child protection, equal opportunities, health and safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person.
• In line with the operational needs of the school, undertake other duties (e.g. supervising examinations) when needed.
• Participate in training and continuing professional development, which may include after school whole staff inset sessions.
• Attend relevant school meetings as required.

Corporate and Statutory initiatives – equalities/health and safety/e-government/ sustainability

• Maintain an awareness of school, national and statutory policies and requirements and apply these in the workplace.

The key decision making areas in the role

• A cover supervisor will deal with student behaviour/pastoral issues and make judgements when to refer incidents to a senior member of staff/class teacher/Head of Department/DSL.
• A cover supervisor will work without the close presence of a teacher.
• A cover supervisor will be required to produce general feedback to the class teacher and keep records as appropriate. As such the post holder will decide on what feedback to give.
• Making decisions about the management of the learning environment throughout the lesson.
• Make judgements on the appropriateness of the quality and amount of work that has been set.

The role dimensions – financial (e.g. budgets) and non financial (e.g. units, workload, staff)

• A cover supervisor undertakes whole class, grouped class and individual supervision in the absence of a class teacher.
• There are no financial responsibilities attached to this post.
• Complete school supervision duties during break/before school.

The main contacts – external/internal contacts

• Internal (in school) – students, teachers, line manager, On Call, inclusion team, Child Protection officer, Matron, Head teacher and governing body.
• External (outside school) – (usually under the direction of the teacher or line manager) parents/carers.

Working conditions – environment and physical effort or strain

• School and classroom based learning environment (sometimes significantly constrained in terms of space/equipment/seating) – responsibility for maintaining safe, calm working atmosphere.
• Expected to maintain behaviour management standards for children, some of whom can be especially challenging and difficult, and deal with racial/abusive language and bullying.
• Health and Safety responsibility for self, children and area which is particularly demanding in a child centred environment.
• Designated office area for the Cover Supervisor team to work in and store personal items.

Context/additional information

• Due to the nature of the role, the post holder will need to adapt to different classes and groups of children and will therefore need to demonstrate flexibility.
• It has a highly confidentiality component and needs to hold the trust of both students and colleagues. It may include acquiring information on child protection/family sensitive issues which must be treated carefully and appropriately.
• A cover supervisor must be flexible, work as a team, use initiative and be able to work under pressure.
• Can volunteer for paid lunchtime supervision.

Entry: Necessary role-related knowledge, skills and experience at selection

• Empathy with students and sympathetic to their needs.
• Trained at least to NVQ3 standard (desirable).
• Relevant experience in a teaching/learning/child support working environment.
• Good literacy and numeracy skills.
• Good communication skills, able to clarify and explain instructions clearly.
• Professionally discreet and able to respect confidentiality on particular issues.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills and sense of humour enabling effective relationships with a variety of different people.
• Team worker, and encouraging high performance culture.

Initial induction/training required to become effective in the role

• Knowledge of school and school systems/policies.
• Understanding of curriculum, particularly literacy and numeracy requirements.
• Clear and effective approach towards student discipline and behaviour.
• Relationship between and respective of responsibilities of teacher and cover supervisor.
• Professional relationship between staff and students.
• Support from ‘mentor’.
• Developing health and safety knowledge.
• Independent working, supported by a teacher, with whole classes of children.

Operationally effective: How would effectiveness in the role be demonstrated?

• Firm, sensitive and effective approach towards student discipline.
• Good organisational ability.
• Able to provide objective and accurate feedback to the teacher on the conduct of the lesson including keeping appropriate records.
• Competent in working with groups of students without direct supervision from the teacher.
• Ability to apply knowledge and skills from training in practical classroom context.
• Ability to motivate and encourage children appropriately.
• Ability to work independently and with initiative.
• Taking responsibility for a whole class under the overall direction and during temporary absence of a teacher.
• Ability to establish and maintain good relationships and rapport with other colleagues in the school and external contacts (e.g. parents/carers, education psychologist, speech therapist etc).

Adding value: What characteristics will the advanced role holder demonstrate?

• Ability to work effectively and relatively independently without daily supervision.
• Ability to adapt quickly and effectively to changing circumstances/situations.
• Ability to undertake training for other cover supervisors.
• A willingness to take part in/accompany students on residential school trips.
• Involvement in supporting/leading extracurricular activities and clubs.
• A willingness to work with teaching staff to apply the schools behaviour policy with unacceptable behaviour of a student or students during cover lessons.