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Back to School Guide for Teachers ClassCover

Teachers: A Back to School Guide

    School is in session! Or about to be in session depending on where you are in the country. Because we know the start of a new term can be a crazy time for teachers, weโ€™ve put together this list with a few reminders of tasks to tick off to make sure you get back into the swing of things smoothly.  

    Update Your Availability   

    It wouldnโ€™t be the start of a new term without a reminder to update your availability. We do this because we know for a fact that schools prefer to book teachers who have indicated that they are available. We know that amid the chaos of school starting, non-essential tasks can get pushed to the wayside. Whether youโ€™re already busy getting booked or are looking to expand your school network to kick start the new term, updating your availability is one of the best ways to guarantee more booking requests. And the best part? It only takes 2 minutes.  

    Update your availability now.   

    Keep Active on ClassCover   

    Did you know that schools can see when you were last active on ClassCover from your teacher profile? This information is visible to schools when they are searching for new teachers, browsing their list of existing teachers, and also when they are sending a booking request.   

    What does this mean for you as a teacher? It makes sense that a teacher who has been active recently will be more appealing to a school than one who hasnโ€™t logged in for a month. If it comes down to two teachers that a school is considering sending a booking request to, chances are, the one who has been online recently will get the job.   

    So, whatโ€™s the fix? Make it a habit to open the ClassCover app regularly, update your availability, make sure all your information is up to date, and keep your profile active. 

    Let Schools Know that You Are Looking for Work   

    Did you know that you can use your ClassCover profile to indicate whether you are looking for work? Letโ€™s say youโ€™ve just been booked for a contract until the end of this termโ€”rather than risk fending off booking requests from schools all term, you can toggle your profile to indicate that you are unavailable for bookings. This will prevent your profile from appearing in school lists, while leaving you free to use other tools like ClassCover Learn and ClassCover Jobs.   

    Learn how to toggle bookings on and off.   

    Be clear on your goals for the term  

    One of the highlights of the school holidays (aside from the sleep-ins) is the opportunity to take your teacher hat off and give yourself some space away from the craziness of the classroom. If you found your mind wandering to the term gone by, what went well, what could have gone better, and what you want to work on for the rest of the school year, youโ€™re not alone.  

    Now that the new term is here, the time has come to put your plan into action. Put pen to paper and give yourself some measurable goals for the term ahead. Maybe you want to work on developing your behaviour management skills or boosting your understanding of STEM so you can incorporate it into your lessons. Whatever your goals are for the term ahead, breaking them into actionable pieces and writing them down can help keep yourself accountable and increase your chances of success.   

    Get the Green Tick (NSW teachers only)    

    For teachers in NSW, our direct integration with the Department of Education means your profile will include a tick indicating whether you are up to date with your mandatory training and have demonstrated the qualifications required to teach.    

    See a green tick on your profile? Congrats! Youโ€™re ready to go. See an orange tick? That means you may have outstanding training to complete, or the Department of Education doesnโ€™t have a record of it.   

    Get your PD sorted  

    A guaranteed way to start the new term on the right foot is to have some small wins early on. For teachers, one of the best ways to do that is to knock off some PD. If youโ€™re looking for a way to do your professional learning that is flexible enough to suit your schedule, have a look at our online PD platform, ClassCover Learn.   

    Our course library has over 140 hours of online PD coursesโ€”all completely free for members. Of that, 65 hours are NESA-accredited for those in NSW, and a growing number of our courses are TQI-accredited for educators in the ACT.  

    Plan some โ€œMe Timeโ€  

    Because teachers are notorious for putting themselves last and taking care of students, families, and everyone else in their lives before themselves, weโ€™re using this opportunity to remind you to take a breather.  As we enter the new term, take a minute to stop and check in with yourself. Me time, self-care, whatever you want to call it, looks different to everyone so itโ€™s worth asking yourself what it is that you need.  You know the saying โ€œyou canโ€™t pour from an empty cupโ€? Thatโ€™s truer for educators than almost any other profession, so take a little time for yourself so you can be your best self when you show up for your students, your family, and yourself.  

    Browse full-time, part-time, and casual education roles using ClassCover Jobs   

    We have relaunched the new and improved ClassCover Jobs. Among the changes weโ€™ve made are added features designed to make it easier for educators to find and apply for full-time, part-time, and contract roles in education, as well as connect with new schools to boost your casual work.  

    Get alerts for the jobs you want   

    On the lookout for a new role? With ClassCover Jobs, you can choose to receive alerts when jobs are posted that meet your chosen criteria including location, year level, subject/s and more. When you sign up for job alerts, you will receive an email when a job is posted that matches the criteria you selected. This helps ensure you can be among the first to apply, increasing the chances of your application standing out to the job poster.   

    Set up and manage your job alerts here.   

    Search for work from home roles   

    We have introduced a dedicated work from home option for jobs that are able to be done remotely, making it easier than ever to browse and apply for fully remote roles in education. Now, when work from home jobs in education are posted, these will stand out on the page with a visible โ€˜remoteโ€™ tag to make it easier to find and apply for these roles.   

    Access ClassCover Jobs even when youโ€™re not looking for casual work  

    If you use ClassCover to book work as a casual teacher, you may not know how much more we have to offer. As well as giving you easy access to ClassCover Learn, your ClassCover profile allows you to browse job opportunities even if you arenโ€™t actively looking for casual work. Whether you have accepted a contract position or are taking a break from relief teaching, you can easily update your profile so you wonโ€™t be bookable for schools, while retaining all the other great features in ClassCover.   

    That’s it from us. Time to dive into the new term!