You’ve come down with a terrible bug, and even though the thought of setting cover sends shivers down your spine, you know you won’t be able to make it in. So you call in sick and start emailing your head of department some activities your class could get on with. You don’t want anyone running around photocopying for you, so you set something students can do without any resources and without a specialist teacher.
They do the work on paper because the quality of the work they produce in your absence will make their books look unpresentable. And it is. Upon your return you see a pile of paper: some have half done the work, some scribbled on the paper and some didn’t even hand anything in. You look up and your displays have been vandalised. Your pot of highlighters and pens look a little empty.
This sounds all too familiar. And it was my experience at the last school I was at a few years ago.
More by Sherish Osman:
Now imagine this, you set cover work directly to the students via email or Google Classroom, and attach any documents that may be required for the lesson. This is how it works at Queensmead School in West London. And it works thanks to our Open Learning Centre (OLC).
It’s a space with 120 computers manned by two cover supervisors. It is big enough to hold up to five classes and when teachers are absent, classes spend the lesson working quietly on the work set by the teacher.
At Queensmead, you won’t see any supply teachers, so the cost is reduced for the school in the long run. It also means almost zero cover work for other teachers in the school, who can get on with their own tasks at hand. The two cover supervisors have been at the school for a number of years, and the OLC has become their space, which they are proud of and look after. Both members of staff are longstanding members of the school, who the students know, and therefore behaviour in the OLC during cover lessons is not a major concern. It also means that students know where to go and what the expectation is when they get there.
The students can get on with meaningful work and send it back to the teacher, and the work produced is, on the whole, of high quality. When it comes to Year 11 students, some departments may choose to split the class into other Year 11 classes because they are smaller, instead of sending them to work in the OLC.
The OLC is attached to the library, and during busy periods, if there is a need for overspill it goes into the library and the librarian will cover it. All three members of staff have excellent attendance so very rarely does the system not work.
So in summary, having an OLC has reduced the number of supply teachers, reduced the amount of cover that teachers do in another teacher’s absence, reduced behaviour issues in cover lessons, allowed students to get on with meaningful work, allowed the absent teacher’s room to be unscathed and finally, given the absent teacher the opportunity to set work without feeling guilty.
This all sounds great, so what are the practicalities of making this work?
How to make an Open Learning Centre work
1. Space
We had a very big space for a library, which we halved and converted. The OLC can hold up to 100 computers. Is there an area or room in your school which isn’t being used as much that could be converted?
2. Staff
Both our cover supervisors started with us as teaching assistants. Think about how much you may be paying supply teachers over the year - could you fund one or two cover supervisors?
3. Computers
This is an obvious cost to make this work, but it is an investment that pays for itself over time. There may also be some companies or local businesses that may fund them for you.
4. Absence cut off time
Our staff have to call us by 7.15am if they’re going to be absent. This allows for the organisation of working out who will be in the OLC and what work they should be doing so the cover supervisors know.
5. Reduce other responsibilities for the cover supervisors
The cover supervisors should only be used to organise which classes will be coming to them on the day and what work they will be doing. Schools should use a member of administrative staff to oversee the school absence line and update the daily cover list.
6. Leadership visits
On the whole, behaviour in the OLC is great - but having leadership make frequent visits can ensure this stays on track.
7. Have teaching assistants as backup
If the cover supervisors fall ill, make sure you have teaching assistants on hand to take this position if needed.
Sherish Osman is the lead teacher, research and development, Queensmead School
