As one of the largest schools in London, with over 350 teaching and non-teaching staff, we are totally reliant on organisations like The London Teaching Pool to find new staff or, cover for existing staff who are absent from school for whatever reason. On many occasions this has to be done immediately as staff illness cannot be planned for. It is absolutely vital to us that the quality of these replacement teachers is of a particularly high standard. They need to be ready to start at a moment’s notice; they must be flexible; they need to be able to step into situations where things may already be strained and stressful; they need to be able to work to complicated instructions and lesson plans provided by a third party and with resources that are unfamiliar and not always presented in a logical way; and the students they are expected to teach may not always show them the immediate compliance they would usually show to our permanent staff. We have been very impressed with the high quality of staff we have used from the TLTP over the years we have been working together. Their own administrative staff have an excellent grasp of our school and our circumstances and they work hard extremely hard to ensure that as far as possible they match their teachers ability and attributes with the particular needs of our school. Their supply staff are always very competent and prepared to step into any situation at a moment’s notice. They are usually always personable and able to communicate well with both our own staff and students alike, building good relationships in the process. They are also reliable and responsible and come to us as having been carefully vetted and covered by up to date DBS and supporting references and testimonials. Towards the end of the summer term this year, we used TLTP extensively to staff a number of vacant full time permanent posts we needed to fill before the start of the summer break. Once again, the team at TLTP went out of their way to provide us with a number of very good applicants for each vacant post for us to interview. Once we had outlined the role we had vacant and the type of person we were looking for, the team at TLTP set to work in order the find the best possible candidates for the positions we had available and this included both teaching and non-teaching staff. One particular role that we were specifically looking to fill was for two teachers and one HLTA to work with some of our more vulnerable children within our Transition classes. Staff in this specialist area need to have a variety of skills including a range of Special Needs knowledge and understanding; be able to teach a primary type format within a secondary school; be able to teach a range of different subjects; be able to develop meaningful and professional relationships with young people who may not have had the best start in their young lives; and of course, be able to work well as part of a strong team of likeminded individuals. TLTP worked tirelessly to find us a large number of very suitable candidates all of whom had the necessary experience and important characteristics we were looking for and following a rigorous interview process, we were able to make our appointments accordingly. The work we have done together with The London Teaching Pool has made a huge impact on our school. We know that they will go the extra mile to ensure that not only will we have quality supply staff to cover for both planned and unexpected staff absence, they will also go out of their way to work closely with us to ensure we have a strong field of candidates to interview for our full term permanent teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies. At a time when the whole profession is currently experiencing a major staffing crisis, to have a team like TLTP behind you in order to help you with your staffing needs is extremely comforting. I cannot praise the team at The London Teaching Pool highly enough and look forward to building on the strong relationship we have already developed during the coming academic year.

Brian Lloyd, CEO of Erith School

Hi Helene, I would like to say a huge thank you for the support and efforts of TLTP. After a few years of not fancying anything in particular until being ready I attended an application teacher day to fill out some paper work and had the opportunity to meet Helene face to face. Helene's support to find me a new role for September was undoubtedly the best service I have recognised. I would often receive regular emails and then an opportunity arose for an interview which Helene clearly talked me through the process of what would happen and also gave me a courtesy call to ensure I was all set for the day and another one to find out how it went. In passing, when fellow teachers I know of are looking for an agency I am 100% able to recommend TLTP and feel as long as you build the relationship they will get to know and understand the type of job you are looking for and more than likely will find you a teaching position. Just a massive thank you to Helene for the opportunities and whatever my plans are in the future I do hope Helene and the team will continue to be there to support teachers in finding new opportunities.

Jannalene Morris