Rakhee made the switch from full-time teacher to supply teacher when she found Zen Educate.

I always swore I’d never become a supply teacher because it sounded like a real mess in terms of planning or choosing where you would get placed…until I found Zen Educate!

The Advantages of Becoming a Supply Teacher

Through supply, I get all the best bits of teaching and the added bonus of flexibility. I can choose when I work by setting my availability and only confirm supply teaching jobs I am comfortable with! This works really well both for me and the schools I am matched with, creating the perfect fit for us.

I have the time and energy to follow my other pursuits and it truly has given me the freedom to live the best of all my world. Being able to teach — whilst not sacrificing everything else I’m fiercely passionate about — has enriched my life for the better and allowed me to fully grow into who I am today.

I love working with children, learning from all their ways of being, instilling confidence in their learning and facilitating creative flow. It’s what lights me up the most about teaching! I love all things wellness and bring mindfulness practices into the classroom to help with behaviour management. This includes breathing exercises and free expression sessions — activities for children to express their thoughts, ideas, and emotions in a safe space.

Other opportunities: What else do I have the time for now?

I switched to supply in 2020 and have been independently running mindful creation workshops ever since. I work with 7-14 year-old children, encouraging breathing exercises, visualization meditations and varying movements, before engaging in creative activities.

I’m also a part-time Sex Education and Wellbeing Specialist at Brook and am training to be an Embodiment Coach, focusing on releasing trapped emotions in the body, working directly with trauma and other sources of tension. I love embodiment, mindfulness and movement methodologies — helping others to reach their full potential, power and fulfilment. I am a firm believer in practicing what you preach and working part time allows me to both study and practice these endeavours.

Having more time to myself and feeling less stressed means more relaxation, so I can bring revitalised energy to the work I do. Self-love and self-care are all the rage right now and for a reason. I can really reap the benefits of this through working with a social enterprise like Zen who's online platform allows me to select roles that really suit me. They’re also very pro positive mental health, which aligns with my passions.

What have I gained with this extra time?

Bringing elements of playfulness into all my work is an important part of who I am and building strong relationships with students and clients is at the core of my successes. The heaviness of working full time, in one set teaching role, blocked my ability to fully channel my light-heartedness and explore different avenues.

I am so grateful to Zen for providing this opportunity in such an easy way, with relatable staff who truly understand your personal needs and tailor your matches to be exactly what you are looking for. Their rate of pay is also the best I’ve seen and it has helped me to fund courses in further training around my other work ventures!

Rakhee is a supply teacher, founder of Rakdust Healing and Sex Education and Wellbeing Specialist. She uses Zen Educate, an online platform alternative to expensive supply teaching and teaching assistant agencies, to find jobs in London.

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