Blog

We work with a variety of SEN schools and see how important it is to share positive representations of people from all walks of life this is why we wanted to share some teachers from around the world that have succeeded despite their disabilities and now inspire students and their communities to achieve their own goals.

With Easter just around the corner, teachers and teaching assistants may be scrambling to think of some new and exciting Easter crafts for their students, if you’re looking for something new, these activities are no yolk!

Easter is always an exciting time of year regardless of your age (we personally can’t wait for our Easter chocolate this year!). So it’s no wonder you would want to bring some Easter fun into your classroom this April. To help get you started we have asked some of our teachers for their favourite activities to get your class egg-cited for Easter!

Did you know that March is Women’s History Month? The month is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of women throughout history. As we’re an education recruitment agency, we wanted to focus on some of the amazing women who’ve had an instrumental role in ensuring that women across the globe have access to education. 

We couldn’t let Women’s History Month go by without mentioning some of the incredible female teachers who have changed the world. 

Meet Tia! She’s a graduate teaching assistant who has been working in one of our SEN primary schools. Tia is a valued member of Graduate Academy and joined us upon completing a degree in Counselling at the University of Coventry. 

Working in education means we deal with a variety of different people every day and are passionate about promoting and celebrating diversity. This is why we couldn't help but get involved with LGBTQIA+ History Month. 

Say hello to Ferida who completed our Introduction to Teaching Assistant Course with South and City College Birmingham back in September 2021. Find out how she found it and what she's been up to since completing it.

If you work with children in a school, nursery or another setting there are a number of policies you’ll need to be aware of, so we have highlighted the key policies you should know.

Offering to run an extra-curricular activity, even if only once a week, can really help you stand out in school (for all the right reasons!). Below we’ve shared some ideas of extra-curricular activities that you could run and how they’ll benefit the students.

Some teaching assistants will work with one teacher, however, most will spend their day changing between different classrooms and age groups and if you’re on supply you might be visiting different schools too! This is why the contents of your bag are so important if you want your day to be smooth sailing.

We couldn't let British Science Week go by without mentioning some of Britain's most influential scientists and giving a shout out to our amazing science teachers.

English teachers - hold on to your feathered, silk hats - it's Shakespeare Week.

While lockdown may seem like a lifetime ago many children, parents and teachers are still feeling the impact of school closures. Children are behind and as a result teachers and parents are feeling stressed. However, with children now back in school full-time and returning to their normal routines there is light at the end of the tunnel.

After speaking with our teaching and teaching support staff, we’ve collated some examples of rewards that you may have success with in the classroom.

February is LGBTQIA+ History Month. After talking to some of our teachers we have come up with a list of ways you can incorporate this month into your teaching.

We have decided to put our own spin on Pride 365 to celebrate diversity all year round!

After the prime minister’s announcement about easing ‘Plan B’ measures, you might be wondering what this means for you and our schools. Here is everything you need to know.

We have composed a list of all the terms and phrases you need to know as a SEN teacher to make your life in the classroom more manageable.

Not sure what the difference between a level 2, level 3 and level 4 teaching assistant is? We've got you, here's everything you need to know about the different levels and what they mean.

Following the Education Secretary's call for former and retired teachers to return to work, we've put together this FAQ to help answer any questions you might have about returning to the classroom.

Our team enjoyed taking part in Brew Monday an initiative Samaritans to encourage us all to connect.

Following the continued spread of Omnicron, Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, made a plea for ex-teachers to return to classrooms across the UK in a bid to support schools with the staffing shortage caused by the new variant. 

We are delighted to announce that our Charity of the Year for 2021/2022 is Help Harry Help Others. 

In a bid to spread some holiday cheer, we have trawled the internet to find some Christmas cracker jokes that only teachers would find funny. Enjoy! 

Here are a few scary stories to share with your students. 

Here are a few tips for leaders on handling stress & pressure. 

Here are a few tips on how you can be a good role model for your staff & students. 

Here are a few ways you can make your school, a great school. 

Fun places in Birmingham you can visit on a school trip.

We are so excited to announce our partnership with Smart Works Birmingham.

We are so proud to have achieved 99.5% in our 2021 APSCo Compliance+ audit.

We are really pleased to announce that we have signed the Mental Health in Recruitment Awareness to Action Pledge.  

The summer holidays might be here but that doesn’t mean that the learning has to stop. We’ve put together a list of fun places in the Black Country and beyond that you can visit with your little ones during the school holidays. 

We asked our Compliance Administrator, Georgia, to give us (and you) an insight into her day and the role of a compliance administrator in recruitment.

How school leaders can improve their wellbeing and better support their students and staff.

We thought we’d have some light-hearted fun and take a look at 10 Black Country sayings that you might hear in schools and what they mean.

Advice on how to become a headteacher of a school.

10 books that every aspiring and current school leader must read, what they are about and where to find them.

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with The Albion Foundation the charity behind West Bromwich Albion Football Club.

Kash talks about his career journey at Smile Education and looks back at how far he has come.

For a while now, we have been working closely with West Bromwich Albion Foundation to bring sport to children who might not otherwise get the opportunity. Since running our first event in 2019, Smile Soccer Stars has grown into something more than we could have ever imagined - even the pandemic couldn’t stop it! 

Recruitment is a ‘boy’s club’ they say. Well, we are proof that that couldn’t be further from the truth.

An update on the furlough scheme from Smile Education.

Michael, primary recruitment consultant at our sister company, Smile Leadership, and spoken word poet shares his thoughts on the power of poetry in the classroom. 

Help us remember Leasa and raise money for Help Harry Help Others, one of her chosen charities. 

Jessica, one of our lovely supply teachers who like many teachers is having to get used to working from home. Here she shares some tips which have helped her during this time.

Our Graduate Academy is designed to help graduates take their first step on the teaching ladder and offers them a paid opportunity to discover whether teaching is the right career choice for them.

We asked Beth, who joined our Graduate Academy earlier this year to give us a run-through of what life is like in the classroom and what is expected of her - the good, the bad and the ugly. However, you’ll be pleased to know (as we were!) there’s no too much bad, or ugly for that matter! Here’s is what she had to say.

Think there are no similarities between working for Smile Education and being the Qeen (or King) or England. Think again! 

Find out what you'll learn from our Safer Recruitment Training for schools.

It's time to switch-off! However, we know that can be easier said than done so we’ve put together some tips to help you.

We’ve put together some tips to help make sure that your online tutoring sessions are as successful as they can be!

To help you find the right tutor for you and your child, you’ll need to ask each of the tutors you’re considering some questions. We’ve put together some of the questions we think are most important for you to ask below.

As a tutor there are some key questions you should be asking both parents and students to establish what they are looking for from a tutor and how you can help. We’ve provided some examples of key questions for both below.

Priya started her career in recruitment and joined the Smile team just under two months ago but she’s already the very proud winner of our monthly special achievement award.

We asked Louise, our Compliance Team Leader, to give us an insight into life at Smile and what it’s like to work for a company that doesn’t just value results.

We are in a great position to have not one, but two experienced and qualified Tutors who can deliver these skills to those in need. Here Louise, one of our Team Teach Tutors (and our Compliance Team Leader) talks about the Team Teach course, why it’s important, who should do it and what she likes about it.

Safeguarding is something that as a business, we take very seriously. Not only are all of our staff safer recruitment trained, we are also an APSCo Compliance+ accredited agency.

Katy our MD, who is safer recruitment trained, run a training session recently to ensure that our new recruits were up to speed. Here is what they had they learnt during their training, how the impact it has had on their work and why they believe safer recruitment training is important for all those recruiting in the education sector.

We for most parents tutoring is unknown territory making finding the right tutor for your child a difficult and daunting task. Don’t panic or give up just yet though, we’ve put together some tips for you to help you choose the best tutor to suit your child. 

We've put together some tips that teachers can use to help them talk about racism with their students. 

We’ve put together some tips from around the web on how to handle questions about COVID-19 and how to explain the current pandemic and lockdown.

We encourage all of our school and children’s residential staff to add their DBS to the Update Service as soon as it arrives as you only have 30 days after your certificate issue date to register. But why should you register with the Update Service? What are the advantages? Here are the three biggest reasons.

As you’ll know, charity is something that is very important to us as both a company and a team and we refused to let the first lockdown get in the way of that. Of course, that doesn’t mean we broke the rules but instead, we found ways to fundraise while abiding by the social distancing guidelines in place. Conor, our senior compliance administrator, will tell you how.

Everything you need to know about self-isolating from whether you should to how long for.

Our online NQT Q&A was a huge success - thank you to everyone who joined us.

Chelsea, part of our candidate care team, gamed for 24 hours straight to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support

Our panel of education experts share there top tips for NQTs.

We've compiled a list of resources to help you talk to students and pupils of all ages about racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.

As it’s Black History Month, we wanted to do a special spotlight on those from the black community, both past and present, that have influenced and changed education for the better.

Our team, like 10000s of others around the country, has been doing their bit to slow the spread of the coronavirus by working from home. Now seven months in, we all pretty much feel like we’re experts so we thought it was only right we share our top tips with you

Up-skilling is something that we really believe in and we are always looking for new ways to support our team with their personal development. But it’s not all recruitment-based learning. Beth, part of our candidate team, had the chance earlier this year to gain a first aid qualification and became one of our nominated workplace first aiders - more on this (from Beth’s point of view) in a click.

It’s important to us that our team continue learning and developing during their time with us. While we offer lots of training through recruitment networks like the TRN, we also give our team the opportunity to develop their persona skills too. Olivia, our secondary team leader, recently attended a training course and became a mental health first aider so she could better support her team.

We have looked at the most common reasons why parents are frequently turning to Smile Tutors for their online tutoring. 

How Vicky, part of our candidate care team, used her time in lockdown wisely.

We are proud as punch to say that we achieved 100% in our 2020 APSCo Compliance+ audit.

If you missed our COVID and Schools Q&A or just want a refresher you’ll find all the questions and the answers in this blog.

Meet our two new NQT Q&A panellists; Richard Simcox and Louise Sieradzki.

Nasriin joined us a year ago. Learn more about her experience working at Smile. 

Georgia, our lovely compliance administrator, talks about her journey with Smile so far and what it was like starting a new job just as the pandemic hit.

Meet the education experts on our NQT Q&A panel.

Jessica Joan is one of Smile Education's lovely supply teachers and a health and wellness coach for teachers. She shares her tips on managing back-to-school anxiety.

Do you have to wear a face mask in school? Here is the latest information. 

No NQT year is easy but this year might take the crown for being the toughest. Here are our tips for the NQTs of 2020. 

We asked Suneta Bagri and Steve Walters for these tips on handling the pressures of teaching.

New to online tutoring? Don’t worry, we have some great tips and suggestions to help you become the best and most effective tutor you can be. 

Blended learning is a term that has been thrown around a lot lately but what is it and what are the benefits to students and teachers?

So, just what will the new normal in schools when they reopen? We’ve broken down the main guidance from the Department of Education (DfE) for you.

So, you’ve heard about Smile Tutors but you’re not quite sure what one is or if it’s right for you? Don’t worry, here is everything you’ll need to know about tutoring.

Thinking about becoming a Smile Tutor but need a little convincing? Here are all the reasons that we think you should give it a try.

The day has finally arrived it’s World Emoji Day! To celebrate we wanted to do something a bit different. As you may know, emojis represent a wide, complex range of emotions. Emotions that teachers go through everyday…

It might be hard for your students to believe but when you’re not at school, you’re actually just a pretty ordinary person. But spotting a teacher outside of the classroom is much easier than you think.  In this blog we tell you how.

There are lots of advantages to becoming a supply teacher and it can be the perfect job for someone who loves being in the classroom but hates the many other duties that come with a permanent teaching post.

You may have heard all the cons about supply teaching so let us tell you some of the pros.

As it’s Wellbeing Week, we asked Suneta Bagri, former headteacher, current wellbeing coach and founder of the Every Teacher Matters project to gives her advice to school staff on how to start the day off right and give your wellbeing a boost.

No school? No problem? Here we share some fun home science experiments you can enjoy with your children at home.

Smile Education offer a range of training courses, you can read more about them here.

Although the role of a support worker is a rewarding role (just take a look at our day in the life blog to find out more) it can also be challenging and demanding. As with any job, you’ll be expected to interview and asked a series of questions to determine your suitability to the role.