Cover Supervisor in London

Harris Academy Bermondsey is a dynamic all‑girls academy in central London, where ambition, academic excellence, and leadership flourish. Our students regularly achieve outstanding results. In February 2025, our school was again judged Outstanding across all Ofsted categories, reaffirming our unwavering commitment to excellence in education. We take immense pride in fostering a diverse, inclusive, and supportive environment. Many of our students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, yet all study the EBacc and are encouraged toward university, empowering them to compete on equal footing with their peers. Our highly skilled teachers and dedicated support staff work tirelessly to identify and nurture each student’s unique strengths. Together, we ensure every girl not only achieves academic success but also grows into a confident leader, thriving within a safe, happy, and ambitious learning community.

We are looking to appoint a resourceful Cover Supervisor at Harris Academy Bermondsey to provide classroom cover in the absence of teachers. This role will likely suit you if you have previous experience in a similar role, providing cover within an educational establishment. The actual salary for this role will be £26,887 - £28,476 (37.5 hours per week, 38 weeks per year). This is a 12‑month fixed‑term contract from September 2026.

Main Areas of Responsibility

• To supervise lessons for absent teachers.
• To allocate, explain and oversee cover work set.
• To report to the relevant Cover Manager any deficiencies with cover work set to include quality or appropriateness of cover.
• To offer general assistance to students in completing cover work in class.
• To follow the academy’s in‑class behaviour management and referral systems.
• To organize the days lessons efficiently in advance so that they run as smoothly as possible.
• When not engaged in carrying out cover, to undertake administrative or student support duties at the direction of the line manager or the relevant Vice Principal.
• Occasional supervision of post‑16 students in their study base.
• To take registers in all lessons and promptly report any in‑lesson absences.
• To liaise directly with teachers to ensure cover lessons are delivered to a high quality.

Qualifications & Experience

• Qualifications to A Level standard or equivalent.
• Knowledge of strategies to recognise and reward efforts and achievements towards self‑reliance that are appropriate to the age and development stage of the students.
• Basic knowledge of SEN and other learning barriers.
• Strong organisation and time management skills.
• Relevant experience in successfully supervising groups of children aged 11‑16.
• Previous experience in a school or comparable large organisation.
• Understanding of a secondary school environment.
• Ability to provide classroom cover – within agreed parameters – in the absence of the class teacher.
• Ability to consistently and effectively implement agreed behaviour management strategies.
• Ability to use language and other communication skills that students can understand and relate to.
• Ability to establish positive relationships with students and empathise with their needs.
• Ability to demonstrate active listening skills.
• Ability to provide levels of individual attention, reassurance and help with learning tasks as appropriate to students’ needs, encouraging the students to stay on task.
• Ability to monitor the students’ response to the learning activities and, where appropriate, modify/adapt activities agreed with the teacher to achieve the intended learning outcomes.

Professional Development & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top‑quality training programmes delivered at every level. In addition to the opportunities for career development and progression, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance for teachers on MPS/UPS, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates. We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.

Next Steps

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please send us an email, or call to arrange a conversation. Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. This will be helpful for you when completing your application, and throughout the recruitment process. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we may interview and offer to a candidate before the closing date. Please note that we only accept applications submitted before the closing date via our careers website.