Established in March 2004 as a local, independent company, First Class has rapidly gained a formidable reputation for delivering an exceptional, personal, value for money service within the educational recruitment sector throughout North East England.

We are registered with the CRB (reg. no 23700500003).

We are a fully registered member of the REC Education Sector.

In June 2006 we achieved Investors in People status.

The Quality Mark was launched in July 2002, as a joint initiative between the Department for Education and Skills and Recruitment and Employment Confederation. The Quality Mark sets minimum standards for agencies and LEAS (local education authorities) to reach in areas such as the way they recruit and interview supply teachers.

In September 2006 we gained the prestigious award of DCSF Quality Mark and have achieved 100% success at our subsequent audit in November 2008.

We are proud of our success!

What have we to offer?

We boast an extensive database of fully vetted teachers, lecturers, classroom assistants and nursery nurses, who have been selected after interview by one of our team of highly qualified educational consultants.

We take only the best!

We cater for all educational establishments – Nursery, Primary, Middle, Secondary and Special Schools as well as Colleges of Further Education.

We can meet all your needs!

We offer a staff search facility if you are looking for someone for a permanent contract.

There will be no charge for this service!

How are we unique?

We understand the needs of our individual schools because we insist on a ‘ hands on ‘ partnership. We communicate with them and our teachers personally on a daily basis and are therefore able to match the right teacher to the right school. We are proud of our ability to matchmake!

We value our teachers and deliver a superb programme of professional development. The support we offer our NQTs has been described as exceptional and we believe we are the only agency in the area, if not in the country, to offer the opportunity for Performance Management.

We are renowned for our commitment to CPD!

We are supported by a team of highly qualified and respected educational consultants which includes former Headteachers, Assistant Headteachers, LEA advisors and registered Ofsted Inspectors. They conduct all our interviews, devise and deliver our training programme and undertake classroom observations where appropriate. We are delighted that professionals of such high calibre have chosen to work with us! Sponsorship

We demonstrate our loyalty and commitment to our schools by occasionally sponsoring projects. We have most recently purchased football strips and garden equipment. We like to make a difference!

Charges

We pay all our teachers to scale in accordance with DCSF guidelines and as we are an independent company with fewer overheads we can keep our charges to schools to a minimum.

Our charges are on a sliding scale according to teacher experience and are readily available on request.

We levy no introduction charge to a school which ultimately employs one of our teachers on a permanent contract and make no charge for our unique staff search service.

Pay Scale

We pay all our teachers to scale according to DCSF guidelines whenever possible.

We offer the following:

Unique staff search facility

Investors in People

Wide selection of training courses

Low Charges to Schools

Excellent Payments to Teachers

Exceptional Personal Service

High Quality Training Delivered by Experienced Educationalists

Why Trust First Class?

Because First Class Supply & Training attaches prime importance to its Recruitment Policy which adheres strictly to DCSF and REC guidelines and is fundamental to the service it offers to its schools and colleges. Its principle aim is to ensure that only appropriately qualified and thoroughly vetted teachers are registered with the agency.

To this end each applicant must undergo a rigorous, face to face interview with one of the agency’s highly qualified educational consultants, who have been extensively involved in teacher recruitment during their careers at the most senior level of school management.

A full copy of the policy is available on request

At interview the following checks are made:

Identity A valid passport, birth and/or marriage certificate or driving licence (at least 2) must be produced as proof of identity. A utility bill and bank statement or similar must be provided to validate address.

CRB First Class Supply & Training is registered with the CRB.

All applicants must be in possession of a current CRB enhanced disclosure. If not they must apply for a new one through the agency. The applicant will not be registered with the agency until clearance is received.

List 99 All applicants are checked against List 99.

GTC We require that all teachers are members of the General Teaching Council. They must provide a letter of confirmation from the GTC or their GTC membership card. Qualifications Applicants must produce their original degree certificate(s) and a letter/certificate confirming QTS status or other relevant qualifications. These are photocopied for our records and signed and dated by the interviewer.

References Prior to interview at least 2 references are taken up, which cover the previous 3 years. Both referees should have an educational background and 1 referee should be the applicant’s most recent employer or university tutor. He/she should be able to comment confidently on the teacher’s professional knowledge and performance in the classroom. Every effort is made to authenticate the identity and status of referees.

Health All applicants must complete a health declaration.

Code of Practice We have a written Code of Practice to which we expect all our teachers to adhere. At interview applicants are asked to read the Code and agree to comply with our standards by adding their signature.

No teacher or support worker will be registered with First Class until all the above checks have been undertaken and verified.

We can facilitate your record keeping!

Not only do we insist that all our teachers carry their CRB enhanced disclosure with them on assignments, we also provide them with a Verification Form detailing their disclosure number and date of CRB issue. You only need to photocopy this form for your records.

What do our schools say about us?

“First Class are extremely reliable & always meet our requirements, at times with great ingenuity! We value highly the service they provide & do not therefore use any other supply agency” Special Needs School, Newcastle.

A first class service from a first class agency! Thank you and well done!” Secondary School, North Tyneside.

“I would recommend First Class to any Headteacher with confidence. Lesley & Steph are part of our team” Primary School, Newcastle.

“You never let me down. I trust you completely for all my supply staff needs” Middle School, Northumberland.

You won’t find an agency with more thorough vetting procedures!