What are supplementary schools?

There are estimated to be over 2,200 supplementary and mother-tongue schools in England. These schools supplement mainstream education by providing educational opportunities for pupils mainly from minority ethnic communities.

Supplementary and mother-tongue schools are managed and run by local groups, including newly arrived communities. They take place in a variety of venues including mosques, churches, temples, gurdwaras, community centres and schools. Most supplementary and mother-tongue schools operate in the evenings and at weekends.

Activities can include:

• helping pupils with their national curriculum subjects, particularly mathematics, English and science
• learning about the history and culture of the community
• teaching pupils their mother-tongue language and other languages of a cultural or religious significance.

Why teach in a supplementary school?

If you have teaching experience, teaching in a supplementary school can be a good way of maintaining your skills while you are thinking of your next step. Many supplementary schools help pupils with national curriculum subjects so this could be an opportunity to familiarise yourself with mainstream education.

If you don’t have teaching experience but want to use your subject knowledge this can be a good way of developing teaching skills and building your confidence in a community environment.

For those teaching in supplementary schools, there is training available at the London-based National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education. Local authorities and supplementary schools' forums sometimes provide support and training to supplementary school teachers in their local area. 

For more information on supplementary and mother-tongue schools visit their website here.