A YORK-BASED education recruitment agency is branching out into West Yorkshire, as it opens a new office in Leeds this summer.

Supported Recruitment Ltd is nearly two years old and has brought Helen Russell on board, as co-director at Supported Recruitment Leeds.

She will head up the Leeds operation alongside fellow director James Robinson. Together they will retain all of the values and ethos which has made Supported Recruitment such a success over the past two years.

Supported Recruitment, which is run by teachers for teachers, currently supplies and recruits staff for primary schools in York and the surrounding region. The new Leeds base means that they will be able to provide their services across more of Yorkshire. The team at Supported are passionate about supplying and recruiting teachers who are properly prepared to take on a teaching role. They also have specialist teaching coaches who support their supply teachers by working alongside them in the classroom.

Helen is a qualified teacher with over 13 years’ experience of senior leadership across the primary phase. She started her teaching career in Barnsley, specialising in the early years and KS1 phases and has held Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher positions in Penistone. She also has extensive experience supporting teachers, RQTs, NQTs, students and Teaching Assistants across a large three-form entry school, making her a perfect fit for the Supported team.

Director and founder of Supported Recruitment, Richard Robinson said: “We’re thrilled to have Helen joining us and are very excited to extend the business further into Yorkshire. Helen’s passion for education and continual drive to ensure all children and staff become ‘the best versions of themselves’ and her obvious commitment to ensuring staff feel valued and supported to progress and enjoy their teaching careers, chimes perfectly with our mission to do everything we can to make sure our supply teachers are supported to be successful.”

Helen said: “I’ve loved my teaching career so far and have particularly enjoyed mentoring and coaching colleagues across the primary phase, identifying personal strengths and designing bespoke CPD opportunities to ensure all members of the team succeed. I can now bring all of this experience to Supported Recruitment, working with Richard, James and the team to get the best for our supply teachers and the schools in which they are placed. I’m really looking forward to this next phase of my career.”

Over the last year, Supported Recruitment have worked with more than 20 schools and now have over 40 teachers who are registered with them and ready to work in primary schools in the new academic year. These teachers all have the opportunity to take full advantage of the support that is offered by the Supported Recruitment coaches.