Any Teachers just returned after maternity leave??

[goldilocksandmylittlebear]

Has anyone just returned after a year out and drowning all ready??

All the new frameworks are driving me made, a job share in itself is so different and I'm wondering how long it will take to feel like i'm getting there???

Anyone else feeling the same?

[racingsnake]

I have been back at work for over a year an still can't grasp how the Primary Strategy works. According to my HT, now that I am part time I have to pay myself for training courses, so I suspect the Strategy is going to remain a mystery.
I also feel totally out of touch in the staff room (no bad thing), don't really know the new staff and no longer have my own classroom to myself to organise as I please.
On the plus side, staff room politics (and nobody out of school would realise how deadly they can be!) seem irrelevant, and year 3 and 4 cn look at any number of pictures of my two-year old. There is also now a limit on the number of hours I can stay in the evening, so I am usually home by 6. Soon apparently to experience OfSTED as a part timer.

[augustmum]

I've been back at work for 6 months and equally frustrated but for slightly different reasons
Requested PT hours and was moved to doing PPA cover rather than the job share I was hoping for. Still feel like an outsider (only at the school 3 terms before starting mat leave) and getting no experience of Lit / Num as I am working afternoons only.
Considering handing my notice in and looking for a full time job but really don't want to leave DS.
Also have OFSTED looming.
Aaaagh!

[racingsnake]

Yes, I'm doing a lot of PPA cover. It's no fun compared to having your own class. You do feel out of it and that the teachers don't actually care about what you are doing - that may be why they gave it up for PPA. Luckily I have a class for the whole day on Fridays and that reminds me why I took up teaching.
Frequent shorter OFSTEDs mean that they can loom almost constantly now. Is this really progress? We seem to have stopped doing anything fun at our school because 'OFSTED is coming soon.' We are doing a lot of spelling tests though.

[goldilocksandmylittlebear]

It's so hard. I don't work on staff meeting days so attend very little and feel out of the loop often. I am also finding it so much harder to get my class 'where I want them' as I only have them P/T and my job share is well........a nightmare. I think a lot of P/T teachers feel like outsiders and there always seems to be conflict about INSET days etc

[racingsnake]

And since I don't go to staff meetings, I always seem to find that classroom assistant training etc happens on my days while outside visitors, concerts etc are NEVER on my days!

[goldilocksandmylittlebear]

Sounds familiar!