to feel put out about pregnant teacher?

[SoChangingMyNameForThis]

I'm more after a reality check from your lovely ladies than a rant, honest. DD1 is in year 2 and her teachers have a job share, one Mon to Wed and the other does Thur to Fri. No major issues there but we've just learned that the teacher doing Thur & Fri is pregnant, baby due in April. I can't help feeling a bit put out because she knew she was pregnant when she started the job, but at the same time I feel IABU because such is life and teachers are entitled to have children too!!! So, whilst I battle with the different thoughts in my head, could you please help me put this into perspective? I mean, they're going to have a new part time teacher for just three months at the end of the year, it is SATS as well, what value can the children extract from this? Can this change affect their learning negatively?

what's wrong with the job share spidookly??

spidookly - interesting - I guess you've had a bad experience of job share, then? I know it doesn't always work out brilliantly, but when it's done properly I think that jobshare can be better than one teacher.

gather this is your 1st,by number 2 you wont give a fig and just be glad their at bloomin school

you could always home ed if it was that much of a issue

It'll be great for your DD to see that women with paid jobs outside the home can have babies. Then, if she sees the teacher back in school after her maternity leave ends, she will have before her a positive model of someone combining work & parenthood.

This is a brilliant opportunity to talk about different ways of working and raising families with your DD and to show her that there are lots of potential ways to lead her life.

I work in education and, due to a childcare crisis, had to bring my DC into work for a couple of hours. It showed students that I have a life outside college and that I don't live in a drawer in my filing cabinet at the weekends. Some of them said it was good to see evidence of teachers being human and having lives of their own.

Why the problem with jobshares spidookly?

Teaching a class full time is a 60-70 hour a week job- teachers would never get to spend any time with their own children.

Chain them up - that'll stop them having a life outside your own individual child. In fact - soon as they invent robot teachers we'll all be better off - they can live at school and be re-programmed at the drop of a hat.

How would you feel if someone had turned around and complained about YOU being pregnant in your job? Why is it even REMOTELY acceptable to do it in the case of teachers?

First of all, teaching a primary school class is not a 60-70 hour job unless you are utterly shit at your job.

Does anyone actually believe that shit? I know lots of primary school teachers, it's a bitch hard job, but it does not take up lots of time.

Job shares for primary school teachers are ridiculous, because primary school children should have one teacher per year.

If that doesn't suit you, then get another job.

It doesn't suit my boss for me to do my job part time, so I either quit or I work full time.

I'm fucked if I can see why schools should be arranged around the needs of teachers and not those of pupils.

The OP is saying that the teacher knew she was pregnant when she started the job - ie in September, not when she interviewed for the job.

so what
its only a bluddy primary school
get over it

Umm... is this our school, I wonder?

think your job share thing is based on gut feeling not evidence
who come in year 7 suddenly having 10 teachers is ok/
imo job share can work very very well

you are being a nonce

How incredibly offensive. I actually believe that I'm very good at my job thanks. And yes- 60-70 hours per week when I was full time.

I got in at 7.30 each day to set up. Meetings, after school clubs, seeing parents etc meant that I rarely left before 5.30/6. I would then take home marking/planning each night and at weekends. Plus the christmas show took up loads of time in the run up to xmas, parents evenings, reports etc.

FFS.

Well, Spidookly, I've actually preferred the years in which my kids have a jobshare teaching arrangement. The Thursday teacher arrives all bright eyed midweek instead of dazedly looking forward to the weekend by then.

And I say this as someone who has worked as a teacher, is the child of teachers, half my family are teachers, and I'm normally 100% behind teachers on these kinds of arguments.

But things like primary school teachers going part time, or parent evenings being in the afternoon make me fucking furious. And did even when I was a childless teacher.

If you organise a workplace entirely around the wishes of staff, ignoring what the job actually requires, it's only a matter of time before ALL employees in the organisation get a reputation for being lazy, useless and self-serving.

no tbh 60 hours is a massive overwork
you are obsessive not a good teacher

My dcs have had several pregnant teachers - it's not a problem as long as the school finds a decent mat cover. Agree don't worry about yr 2 SATS - they are meaningless.

Some people are fond of saying that junior schools take a lot of notice of them - IME they don't - they check the children's abilities for themselves.

Also think it's important not to be negative about the new teacher in front of your DD1 - I know that sounds obvious but the number of people i've heard saying 'I'm gutted Mrs. Jones is leaving...' and then they wonder why their DC's not keen when new teacher arrives.

Everyone believes they're good at their job.

But anyone who actually is good at their job can get it done efficiently.

Which is NOT 60-70 hours to teach primary school.

What a fucking joke.

spidookly, I think you are right regarding hours of work. An efficient teacher doesn't need to do that, it may just be bad time management.

The issue here though is job sharing and pregnancy which does not effect a child's education at all.

Shammalamma- this is standard amongst all staff at my school

I'm not saying extra hours makes me a good teacher- I'm saying that's the time it all takes when ft class teacher in (my) school.

Thanks for making judgement on my teaching abilities though.

FWIW I work 4 days covering other teacher's PPA. I just happen to have know many a successful jobshare.

"It'll be great for your DD to see that women with paid jobs outside the home can have babies"

You mean it will be great for your DD to see that there are certain protected parts of the public sector that are just perfect for women to "work" in.

They can sort out hours entirely to suit themselves and show up pretty much when they feel like it.

Couple of days a week for a bit of pin money, make sure the husband brings home the actual dough.

What a great lesson.

I don't know about that spiddookly.

6 classes in our infant school. 8 teachers. (4 part time).One (full time) currently pregnant. Works well for the children and the staff

You are being insulting now. There are far more part time workers in the private sector than public.

Even if she did know she was pregnant (which I think a poster has explained wouldn't have happened re: interviewing processes in schools), YABVVVVVU.

Female teachers have just as much right to raise a family as male ones. And they should be able to do it on their schedule, just like male employees. If the school and teaching is any good/organised this is a minor blip and part of the schooling process; if it turns into a major barrier to your child's success, I think you have bigger fish to fry than questioning her timing (I know that you appear to have been quite reasonable, OP :) but it does strike me as unfair that females at work are questionned routinely re: timing of their children, when men get off scot free due to not taking so much time off - we should accept this is just the way it is in 2010, and not let this get in the way of the grand scheme of things really).

YABU. Maternity leave happens.

pin money
oh listen to yourself
why not home ed if you are so awseome and teachers so shit