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?

Actually scurry, I don't agree that maternity leave doesn't affect children's education.

It absolutely does. Getting new teacher part way through the year is not optimal. Maternity cover are often less experienced, younger teachers and will take time to settle down.

However, I believe that women have an absolute right to maternity leave and that a school, and its pupils, will just have to make the best arrangements they can.

On the other hand, there is no automatic right to "job sharing" and I think it's taking the piss to be pushing this onto pupils.

nice attitude to part-time workers there. If you were ever an employer, attitudes like that would end up in an expensive and embarrassing tribunal. Which your company would lose.

Not so bright, really, is it?

well i have done many a maternity leave
i have taught for years.
I am "inspirational" according to OFSTED

so do feck off

I don't think teachers are shit.

I think they are great.

I just don't think they should be job sharing. IMO it's not a job that job sharing suits and shouldn't be forced to become one just because it is seen as a woman's job.

It's an important job, and if you don't want to do it properly then give it up.

Just don't expect my children to have a compromised education so you can work the days you fancy.

Gross generalisation about who covers maternity leave too.

Children are very adaptable -that is the magic thing about the national curriculum, it doesn't matter who teaches it, so long as they are qualified.

btw, ds's class has job share teachers (Yr 3). Seems to work fine - they are an established partnership and I'm impressed with both of them (all three of us are governors so I see them operating a bit more than the other parents). Actually it's particularly impressive that they volunteered to be joint staff governors given they are part time and we've had trouble recruiting staff governors.

It will be fine. Different teachers give different perspectives. DD1's class in Yr 2 had a final year teaching student who came in an was pretty much solely responsible for them for 1 term, with their teacher looking on. It was great - there were things he had a different take on from their regular teacher - for example, maths really "clicked" for DD during that term in a way that it hadn't before (and hasn't since ).

Ofsted wouldn't know "inspirational" if it bit them in the arse.

And it doesn't change the fact that a lot of people who cover maternity leave are at the start of their career.

Hence not having a full-time contract.

Oh, and ds has been in a class where his teacher has suddenly had to go on long-term sick. This was a teacher who was in her 50s. The school handled it very well, I had no reason to have any concerns about his education at all.

Anyone, in any job, can be taken ill suddenly/be run over by a bus. If you employ people, you have to accept that they are mere human beings who will at some point get ill/have babies (men contribute to this process, you know...)/ even die.

The "magic" thing about the national curriculum is that everyone who isn't in England looks at it and sniggers.

I don't know, we can't win can we?! I was contemplating going back ft before I had ds and every other teacher I mentioned this to thought I was mental!

Now apparently is unfair to pupils to be pt.

Again,

Oh- Shammalamma- agreed about supply teacher/maternity cover- I've worked with some excellent teachers who do this.

spidookly, are you someone who has been refused flexible working hours or are you just a bloke?

"I was contemplating going back ft before I had ds and every other teacher I mentioned this to thought I was mental!"

That pretty much says it all.

Only read Op, but my Ds had 4 different teachers during year 4 and it was extremely disruptive for the children. I'm thankful that they weren't in a SAT's year.

So, YANBU

A lot of supply teachers are v experienced and semi-retired/returning after break in career for example

"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."

Ah, I see - I'm going to stop reading any of spidookly's posts now because clearly she's living in some sort of parallel universe where she can make up what she feels like.
And of course she'll reply with an angry post relating something from her own experience and I could do the same thing but I won't waste my time.

As you were, then, back to the story....

I'm just someone who thinks that schools shouldn't be organised around the preferred working hours of women who can't quite commit to being SAHMs.

Young and inexperienced - maybe but not necessarily worse. Dd1's teacher in year 1 went on maternity leave and the cover was fabulous. Her original teacher was and is an evil witch and despite being mad keen on hockey and a member of local team she won't go to school hockey club because it's run by that cow. Wish she'd sprog again to get rid of her.

scurry - it was only after the male head took over at the infant school that the job shares started to happen (the old head was good, and ran a tight ship, but she was rather old fashioned, a bit scary (to parents) and not overly popular with the staff).

Thankfully rather than lose two brilliant (quite newly qualified as it happens) teachers when they had their first babies (both talked about not wanting to go back to teaching full time) he kept them both (and added 2 more part time staff as well in a similar position) and so it was a win win situation for everyone

spidookly - why are you trying to be so unpleasant? Can you really not accept that pt working can have advantages for both sides? You sound very misogynistic!

Baroque, I made that reference as spidookly's attitude is frighteningly like a dominant male's attitude of keeping women firmly in their place.

I like to think that job conditions are based intelligently to attract the best possible people for the job, not to conform to some out moded stereotype.

Oh yes - and what about the male teachers I know who work part-time?

I think your OP is extremely sexist and you should get a grip. Should women not teach just in case they have babies? I think you should accept SATs are worthless and mean nothing, a good teacher can both set children up to cope with their departure and bond very quickly with a class in order to get through a short term.

No, not necessarily worse at all.

But it is bullshit to claim that it is not disruptive to a class to have the teacher change half way through a year.

It is disruptive, but you minimise the disruption, and work around it and hope the same children won't end up having maternity leaves every year.

But if you add on top of that that teachers can't even be expected to work a full week (of primary school days), and must switch over halfway through the week, then you are building disruption into the school week entirely to benefit teachers, ignoring what is best for their pupils.

When schools start advertising to have 2 teachers working half the week for all classes because they think it's better than having 1, then I'll believe that it's a "win win" for everyone.