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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Is part time teaching worth it?

57 replies

Stealmysunshine503 · 14/08/2022 12:33

The school haven't advertised whether it's 0.6, 0.8 etc. So I'll need to find out first..it does appeal to me but at the time I'm worried about being expected to do full time work for part time pay. It depends on the school I guess..does anybody here/has anybody here done part time school work and found it suited them? It's secondary MFL

OP posts:

cansu · 14/08/2022 12:36

Depends how part time it is. I think if you are 0.6 or less then yes you can hold the line between home and school. I think 0.8 and above you tend to end up being essentially in charge of everything so you may have some shared classes and you will end up being largely in charge of the workload for those classes. E.g setting cover, doing all reports etc.

Seaweasel · 14/08/2022 12:36

Would be a nope from me. IME some jobs just aren't worth doing part time and teaching's one of them. PT you end up doing loads of unpaid (unless you are extremely disciplined and experienced) and people still don't take you seriously. If you are going to do loads of work, you may as well get the pay and pension benefit, IME.

noblegiraffe · 14/08/2022 12:41

Depends on what you mean by 'worth it', and it also depends on whether the school are good or shit for part-timers.

If you are looking for a part time teaching job where on 0.6 you get two days off a week, you could well be out of luck and actually be teaching 5 days a week but with the odd afternoon or morning off, and a bunch of unpaid trapped time. Definitely worth checking in advance what your timetable would look like. Some schools also use part-timers to teach random subjects to fill gaps in the timetable.

Part-time teaching in general, for me, makes the job actually doable.

Are you a qualified teacher?

maizeymazemaze · 14/08/2022 12:41

Don't do 0.8. I've taken a £10k pay cut, to have five days shoved into four, it's been the most stressful year in nearly 15 years of teaching, I am going back to full time.

maizeymazemaze · 14/08/2022 12:42

And yes to shared classes, planning cover (yes really!) for the other teacher to teach on my 'day off'. Worst decision I've made!!!!!

cansu · 14/08/2022 12:44

I think you will need to be very clear on what days you will work. I have seen schools which try and spread out the hours over lots of days. If I was going to work 0.6 I would be very clear that I am available for three days and I would specify which ones. You also need to be very organised and able to push back. For example be clear from the start on the number of patents evenings and pd days you will be doing. Dont wait for them to come around. You may find an assumption that you will do them all etc etc. Some heads don't know the rules themselves and will try and say that you must attend training even when you are not contracted for that day etc.

maizeymazemaze · 14/08/2022 12:45

Oh, and I end up working on my day off anyway, as obvs lose frees, so no time for planning/marking/assessment/report writing etc when in school.

Bringon2023 · 14/08/2022 12:46

Well I love it! I'm part time 0.8 after many years of full time. I do sometimes do work on my day off (my choice) but then it means I get my weekend back. It's also bliss having a midweek day off for all your appointments and life admin! The overall workload is less too, because I have fewer classes so fewer reports and books to mark. I also don't have to attend meetings and training days if it falls on my day off. However, parents evenings I still have to go to even if on my day off. The salary is obviously less and it might impact your pension so look into that properly too. If I want to top up my earnings I can do supply on my day off. My school is good with part timers and try to accommodate whole days off etc. I would never go back full time unless I had to financially.

cansu · 14/08/2022 12:46

I have done 0.8 and did end up planning lessons for the teacher who did my lessons on my day off. It was a joke really.

maizeymazemaze · 14/08/2022 12:46

Final point, not sure if you are primary or secondary, but I have to do parents evenings on a different evening as they fall on my day off, and technically should be doing 0.8 of them, but I've ended up doing them all anyway, as you can't exactly do half a parents evening!!!!

ednatheevilwitch · 14/08/2022 12:47

It wasn't for me. I went from full time which meant working all weekend to 0.6 which mean working all week and having my weekends free. It was demoralising thinking that I would have a better hourly rate of pay and less stress if I worked in tescos. I went agency in the end but that also has drawbacks!

hoglethotel · 14/08/2022 12:47

I'm part time (0.8) and would never work FT again. Personally, I find the one day off is enough for me to do my marking etc so I actually get a weekend. I did work full time a few years back, but found teaching took over my life, so I went part time again and am much happier for it. As I'm also secondary (now college) it's not more work - I just teach less classes.

Main downside is that over 0.5, teachers are expected to do all the open days parents evenings etc, which can be a bit annoying as you're not paid the same for them. I'm also hod, so have to do everything that needs doing for that, as much as a full timer.

But, I wouldn't change it and wouldn't go FT again. Teaching just overtakes so much, I like having the day off to maintain the work,

monkeysox · 14/08/2022 12:48

As long as it's full days it's fine. Just make sure you have a break. 0.8 was full time for me. Pointless.

Mississipi71 · 14/08/2022 12:50

I was a part time agency teacher. The disadvantage for me was that you never had the same time to plan as full time lecturers. That included the demands placed on course tutors, but without having the time to revisit initial assessments/check progress of students etc. Marking was also included in my rate of pay, so I did a lot of unpaid work. If you are going permanent, you will still feel those constraints. All of this is before you get into the psychology of the role. It is bloody stressful and for little reward.

Original poster

Stealmysunshine503 · 14/08/2022 12:51

Thanks for all these replies, i will take everything on board. I will make sure it's days off included

OP posts:

BeanieTeen · 14/08/2022 12:55

Depends on whether it’s 0.6 or 0.8. You need to find that out ASAP.

I do 0.6, I job share with another teacher who is also 0.6, so it’s all on equal footing. We share out things like reports, SEND admin, take turns making seating plans, meetings with parents on our respective days, inputting data, all that kind of general stuff. Love it by the way.

Another teacher dropped from full time to 0.8 and a PPA cover teacher covers her day out. She doesn’t plan for that day but everything else I’ve mentioned above she is responsible for. Basically, same responsibility as full time, albeit one less day of teaching, but less pay.

So I personally would not go for 0.8.

Bringon2023 · 14/08/2022 13:07

I think it's very different being part time if secondary instead of primary. Most of these responses sound like it is coming from a primary teacher. In secondary you generally don't have someone cover your classes on your day off, you just have fewer groups or teaching periods.

Original poster

Stealmysunshine503 · 14/08/2022 13:11

Sorry I didn't mention yes it's secondary

OP posts:

Whiteandyellowdaisy · 14/08/2022 13:13

I love teaching part time (secondary.) It is perfect and I hope I never have to go back to full time!

Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas · 14/08/2022 13:17

Depends on the school. We used to do shared planning and I was given more year groups to plan for than the other full time member of the department. The school had no way to share info from teacher training days or meeting which I wasn’t in and my head of department didn’t share essential information.

Flibbyjibby · 14/08/2022 13:24

I went back to work part time in January (0.8, secondary teacher) and to be honest it felt like I was just doing full time work but on less pay. Still expected to do the same amount of cover as other members of staff despite being part time, ending up using my day off as a planning day because I was left with barely any PPA time in the rest of the week. Honestly, if I didn’t need the day off for childcare then I would be going back up to full time and the workload would be no more than it is now. I am now on second mat leave and toying with the idea of returning at 0.6, but whether that will be even more unmanageable remains to be seen!

Bluepolkadots42 · 14/08/2022 13:30

I taught 0.8 secondary for 3 years whilst job sharing my TLR role and would definitely do it again.
As others have said though you need to be sure the 0.6 or 0.8 is done as full days- the same every week.
Other things to get in writing would be that you attend 0.8 worth of meetings and parents evenings. The school should provide you with your own prp rata directed time calendar. When I was 0.8 I discussed with my subject line manager which CPD sessions and parents evenings I would attend to make 0.8 worth. Was nice to be able to leave at usual time on some days that after school CPD was running because they weren't on my agreed list to attend.
I would read all my emails that came through on my day off whilst LO was napping and sometimes would action a few things but generally would try not to send emails- especially not to parents- on my day off, as I didn't want this to become expected.

Varoty · 14/08/2022 13:30

You will absolutely be expected to work full time. They’ll probably demand you do training on your days off, or attend meetings, or cover for colleagues. And it’s very common for them to demand that you provide materials for the other teacher to deliver on your day off. In fact they may not even employ another teacher, just a min wage TA, and then expect you to provide work for the TA to deliver - then mark it yourself! So you need to make sure it’s not only 0.6 teaching but also 0.6 prep and marking.

Having said that - part time as a teacher is probably 40 hours, which would be full time in any other job. So it’s worth considering just getting another job.

hoglethotel · 14/08/2022 13:32

@Varoty

"You will absolutely be expected to work full time. They’ll probably demand you do training on your days off, or attend meetings, or cover for colleagues. And it’s very common for them to demand that you provide materials for the other teacher to deliver on your day off. In fact they may not even employ another teacher, just a min wage TA, and then expect you to provide work for the TA to deliver - then mark it yourself! So you need to make sure it’s not only 0.6 teaching but also 0.6 prep and marking."

I assume you're primary, because the OP is Secondary MFL. This absolutely does not happen in secondary - you are just given fewer classes to teach.

NoNameIdeas · 14/08/2022 13:44

I went back 0.6 after my first maternity leave, increased to 0.8 after 2 years and have just finished my first year back at 0.8 after maternity leave 2. I'm going back full time in September!!! Totally depends on the school/your support but I've found 0.8 really tough, basically full time without the pay! 0.6 was more of a balance but obviously lots less money!

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