Hi, I'm wondering what, if anything, people might suggest me doing in these circumstances:
I have always found my job very stressful (teacher) but soldiered on as best I could. When an opportunity arose at work to reduce my hours to PT (3 full days a week) I did. This was around 3 years ago. Since then I've had my second child and informally requested to further reduce my hours when I return from maternity leave in May. This was declined and shortly after the school informed me that they we restructuring my working pattern. This would mean changing my 3 full days to x3 mornings and a full day (same hours, but spread out to include an extra morning).
Since finding out, I'm really struggling to accept the change mentally. I've been very stressed and not able to think about much else. It's impacting my remaining maternity leave. The extra 2 days I had off in the week meant a lot and I do activities with my child that I'll now have to cancel - which is really upsetting me. I feel like it's going to impact my work-life balance significantly. It'll also be a nightmare with childcare and I'll be forced to spend extra money on nursery fees.
My family have a significant mental health background. My mum has diagnosed bipolar which work related stress was a catalyst for. My auntie (mum's sister) suffered depression and ultimately committed suicide as a result.
I don't want to go down the same path but feel utterly devastated with change to my working days and can't seem to get out of this negative thought spiral.
Any suggestions, thoughts, opinions or just a hand-hold would be appreciated.
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Mental health
Work related stress and anxiety
PartTimeTeacher · 28/03/2024 09:31
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PartTimeTeacher · 30/03/2024 13:22
@Mary7241, I've never seen a directed time calendar in the 8/9 years I've worked there! 🙈
I could increase my hours to work the full day but it wouldn't be worth the extra stress, especially as it'd cost around £50 more in childcare for both kids for an extra 1.5-2hrs pay.
@Princessfluffy, unfortunately there's not many vacancies in/around my area for primary schools (there are a few for secondaries) and even less for part time positions. I feel like I'd be out of the frying pan and into the fire if I left purely because of the change to my shift patterns when it wouldn't be an improvement to my hours.
@Nicetobenice67, while I appreciate what you're saying, I'm not asking to pick or choose anything. I'm simply expressing my stress/disappointment/anxiety at the school (out of the blue) changing my contracted working days. Given that, as I say, it's very unexpected and I'm on my maternity leave, I really don't think I'm the one being unreasonable.
I'm already trying to seek support but waiting lists are long in my area.
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