Pregnant Teachers March 8th

[MrsPea93]

Hi lovely mummies to be,

I'll be 16 weeks when I return to school on March 8th. I teach maths in a high school, in a teeny tiny classroom with 35 desks crammed in and often packed to the brim of teenagers!! I teach y9-13 so my youngest students are around 14 and the eldest 18. We have large classes, 33/34/35 etc.

How are you all feeling about returning? Is there anything specific your schools are doing for you to mitigate risk of exposure? I love my job but I am incredibly anxious. I've actually barely left the house since Christmas really except for the odd walk.

I know from 28 weeks it's looking like we can potentially wfh but feels a longggg way off!!

Thank you

Hey! There’s a really similar thread to this posted recently so you might want to look on there aswell to get more views on it. I’m the exact same as you but I’ll be 22 weeks when we go back. Really don’t want to! Had my risk assessment today with HR and unless the guidance changes I’ll be wfh from 28 weeks. Nothing else specifically was done but I’ve organised stuff myself like asked to be on outside only duties. I’ll also be just extremely careful so doing all the covid measures to the extreme!

@katiemumma20

Hey! There’s a really similar thread to this posted recently so you might want to look on there aswell to get more views on it. I’m the exact same as you but I’ll be 22 weeks when we go back. Really don’t want to! Had my risk assessment today with HR and unless the guidance changes I’ll be wfh from 28 weeks. Nothing else specifically was done but I’ve organised stuff myself like asked to be on outside only duties. I’ll also be just extremely careful so doing all the covid measures to the extreme!

Ahh thank you, I tried to look for one. Will definitely have a look again. Pleased you've had your risk assessment meeting, it is an anxious time isn't it. Yep I think we just have to be really strict. I plan to mostly hide in my classroom whenever not teaching and stay well away from our communal maths office and staff room etc. The only saving grace I can think of is that we had a lot of Covid in school Sep-Dec and I didn't catch it then so hopefully the hand washing and Sanitising really works! Best of luck to you!! And roll on 28 weeks!

Sorry to be dumb but I thought the guidance was if you couldn't stay 2m away from people, 1m with masks it was work from home after 28 weeks? I can see how a primary school teacher would find this impossible but secondary school should be different. I realise it's not ideal at all being in a room with 30+ others. Is a genuine question as I am in a similar position myself and over 28 weeks, and don't expect there to be any discussion about me working from home.

@cretelover I think it's generally down to each individual school and a discussion to be had with HR, SLT and yourself. My school have opted to allow staff to wfh from 28 weeks simply because we have a very old school, busy with lots of students and because the classrooms are small it is difficult to socially distance in the front row. My front 8 students are not 2m away from me, for example. Other schools may reach different conclusions. I guess it just depends what you and your HR rep decide between you.

@cretelover I'm not sure how the guidance will change now we are allowed to wear masks. My school said this would be the case prior to that announcement so I think things are changing all of the time.

Thanks both for replying. My school or rather my building is quite modern so slightly different situation. I'm glad we can all wear masks now although I might not be saying thay once I've worn one all day! I doubt I'll be allowed to wfh. I'm actually admin staff and not easy to do my job from home. Roll on maternity leave!

I’m just 6 weeks pregnant and due to go back on the 8th too. I’m feeling really nervous and anxious because no one knows I’m pregnant yet except for me and my partner. Do you think I should tell my headteacher and HR so they can do a risk a assessment?

@cretelover I agree with the others, think it’s down to individual schools although I’ve asked a lot of pregnant teachers at this point and haven’t come across one who hasn’t been told to wfh by now! I think secondary is just as risky as primary, like @MrsPea93 my front row is not 2m away from where I stand. Plus I have to walk through busy narrow corridors to get to the loo multiple times a day, and a fair amount of students are exempt from wearing masks, so for me that easily fits the criteria of not being able to stay 2m away/ 1m with masks. Although primary may be worse at social distancing and not wearing masks, primary students don’t spread the virus as much as secondary (last time I checked the data!) so each are risky in their own ways and i think most schools are allowing wfh from 28 weeks thank goodness! If you think the risks are low for your particular situation you may not need to, if you’re admin staff I’m presuming you can mostly do your work in an office away from the children. The guidance is to either go to a non face to face role or to wfh so you’re covered and should be really safe if you’re not in the classroom/ can avoid busy hallways etc! X

hasn’t been told to wfh by 28 weeks (don’t know why I wrote by now!). @Shell90* I told my school at 8 weeks but they didn’t do a risk assessment until later on but your school might be different. It might make you feel better to tell them? I waited for my first early scan xx

@Shell90

I’m just 6 weeks pregnant and due to go back on the 8th too. I’m feeling really nervous and anxious because no one knows I’m pregnant yet except for me and my partner. Do you think I should tell my headteacher and HR so they can do a risk a assessment?

@Shell90 congratulations! I ended up telling my HR rep and HoD around 6 weeks too because I was worried about being on the key worker rota. I asked them to keep it on a need to know basis and they handled everything very confidentially and were still able to look out for me. I guess it's just whatever you're comfortable with but remember if you don't tell HR then they won't be doing anything differently with regards to your safety so for me that outweighed any pride I had about waiting until further down the line. I hope that helps! It really is such an unprecedented time atm - if there was no Covid I would have definitely waited!

Unfortunately I have been forced to take my maternity leave early. Starting from when we go back. Even though I'm 30 weeks, I was risk assessed and apparently can social distance and therefore can continue working. I just don't feel safe.

@MooreLew

They can’t force you to start leave, please do not accept that. If they are unwilling to support your safety, you need go to your GP and get signed off until 36 weeks (when they legally can). Can self certify for the first week. Make sure it’s pregnancy related. Also contact your union ASAP. Yours and babies safety are paramount.

This is why I’m so angry at the ‘advice’. It isn’t about safety, it comes down to how supportive your school is. I’m secondary so ‘can’ social distance.... and I can if I stand in the corridor whilst the kids are in my room. There isn’t 2m between kids and walls, let alone with my pregnant ass taking space.

Our school is allowing pregnant women to work from home from 28 weeks but before that they are doing a risk assessment and having to teach face to face as normal. The risk assessment is a tick box exercise and totally pointless.

This is why I am holding off TTC until next year!

@OverTheRainbow88 I could have written exactly the same for my school. I didn’t put off TTC as we were on an IVF waiting list scheduled for March 2020 and then lockdown happened. We didn’t have time on our side so took the first available appointment when fertility clinics reopened.