26+4 weeks teacher

[Lfjrjcjsjaja]

I am really anxious about returning tomorrow, Ive been stressed and snappy all day! I asked about wfh from 28 weeks well before Christmas and was told that I would hear before we broke up but I didnt.
I dont like confrontation and find it a huge source of stress, and now it feels like I am going to have to start all over again in my request etc.

Have any other teachers been allowed to wfh in tbe 3rd trimester?

Thanks for reading!

I’m 24+5 and going back Wednesday for 2 weeks then I’ll be WFH from 28 weeks
X

I’m 35 weeks and back to work tomorrow then I’m starting maternity on Monday. I am starting maternity earlier than I’d hoped because I am just so anxious about Covid: I’ve been vaccinated but the thought of my partner not being able to come with me when I’m in Labour really scares me. I asked if I could change my role within school or work from home and was told that the only way anything would change was if I was signed off sick. However, a friend of mine has just had her baby and she was put into an admin role from 28 weeks, wfh from 33 I believe.

Secondary school teacher here- been wfh since 28wks. On mat leave now though. I was lucky my MAT still had it as their policy in September that all third tri teachers could wfh if they wished. NEU are still advocating this for teachers in third tri. I would contact
Your line manager once more to ask for it to be confirmed that you can wfh and perhaps send a list of tasks you feel you could still carry out.
I taught my full timetable remotely over Teams whilst a cover teacher was in room with kids. I also attended all external agency meetings, parent/carer meetings remotely, delivered assemblies remotely and created resources for my department. I initially went
Into school v early like 6.45 once a week to collect and return assessments and then in final half term a colleague did this for me and I picked work up from her house at weekend.
Good luck and get union involved if
You are a member and your school is difficult.

I'm only 24 weeks but my school have said it is no longer the policy to work from home from 28 weeks so basically it's not an option. As it happens, I ended up with covid just before Christmas 🙈
However, I am still feeling anxious about being back. My only option has been to get out on reduced hours through a sick note (there are other health issues affecting me though), and I will be going on maternity earlier though (7 weeks before section date)

I've got my third trimester risk assessment at the end of January when there's expected to be a spike and although I am anxious about covid, working from home at my school is an absolute pain in the arse. I'd have to teach all of my lessons as normal and be projected onto the board as a google meet whilst cover does crowd control. For me it just seems like more hassle.

What does everyone else's "working from home" entail?

@Ems2021 if you get signed off with pregnancy related stuff they can make you start your mat leave early. I think you need to go to your union. The guidance is that if your employer has to make your job role as safe as possible and try and allow for you to WFH if they can. I don’t think you should be in especially given the current situation

I cant afford to take early maternity leave unfortunately, but I m seriously considering being signed off as the stress of it all is affecting me so much! It was lovely to forget about work over the holidays but the anxiety is back today I suffer from anxiety anyway although usually quite high functioning. I was signed off from a similar point in my last pregnancy because of the stress and pressure being piled on at work and its even worse this time!

I also dont want to let down my classes, which is why I gave them plenty of notice of my intention, but I wasnt given a yes or no and they have made no alternative plan!

@Ems2021 what does your risk assessment say? You should have one in place as standard as a pregnant employee and it should be updated in light of omicron cases surge and again when you reach 28wks. RCOG released guidance saying distancing was v important for women in 3rd tri as well as outlined the increase in risk of stillbirth and premature birth for women who contacted covid in 3rd tri. If your school cannot adequately mitigate the risk of eg not ensure distancing for you then I would get union involved and/or also request an occupational health referral. I’ve heard from a number of teachers that have had success in getting wfh or moved out of classroom to admin duties by involving Occ health.
It’s disgraceful you would be forced to sacrifice 7 weeks of mat leave prior to a planned c sec in that way.
I also highly recommend you check out teachersspl.co.uk and see if SPL could help you gain some of that time and money back!! I’m doing SPL this time round and will Be getting paid for May half term, summer hols and Oct half term

I was told by one of ALT it would be a mix of pre recording lessons and possibly some lives for our trusts APEX centre- when I spoke to the head though she said feasibly the only way it could be possible is if we have an IT suite for all my lessons and teach live on Teams- i am well used to teaching on Teams, but this seems intense for me as our lessons are 70 mins and the expectation with the live element before was 15-20 mins then independent work. So even WFH is going to be stressful!

@robyna I’m teaching my KS4&5 classes with a supply in for year 10-13. My ks3 classes are being covered. I’ll be doing admin and department tasks as well as some bits for HOY role. It’s not ideal as I’d much prefer to be with my classes and it will probably be weird/take some getting used to but I’d much rather know myself and baby are safe and I know I was getting so stressed about covid before the Christmas hols.

[quote Makingnumber2]@Ems2021 what does your risk assessment say? You should have one in place as standard as a pregnant employee and it should be updated in light of omicron cases surge and again when you reach 28wks. RCOG released guidance saying distancing was v important for women in 3rd tri as well as outlined the increase in risk of stillbirth and premature birth for women who contacted covid in 3rd tri. If your school cannot adequately mitigate the risk of eg not ensure distancing for you then I would get union involved and/or also request an occupational health referral. I’ve heard from a number of teachers that have had success in getting wfh or moved out of classroom to admin duties by involving Occ health.
It’s disgraceful you would be forced to sacrifice 7 weeks of mat leave prior to a planned c sec in that way.
I also highly recommend you check out teachersspl.co.uk and see if SPL could help you gain some of that time and money back!! I’m doing SPL this time round and will Be getting paid for May half term, summer hols and Oct half term[/quote]
Risk assessment is just the basic one, extra breaks etc. Nothing really covid related. Although they should be doing another when we get back this week.

I am actually using SPL 🙂 which is allowing me to finish to early and be paid for the 10 weeks of school holidays, then return when baby is 12 months.

Made an account just to reply to this as I feel very strongly about it!

I requested to be out of the classroom as of Christmas (35 weeks) due to my concerns over term-holiday mixing and the inevitable spike it would cause.

It seems the biggest battle was HR as they didn't agree to paying for supply before my mat leave started.

Advise number one: DO NOT accept taking mat leave early. Your employer has to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your needs.

I had written confirmation from my midwife and consultant to back-up that I should be out of the classroom from Christmas.

HR countered this with a (joke of a..) risk assessment that included gems such as "masking tape a 2m box around your desk so the children know to socially distance from you". I teach 6-year-olds in the world's smallest classroom...

Anyway, eventually, only a GP note would be taken seriously by them. A GP who I'd never met, knew nothing about my pregnancy, but there you go...

They wrote a fit note stating that I must be socially distanced in the work space with immediate affect (this was two weeks before Christmas) and therefore should not be working within a whole classroom setting.

HR can't argue with that...

Speak to your union. Speak to your GP. Know that what you're asking for is reasonable and appropriate given the situation you're in and don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise.

You can do it in a non-confrontational way with your head. Just go down the route of "I was seeking the most up-to-date advise to help you because I know the government advise is a bit hazy.."

Good luck!

Scotland here and we have 2 staff currently at home since 28 weeks and another 2 due off in February when they hit 28. Officially working from home but not sure what that actually entails

The guidance has changed so my LA also stated that teachers should be in the classroom regardless of how many weeks they are. Started my MAT leave early just to avoid a battle because I have suffered from HG throughout the pregnancy and can’t cope with additional drama! I would definitely recommending pushing for WFH. My school said no because “there’s nothing we can give you to do at home” 🙄
They insisted I should be back after Xmas and with all this Omicron nonsense I just didn’t feel comfortable at all!

I havent gone in today- barely slept all night, felt sick and heavy in my chest about it all- I emailed HR to reiterate my request and my head obviously hasnt spoken to them. It basically said that I should of had a risk assessment and that if that suggests that the risk cannot be mitigated then they follow gov guidance so possibly explore the possibility of wfh. This would be a meeting with HR, head of health and safety and the head.

I hate confrontation and for me to meet the head and various other members of staff already about this has been stressful for me, so hearing this is really worrying me!

The tone of the email didnt seem too friendly, which I appreciate could be causing them problems, but I have to prioritise our health!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply with what other schools are doing!

Then definitely speak to your GP. Explain the anxiety and general impact on your well-being this is causing you.

Everyone's priority needs to be you and your baby's health!

It may be that you don't work from home but that you are placed elsewhere in school to support social distancing.

You can go to your head with some 'solutions', which will help your worry about confrontation.

For example, I suggested to my head that I spend time planning for the term (they've employed an NQT in my class who needs support with this), picking up admin work and offering socially distanced 1:1 tuition around the school.

However, ultimately, it's their job to find you a more suited role!

Good luck and try not to worry. You're doing the right thing xx

I’m in a similar situation but a bit further on in my pregnancy. Sadly my head doesn’t see the need for wfh Currently asking midwife for it to be in writing that a school is not a socially distanced environment and therefore I should not have a pupil facing role. Fingers crossed our schools do the right thing but preparing for a hr/head/union face off

I wasn't allowed when I requested to (this was start of December), I was very close to being signed off but in the end stayed in as another teacher in my department had to be signed off for something else and I felt it unfair on my year 11s. I'm now on maternity and feel so much better. This was at a small secondary!

I also got given this pathetic little screen around my desk, both me and the students found it hilarious the highlight for me was one of my extremely challenging year 10s saying "but miss you shouldn't be in school, with covid its not safe".. if he knew then why wouldn't the HOD

Good idea about suggestions although suspect it will be shot down. When I mentioned the APEX lessons as suggested by a member of ALT I was told that it wasnt beneficial to them as my classes need me to teach them basically.

I get on well with my team and know theyll be annoyed im off (HOD at least anyway!) which is worrying me too! I dont like to disappoint people and I know I am.

Feeling stressed checking my emails hoping I might hear back from HR to alleviate my worry- im due in on Thursday next as work 0.8 so home Wednesdays, and I want to know whats happening before then. Probably wont be a quick answer though!

I’m 3 months and my school are being a bit prickly about me asking to work from home from 28 weeks. We have other members of staff in their third trimester now working from home but they’re saying as the guidance has changed there is now no need for me to work from home. It was my understanding that the guidance had simply removed any timeline on working from home and that if a workplace can’t mitigate the risk from covid then a pregnant woman at any stage of pregnancy should work from home.

I don’t know how my school have mitigated any risk for me/put in any precautions. The risk assessment HR sent me was a generic template I had to adapt and didn’t even mention covid. I added a section on covid myself and risks/mitigation’s that could be made to potentially reduce risk and then had to send it back. Surely it should be someone’s job to do this?! I’m pretty sure no one has even bothered to read it, let alone action any of it.

Our kids will not socially distance from me and I’m really anxious about having to fight my ground on this once I near my third trimester.

Ive actually got a positive update!
Lovely member of ALT asked to speak to me on the phone and I am able to work from home from tomorrow onwards. I will be live teaching through teams and a supply will be in the class, but I am so relieved and happy to not have to fight for it!

I wish you all the best of luck in asking too!

Great news @Lfjrjcjsjaja! New guidelines from the union today which says it would be prudent for all pregnant women regardless of vaccination status and gestation to be working from home. This should make a few battles easier!
neu.org.uk/advice/high-risk-groups

Am I right in thinking that the current guidance from unions etc. Is that pregnant women should be working from home from 28 weeks? I don’t know how to approach HR with this.

@Lfjrjcjsjaja that’s brilliant news! So glad you’re now sorted!