Pregnant teacher - when to tell school?

[NphysT]

Looking for a bit of advice, currently 7weeks +2days and not sure when to tell school. My last pregnancy ended in December after my 12 week scan however I had told school when I was about 6 weeks because of morning sickness being bad. School were very supportive and through my time off during my miscarriage and after.

However, things in my department have since changed and I'm concerned about telling them early in case I have another mmc, being given a worse timetable next year because I'll be on Maternity at some point in November, possibility of them them not being fully supportive because of all the time off I've had this year because of the pregnancy and mmc and worried what they'll think of me getting pregnant so quickly after mmc (actual miscarriage happened in Jan).

Reasons I want to tell are for the risk assessment, this was done straight away last time and really helped with some behaviour situations. Is it possible to tell just HR and the head or do I have to tell my line manager and head of department too if I tell them? As I'd prefer to avoid telling my department until as late as possible and initially wanted to share after my 20week scan

[LizzieBananas]

What department? Will there have to changes eg handling chemicals or heavy lifting?

[NphysT]

Science, possibly with the chemicals. I also walk 20 minutes between our 2 sites at least 2x a day because I teach on both sites

[menopausalmare]

I teach science and told my CAM early but made a general announcement at 14 weeks once the first scan looked good.

[Basilthymerosemary]

I'd tell your head of department asap- especially if you're about to teach anything with radioactive sources or organic chemicals. The 20minutes walk shouldn't be a problem at this stage but they may change room allocations when you're in your third trimester.

They can do a department risk assessment until you feel ready to tell HR/SLT.

Congratulations!!! 🥳

[60andsomething]

tell them straight away. RA needs to be done. particularly in respect to various pathogens children bring into school with them that you will need to be kept away from.

Who cares if they are unsupportive, or annoyed - your baby is your priority. In the long run, you will probably have many jobs, and how annoyed one line manager gets at one stage in your career is irrelevant.

Chances are they will be nice, anyway

[seven201]

I'm a DT teacher so have the same issue with some chemicals. I had ivf and four miscarriages spread over 6 years so initially did tell them when going through treatment or early pregnancy. Then I switched to just telling my technician so she could do the chemicals and lifting as I already knew what would be in the risk assessment. For my last/successful pregnancy I didn't tell my HOD until after I'd had a specific scan at 16 weeks, but had told hr a little earlier and just said I wasn't ready for my HOD to know. I definitely was shafted for the timetable for a few years as they kept assuming I'd be off on maternity leave, then wasn't! Don't put yourself at any risk - it's just not worth it. Good luck.

[NphysT]

Thank you all for your responses. I will tell school asap and ask them to keep it confidential, not sure whether to do so tomorrow or next week after my private scan on Sunday.