Working in the school your children attend

[Helenagrace]

I've seen a job as a school business manager in a high school. I have all the skills they're looking for probably like thousands if other applicants. There is one snag. It's the school my DD is probably going to be attending from September.

Part of me thinks I'm not a teacher so she'll hardly ever see me but the rest of me thinks we have a pretty unusual surname and her friends will find out. Will she get a lot of grief?

What would you do?

No harm in applying. Could you use a different name at work?

I have quite a few friends who do or have worked in the schools their children attend - it doesn't need to be a problem.

I worked at the school my child attended I only saw him at playtime I weren't in any of his classes and if I did catch him running in the corridor I told him off just like anyone else

I went to the school whereby mum was a deputy head. It was fine, nobody gave me grief as even the really hard kids liked her. She did tell me off for calling her mum in the corridor though which I ignored

Go for it! Good luck!

You will never see each other! It will be fine.

In a secondary school, you need never see each other. Go for it. Good luck.

Having gone to school in a rural area with no choice between schools this was normal.

HTs, deputy HTs, class teachers and support staff all had DCs in the same school and often taught them. Never caused much trouble. We did feel sorry for the science masters don as his dad told him off once per lesson and he deserved it 50% of the time.

The only time I've heard of any discomfort was when a pupils grandmother was a dinner supervisor and the powers of dinner staff are always a grey area.

I work with my husband in a school attended by my son, who is in my class. My daughter will be there next year. We will just call it the family business. My son likes the fact that he can wait behind after class to get lunch money or tell me about his day. Go for the job!

Please don't. My mother worked in the school I went to. She was only part time and only did what is now Y10 and 11 in a subject that only the lower sets were allowed to take so it was only a very small % of pupils who had her. Didn't stop the other staff using it as a bribe to get me to behave "Oh I might have to mention it to your mother in the staffroom at break that you haven't done your homework" or "what do you think your mother would have to say about that" or the most frequent was when one of the pupils had been given a detention or similar reprimand by my mother, I always got the fallout from the pupil.

Don't cramp her style - let her escape from home for at least part of her day

PS ds1's best mate's mum worked in the school office - it was always annoying that when ds went for tea etc you knew that she knew exactly how he did in exams as it was she who had typed up all the reports and put results slips in envelopes etc. A lot of other parents with dc who were friends with her ds felt the same

I teach and have had four of my children in the same school as me at various times, including teaching them.

I don't mind teaching them when they are younger, but as they get into GCSE courses there are more hours per subject and that tips the balance. If my elder DD's were in school with me, I'd teach them about 20% of their timetable, as well as being their housemistress and doing duties.

I find that when they are in the same school, they rely on you for replacement letters, tuck money, and anything that other kids would have to plan ahead for. They also never have to deal with public transport.

I think it is great to be in the same school when your children definitely rely on you, but when they should be getting more independent, it is a good idea to be in different schools.

As a school business manager, it really depends on the financial situation of the school. If you have to make difficult decisions that impacts on the comforts of the students (along the lines of no colour printing, or reduce canteen choices, for example), it is possible that your child could take some flack, but unlikely.

Another few thoughts...

You have to set strict ground rules. Be careful about what you say around the supper table. If you have to offload to your DH, make sure your DCs aren't within earshot.

Don't try to get similarly "confidential" info from your child. Don't get them to tattle tale to you. Instruct them, in no uncertain terms, not to talk about home, eg the number of glasses of wine you drink or the number of hours spent on Mumsnet.

Have a normal staff-pupil relationship at school. Don't give your child any priviledges.

If your child gets a hard time, get them to respond "try living with her". The peers will be instantly sympathetic :)

Our Business Manager doesn't have much to do with the students, it's mainly behind the scenes stuff.

I also work in a secondary school but am a manager in an admin department.

DS1 will probably be starting in September and he is more worried about seeing me (am sure he thinks I will be ruffling his hair and kissing him as he walks past with his mates...as if...)