How to switch to teaching part time

[MaryH90]

I have a DD who is 18 months old and have been feeling steadily more and more unhappy with how little time I spend with her. I’m working full time so see her around 2/3 hours a day around work time and the evening hours are usually full of crying and tantrums from exhaustion (her not me!) We’re in the fortunate position that after years of struggling with money and me bringing in the main wage, my DH has started a job which give us the financial flexibility for me to go part time (it will more than cover the wage loss).

My questions are how did you go about asking to switch to part time? What was your HTs response? Finally, has it been the right decision for you? TIA

I approached my HT for an informal chat to test the water, luckily he was excellent. I then had to write a formal request to go to governors etc. It was absolutely the right decision for us. It's had such a huge impact as it isn't just my day off but also the reduction in planning/marking etc that goes with it.

Thanks mint, I feel that it’s the right decision for our family at the moment but very worried the HT will turn down my request when I put it forward.

I did the exact same thing. Went back full Time but hated how little I saw my child. I had to fight, but I got it eventually. Start with your line manager, then head teacher and they should take it from there. I'm in Scotland so it may be different . I ended up working Tues to Thurs so had 4 day weekends, it was wonderful. My son is in nursery now so I'm up to 4 days and plan to stay until he goes to school. Then I'm probably going to leave teaching. Good luck!

My HR assumed that I'd want part time when I discussed my return from mat leave (whilst pregnant). I had to write a formal letter to the governors, think I found a template on the NUT website. They have to approve it unless they can argue that the "business" couldn't cope with making the staff member part time. Mine was approved and I start back in January. It wouldn't have made financial sense for our family otherwise.

You need to be businesslike with your request. What are you asking fir- ppa cover role or job share? Is there a specialist subject you can teach? Highlight the positives for the school. I job share and it's not perfect but pretty good. I work 2.5 days and this is about 30 hours. I don't do any work at home and both my children are at school. Good luck

I’m a primary teacher working in the early years at the moment. I will be proposing a 3/2 day split with me taking the majority. Apart from possible inconsistency for the children I don’t know what else the HT could say in terms of downsides, I’m the top of the pay scale so my partner teacher may be cheaper (so finance can’t be used as a negative), we have a good team of support staff and planning is straight forward and flexible so concerns about lesson sequences and teaching styles wouldn’t be a great issue.

Finance can still be a negative because there are additional on-costs for employing 2 members of staff. It isn't a cut & dried decision and there are (I think) 7 different reasons that the school can turn you down.
You school should have a flexible working policy and it should have been updated to reflect the recent changes in the law in this area. Start by looking at that and then use a template to write your letter. You should be called into a meeting to discuss your proposal and then can expect a decision in writing from your school.
Good luck!

How would PPA for both partners be managed?
How would hand-overs work?