Dropping to 4 days

[Piixxiiee]

I'm seriously struggling with the work load working fulltime and 2 young children. Staff meetings each weeks, team meetings, then working in evenings once kids in bed. Thinking of asking to reduce to 4 days.
Any pros/cons or advice on this very welcome. How do others do it?

I do 4 days and love it! Take home pay is similar to what I was on 2 years ago, 2 rungs further down the pay scale so that's not been a concern. I still do 100% of some tasks not 80% (staff meetings, parents evenings, responsible for all classroom displays, data etc) but overall feel like it's very much worth it.

Thank you, do you have PPA during your 4 days? How much? I think my head might try to get me to work 4 full days then PPA on 5th day. Do you do all your planning/assessment reports etc on day off or do you do house stuff etc?

I work in Victoria and went to four days this year. It took me quite a while not to do schoolwork. I don't do on-site school work without TOIL. At first I filled the time with all the tradie/medical stuff, but I have a better sense of relaxing now. I'm going three days next year. Everyone agrees three days is the sweet spot.

In terms of pay it's a drop, but my mortgage is paid off and I'll probably retire later in 2021.

Your head can't give you PPA on a day you don't work, otherwise everyone's PPA would be on a Saturday, or in the evening. All my prep time is within the four days I am paid for.

Are you primary or secondary? I'm primary and 4 days was awful - a full time job with 20% less time and money. I went full time in the end - it was easier.

@robertsuncle that's my concern. I'm primary and did do 4 days but ended up doing all the planning assessments etc.....

How do you manage workload doing fulltime now?

I collapsed!
Am now doing a 3 day week job share.
It works much better for me, but jobshare means everything has to be top top. Currently putting in about 40 hours a week. But at least this time I'll only have to write half of the reports!!

I went down to four days and my head paid my 0.9 so I could either do my PPA at hind on the day at home or any other time that suited me. I tend to work longer days on the other days so I have my day off free to do housework and relax. I chose a Wednesday which is ideal for me. Mid week means I get a day to rest and reset for the rest of the week. I am very lucky that my day off is covered by our PPA cover teacher and she plans and delivers music re and PE on that day. She is fab and often offers to help with displays etc. The reports and parents evening are all mine though but I can live with that.

I think it depends on the day off that you have and who teaches on that day. I had a Friday off which was nice for long weekends away etc but I always felt that Friday was a day with more down time so I missed that. I also worked with a couple of people who just did the day of teaching and nothing more - no support with the classroom environment, no assessment, no quality marking, no meeting with parents etc. When I finally started to work with someone who was more willing to take on a share of those things it made quite a difference. I had PPA as part of my 4 days.

I did do 4 days. You need to be happy to do all the fulltime work for .8 pay. I still had to do all insets, all parents evenings, open evenings, team and staff meetings etc.

You are certainly going to be working as hard as full time for less money but you do get that degree of flexibility on your "day off" or your unpaid day of school work

Also timetabling was an issue every year with groups and blocks meaning my day off changed regularly each year so you can not plan that well. I was also not always guaranteed a day off and I had to fight hard each year to make sure they did not want me in 5 days on a 0.8.

I do four days It's much better for me. I now work locally So financially I save my travel costs which compensates for the salary drop. And also because I have more time, I am less likely to buy convenience. I also invested A LOT of that time planning finances.

I have Monday off which was just pure luck but would never ever change (not sure I have that much say but been lucky) I get extra flexibility at holidays and can go for long weekends and Sundays are usually cheap. If we have a busy weekend we can catch up on Monday with washing or do appointments and deliveries etc it's amazing really. Also would be knackered and less productive on a Friday!

In school I do 730-430/5pm four days plus parents eve and 4 out of 5 inset days so usually get a 'free' day at Easter.

Occasionally I do a batch of marking at home. I have two hours off for PPA. I do emails on Monday day off. Do ensure you don't have to plan cover for your day off.

My only concern is the pension contributions and I am working on that.

I did 4 days for 6 years, but I was deputy and senco in that time, so was only actually in class for 2 days of those 4. Obv had a class job share.

I had Mondays off. Loved it for al, the reasons mentioned above.

I want to go to 0.8 again- will ask for it as soon as our house extension stuff is complete.

I still had to do all insets, all parents evenings, open evenings, team and staff meetings etc

But you don't have to do this, negotiate TOIL.

Being in secondary, classes aren't shared; it's the very last thing my school would do. The idea of having half days so effectively working five did not cross my mind, never heard of it even being proposed, thank God. Also I did not stipulate which day off. For next year, on three days I've gone for broke and said I want to work Mondays (means I get the public holidays); but will teach anything in my subject area so as to fit in. This is a gift to the timetables

I'm primary too and whilst I don't think working full time would be a full 20% more work it's still worth it to me to have a day off as I have a 2 year old and want a full day at home with them. My day off is covered by an HLTA which is a bit annoying - I do think if you're covered by a teacher it's better because you can expect them to pick up some responsibility, even if it's just doing a few displays etc. My PPA has just been 'paid' for the past two years (on a slightly different contract last year) so disagree with pp that you can't be given PPA on a day off. In reality, I usually do it in school on my half day. I'm lucky because I get a full afternoon paid, same as if I did 5 days, but because I do every staff meeting etc I'm not querying it. My head did say I only needed to attend 80% of meetings but that's difficult in reality. I like that I don't have to communicate with another teacher in the way you might have to on a 3/2 day job share. I'd find it difficult to pick up a sequence of lessons halfway through the week and think you'd spend a lot of time writing handovers. I think in a lot of schools it'd also be quite easy to up your hours to full time if you wanted.

I'm currently out of class one day a week anyway (management time and PPA for full days alternate weeks), so essentially share a class a bit anyway.

I never used to work at all on my Mondays, and never had the Sunday dread or insomnia.

When my first was born I did 2 days a week for about 2 years. Then I went to 3 when my second was born for another 2 years. Then I went up to 4 days and got a TLR. However, I wanted to change schools and now my youngest is 5 and I do full time, no TLR and I’m earning the most I ever have. I like how I’ve done it gradually. I wanted to get to 5 days after 7 years to help my pension as well as move schools because part time is so rare.

I did 4 days when I first went back to work after DD1. To be honest, I pretty much had to do a full time job in 4 days (just got all my exam classes squeezed into 4 days!), but I don't regret it because that one day with DD was very valuable. I had time to go to a toddler group for an hour, be home for a food delivery, doctors/dentist appoints etc and although I often answered emails in nap times it was still worth it when she was young.
After I had DC2 I did 3 days for a bit - I didn't like it as I felt a bit detached from the school.

I wouldn't do 4 days in Primary - you jut end up doing 99% of the work for 4/5 of the pay.
You need to move to 0.6 (3 days), then you have a jobshare who will take responsibility for 2/5 of the other stuff. We all know the actual teaching in front of the dc is the enjoyable part.
Take some time to do the maths. By the time you take into account the tax personal allowance, you don't lose as much as you think you might by dropping to 3 days. Then you have lower (if any) student loan repayments. A huge saving by not paying childcare for two days a week (if they are pre-school, less if they are school age).

Mostly though, your workload comes down to about 33 - 36 hours which is more manageable. Once they are school age, you can get it done on one of your non-working days when they are in school and get your weekends free to be with the dc. It is the BEST balance, even if it leaves you slightly poorer when it comes to claiming your pension. However, it does mean you are more likely to live long enough to be able to claim your pension.

I did 4 days in secondary for a while but I spend my 'day off' working and was still expected to do everything else too. I've gone back full time, it means I never get a break from the relentless routine but at least I'm not incorporating my work into my home life any more. It just didn't work.

Anyone who thinks teaching works when you have kids..is missing a key point..that is you are as stressed as hell for 6 weeks in a row..where you can’t enjoy being a parent.

I went part time in the end, and never regretted it. If you can afford it, give yourself some more free time.

@BackforGood

I wouldn't do 4 days in Primary - you jut end up doing 99% of the work for 4/5 of the pay. You need to move to 0.6 (3 days), then you have a jobshare who will take responsibility for 2/5 of the other stuff. We all know the actual teaching in front of the dc is the enjoyable part. Take some time to do the maths. By the time you take into account the tax personal allowance, you don't lose as much as you think you might by dropping to 3 days. Then you have lower (if any) student loan repayments. A huge saving by not paying childcare for two days a week (if they are pre-school, less if they are school age). Mostly though, your workload comes down to about 33 - 36 hours which is more manageable. Once they are school age, you can get it done on one of your non-working days when they are in school and get your weekends free to be with the dc. It is the BEST balance, even if it leaves you slightly poorer when it comes to claiming your pension. However, it does mean you are more likely to live long enough to be able to claim your pension.

I agree with this!

I have been working 3 days a week for 11 years now. First in secondary (5 years) and now in primary (6 years and counting). I have no intention of increasing my hours at any point in the future, unless I have no other choice 👌

Interested in this thread. About to go 3 days after many moons of full time, and excited/nervous.