Case for part time

[Nextyearwillbefun]

Anyone moved from ft to part time time? Why and how did you ask?

I'm overwhelmed with fulltime and 2 young children, Dh going back to office soon and I'm hoping to request part time for September but need to think of a strong case as head doesnt like part time and has no empathy with parenting issues.

Thousands of us!

You can emphasise how the class will benefit from people with two different sets of strengths, or two skillsets.
You can emphasise how great it is for the class to have someone 'fresh' and full of energy halfway through the week.

Always better than making it about you and your dc. (S)he is quite rightly only interested in the management of the school, not your domestic situation.

However, you shouldn't have to. It is the employer who has to "justify" why they can't or won't let you.
If your HT is known to not like PT staff, then probably best to speak to your union first. I wouldn't be surprised these days if they even have template letters.

Surely you'd have had to submit this request with a term's notice? I spoke to my head before the Easter holidays just as a casual conversation (but he's very personable) and followed up with an email.

Agree with previous reply from BFG. The HTs priority is the overall needs of the school. Not “parenting issues”- that’s surely parents’ concern?

Thus, request needs to emphasise benefits to children and school and that there would be no detriment.

I’d snap out of negative mindset about the HT- you don’t know all he/she has to consider. HT may have empathy but not be able to act on it in practice.

I am in my NQT year, and have 3 kids. We have only managed to keep the ship afloat because DH (who earns a lot more than me) has been working from home, and so could do school pick ups/ child care related stuff. But he’ll be back in the office in central London next year, and we just feel that for a couple more years (whilst youngest is at primary), we’ll all have a better balance if I could work p/t. (DH would love to work p/t but we need his money more!)

My mum, who lives 5 hours away, has recently been diagnosed with cancer and has about a year to live. My brother lives abroad, so it’s just me.

In January I told my mentor (who works 3 days a week) that I was going to ask my HT for part time. She said he did not like PT, and he’d say no. I decided to ask anyway. He was more reasonable than I expected, and said he’d consider it. Then he said no, ‘unless I held a gun to his head.’

Then I got the news about my mum, and I think a combination of wanting to keep me (we lose a lot of teachers in a London school as they tend to move out to more affordable housing stock), and realising I’d need to head off to see mum a lot, meant he has agreed to let me do 3 days a week.

I pitched the argument that he knows I work hard and letting me go p/t he would be paying for 3 days a week but getting 5 days a week. Also, this way, realistically, with my mum’s health declining rapidly, anything I have to do in that area will happen on my time, not school’s time.

I am very very very grateful to him and the SLT for being so supportive and flexible, and count my blessings...

I think as long as you build a case for why it would work for the school, you might as well pitch it - you have nothing to lose. Good luck!

The head, regardless of personal opinion, has to legally consider your request for childcare reasons and is only allowed to refuse it for business reasons. You don't need to make your argument stronger by amping up your childcare issues, you need to make it stronger by addressing and mitigating any potential business reasons for rejection.

I don't know if you are primary or secondary - if you are primary then proposing a job share arrangement and pointing to other classes in the school which are already a job share and how these work well and are positive for the children would be a good idea. If they allow split classes elsewhere but deny you your request, that could be discrimination.

If you are secondary then you need to acknowledge that timetabling may be a concern, so again look at other part timers in the school and how that works (this includes split classes due to SLT timetables). Can you be flexible around the timetable in terms of days off, or have part days off instead of full days?

There's a process to follow, you have to put in your request in writing and it has to be responded to within a certain timeframe. You are only allowed one request per year so make it a good one.