I think I've been discriminated against by my head of dept.

[Moomin]

Sorry - this is quite long...
I used to be second in English dept at my current school. I took over as acting head of dept when the HoD became ill long-term. Whilst doing this I fell pg with dd. Whilst I was on mat leave the old HoD resigned and the job was advertised. I decided not to go for it as I wanted to work p/t. I negotiated my terms with the Head whom I get on well with and who told me he didn't want to lose me. So I went back with a good timetable and some responsibility which I was paid for but only had to work 3 days a week. The school appointed a new HoD, a real "whizz-kid" bloke who, IMO, is using this job as a stepping stone to greater things, i.e. Headship or even educational advisor for Ofsted or sg like that.
I was already back at school when he started last Sept. In May they were sorting out the timetable for this coming school year and unlike in the past, my HoD didn't discuss it with members of the dept; he just allocated classes to teachers. I was Ok with my timetable though and I had 3 exam classes as well as other year groups, that is a Year 9 SATs class, and Year 10 and 11 GCSE classes.
A few weeks later I thought I was pg - hadn't done a test but had all the "right" symptoms, so I was going to test at half term. Before we broke up, though, I told my HoD that there was a possibility of me being pg. I only did this because the end of term was the cut-off point for making any changes to the timetable. I told him that I wanted to make sure my Year 10 class wouldn't be disrupted if I left mid-way through their course. I suggested that he and the Head try to think in advance of a good speciality teacher to fill in for me, e.g. one of the deputies who specialises in my subject. I stressed that I might not be pg anyway.... which I wasn't.
So I came back after half-term and told him this. Nothing more was said until 2 weeks before we broke up for summer. I got my timetable for this year and saw that I no longer have my exam classes; my Y11 group has been split up so that they all have a different teacher and my other classes are team-teaching and support classes. In other words, I've been treated like a supply teacher rather than someone with 10 years experience. I told him I was not at all happy but all he said was "well, I thought you were pg, so I was just trying to lessen the disruption of you leaving". The Head has been sympathetic but can't do much because all the timetables are now in place, altho he's promised me it'll never happen again.
I'm still really angry and not looking forward to Sept, which is not like me because I've always loved my job up to now. Is it worth still showing my displeasure when we got back or just put-up and shut-up?

message withdrawn

He probably thinks he was doing you a favour;o Smile sweetly, when he becomes minister for education you might want his job. I'm sure the kids who would normally have been your pupils will let him know it wasn't the right decision.

It might be worth having a word with your union rep, or phoning the union and talking to them anonomously (sp?) This happened to a friend and I seem to recall that the union was very interested as they consider it to be discrimination, regardless of the disruption to pupils, as it wouldn't happen to a male teacher. My friend put up with it in the end, bacause of the pupils, but decided not to return after mat.leave.

Even if you don't push it, you have something officially logged, so come next year you will be in a stronger position for timetable negotiations. And it won't hurt to have expressed your disappointment at his people management skills in this context to the Head - there is more to being a HoD than having a whizzy timetable.

Are your colleagues happy at having their class sizes increased? If you can't get the timetable adjusted, then maybe you could take on more responsibility somewhere else (trainees - v.good with team teaching ) so that it is a step sideways and not down.

Good Luck, and remember, if he is really ambitious, he won't be there long anyway!

Hi
I'm a teacher and head of department ( well going back to it as job share after 3 years part time SS) so I understand the situation really well and can quite imagine how cross and frustrated you must feel.
TO be honest I don't think you have much to gain in this situation by showing how cross you are - if you have already told him once that you are very unhappy about it then leave it. He sounds like a pretty crap HOD - I would never dream of allocating classes without discussing it with the members of staff concerned - and is frankly unlikley to react in any sort of 'useful' way to a negative reaction from you.
FWIW I think you were far TOO professional/good in telling him that you might have been pregnant before you even knew for sure, especially where the relationship was not a long standing one of 'trust' as it did leave you very vulnerable. I might well have done a similar thing in the past but I ahve had one or two bum deals over the yeasr and have stopped being quite so honest and straightforward and started to be a bit more 'selfish' in my actions. I'm currently doing ivf but have no intention of telling the SMT - and the only 3 people who know do so becasue they are friends not because it might 'help' them to know ( tho undoubtedly it is helpful that I feel I can tell my job share partner!)
I hope your year isn't toooooooo boring - and you can at least enjoy an 'easy ride' ( especially if you do now get pregnant and feel exhausted!

Thanks for your postings. Yes, I had thought of mentioning it to my union rep, Nome, even though I probably won't take it further, but I'll feel better having raised it as an issue. You're damn right, it wouldn't happen to a male colleague!!
Yes, Bayleaf, I've well and truely had my fingers burned with this one and won't be sharing any info like this with him again. I've been making myself laugh, thinking about getting pg soon and just not telling him at all and him not being able to pass comment about my vast waistline for fear of being non p.c. If I do get pg soon I certainly won't be furnishing him with ANY info about my return. It's just such a shame; we used to be a great dept and we all supported and trusted each other so much. Now we actually HIDE from him when we're not teaching so he can't ask us to do extra (completely unnecessary) paperwork, charts and analyses, etc!
And yes, I will be seeing the Head to ask for some extra responsibility, mentoring kids before their exams, etc.

Oooo. This is a tricky one, and a shame that you are thinking about it this deep into the holidays.

I had the problem from the other side last year - as HoD (maths), and the only person in the school who knew I was pg, I tried to avoid having a particularly "important" class (aagghh - league tables) but couldn't say why, and ended up being told I had to, only to have them taken off of me come September as I would be off on maternity leave at Christmas.

So I got my fingers burnt (I loved that class, and they really resented having my name on their timetable but turning up to their first lesson and finding that they had someone else while I was not teaching). I did the opposite to you and kept it a secret (and I had even seen a scan!), and everyone above me was female too but it still went wrong. Basically, timetabling is highly political. And it sounds like you have a shitty HoD too.

I'm impressed you can be so positive and look out for other opportunities. Go for it. What about running some management skills training sessions - I know at least one person in your school who would benefit.