Dos and Don'ts of negotiating part time return to teaching...?

[peacefuleasyfeeling]

This is slightly different from adcd's question (I hope it works out well for you!); I am about to meet with my head teacher in a couple of weeks to negotiate my return to work at my primary school part time (down from full-time) in May, when DD will be 11 months 2 weeks. I'm looking for clever insights into making part-time working work(specifically in schools, or generally, if it applies) which I may have missed. There has been no consistent precedence in my school, and although my HT is lovely and will want to create a good situation for both of us, I just want to avoid kicking myself later on, wishing I'd thought of x, y or z before I went back... Which days / which end of the week is best (or is there anything to be said for 'breaking up' days, e.g. Mon, Tue, Fri)? Is there a significant difference between going back 2.5 days or 3 days in terms of workload or childcare? Hidden benefits or pitfalls of doing jobshare vs. PPA cover? What about my own PPA? If staffmeeting / inset is on a day you don't work, do you go in especially? Has anyone returned to teaching (or similar) part time in a really neat and well-oiled way?

I teach 3 days but am in a different situation as I am a special needs teacher at mainstream secondary - I teach selected kids that I take out of normal lessons so actually don't have a timetable in Sept, I fit in kids around when I'm in and what they have timetabled iyswim.

If inset is on days I'm not in I don't go - our head likes to schedule twilight insets for fridays off and as I don't work Fridays I don't do these either - I have offered to come in in exchange for days pay/day in lieu, but head decided she'd rather I miss training. It works out normally that I do 3 days training out of five which is fine. My PPA is proratered. Meetings are always on one of the days that I'm in, so I attend 100% of them, I also do the same duty time as a full timer, which irritates me a bit but isn't worth making a fuss about. Parents evenings can be tricky, but I guess that at primary you only have one a year?

Most nurserys charge by the session, so I think that you would have the same outlay on childcare whether you did 2.5 or 3 days.

At the moment doing 3 days works beautifully for me, when my kids get to school age I can imagine it gets trickier - though one of my colleagues works ft her dh is a ft teacher and she has 3 kids in 3 different schools - military planning required!

I do three days a week since returning after having my DD (also in primary). Last year I was sharing a class and this year I've been doing PPA/booster groups etc. I definitely prefer PPA in terms of the workload, I can pretty much leave at 4.30pm without taking any work home. It can be a bit stressful covering other classes though, in terms of not knowing the kids, not being in control of what you're teaching etc.

When I did class share, both teachers did 3 days a week, so we each had 2.5 days of teaching and half a day of PPA. I thought this was quite generous of the school as it meant they were paying extra. But on the other hand I only got to catch up with the other teacher in break, lunchtime and just before school. It was quite complicated trying to split the workload and keep in touch, and only worked because I had a very good relationship with the other teacher. I also found it really hard coping with all the responsibilities of a class teacher (reports, assessments etc) and then having any energy left over for my DD.

I think the question about which days to work is a personal preference one, but I would avoid doing both a monday and friday as it's nice to have the option of long weekends away! I attend staff meetings as I work that day. If Inset falls on a day I'm not working, I check to see what it is- I would consider going in if it was something vital/really interesting to me, and I know my HT would be willing to give me a day in lieu. But it would be a bit awkward sorting out the childcare and I've never done it yet.

I teach part time too. Slightly different as in secondary so I don't know about most of your questions.
I do 3 full days which I think is ideal. I'm at work for more than half the working week so feel part of the dept/school but I still work less days than I don't.
I 1st went to 3 days when I went back after having ds1 and chose full days as it was easier for childcare. I also stay at school till 5ish (we finish at 2.30 so gives me time to get stuff done) and so don't have loads to do at home.
I work Wed, Thurs, Fri. I like having 3 days together as I feel I get into it properly and I like woking Fridays as I still get the Friday feeling!
Agree having Monday off is good though as we can go away for long weekends and it makes the holidays seem a bit longer.

INSET days- I only do the ones on days I work unless they are important/interesting (rarely!) and even then only if my childminder could have the boys. I don't get paid or get time in lieu if I work those days though.

Thank you, that is really helpful. It still feels a bit as if it's someone else who is due to go back to school, while the 'real' me will carry on having a whoopee ole time with DD at home... :)

Hi,

I went back after DS and moved to a jobshare (I did Mon Tue Weds and my Jobshare partner was in Mon (but provided cover in morning) Thurs and Fri. Monday afternoons we had PPA time. This worked well, although I did sometimes feel on MOnday mornings like a full-time teacher that had blacked out and forgotten what happened on Thursday and Friday.

We kept an exercise book and wrote each other notes. We also spent lots of time on the phone end texted/emailed if it was something we didn't want other people to read! Luckily she was a lovely jobshare partner but a friend of mine had an awful time with hers.

As far as days you work go I'd negotiate if possible to be around at the beginning of the week and also try to get some time when you are both in school (argue your case for having PPA together as it is even more important that you have this liason time). Also try to be at work on the day of the staff meeting or else you will either miss everything or have to come in at 4pm on your day off! And I would go for full rather than half days as it will make little difference to your workload but you will get 0.1 extra pay for another half day (unless of course you are wanting to have a morning at home and come in in the afternoon for some reason).

Hope that helped. After having DC2 I moved house and am now doing supply on a random basis because I didn't feel like I could face the workload of a 0.6 job plus 2 kids needing me when I get home!

This is so great! Now I feel much better equipped to negotiate an arrangement that will work well for all of us. I popped in to school to pick something up the other day and it was SO lovely to see the children. It reminded me that I really love my job and that going back will be OK (lately I'd started to feel like I'd give my eyeteeth to be a SAHM...). Thank you so much.

Speaking as a child carer and not a teacher - try and do your 2.5/3 days together rather than split across the week. It is much easier to get your children settled into childcare when the days are concurrent.

I teach y5 3 days (mon - wed) and have done for 6 years now. I prefer job sharing to the year I spent PPA covering. I get PPA every other week. I go to 0.6 of the staff meetings in theory but in practise I go to almost all - it is just lovely to be able to miss the odd one that sounds deathly!
I have to rush off now but am happy to answer any other questions later.

i have job shared for 8 years since dd1 was 6 months. currently i'm a year 3 teacher, but mostly have taught year 5.

this year has been crazy as i'm doing an additional qualification that will help me get in to learning support role- i hope. i need to rush off to do an assignment today, having spent all yesterdAY planning!

this will be a ramble, as am pushed for time, but my advice would be:

• do 3 full days
• avoid mondays as your sundays tend to get overshadowed by school work
• find a good job share partner and try to divide up teaching so that you do different subjects/objectives each. this minimises hand over in terms of progression from lesson to lesson. we manage this even with a very creative curriculum/ connected learning. i couldnt bear to have to write a story with a class, for example, that had been planned with another teacher the day before. so confusing for me and the children!
• dontbreak up days. makes lesson progression really hard
• mon -wed is hard work but your can get your teeth into things a bit more, teaching wise, more than if you do the end of the week, imo.
• agree a proper hand over time with job/share as you'll really need it

be prerpared for some hard work. 3 days can feel like full due to the level of ownership/ commitment you have to have regarding assessment, displays, pastoral care etc etc

good luck

'full time'

Aw, I'm so grateful for your thoughts and comments, it's made a world of difference. I went in for my meeting today and LOVE HT ; she's being very flexible and accommodating, even throwing in a few labour-saving ideas of her own! I've gone away to do some sums (difference between 0.5 and 0.6 is much bigger than I imagined...) and get my head around child care options, but feel rather good about it all. Thanks again.

Peaceful, I'm only speaking as a mum, but at my boys' primary there are several jobshares. One thing they seem to do well is look for a co-teacher who has different strengths, so one focuses on literacy and art and the other on maths and history, for example.