How to phrase request to go part time (Secondary School Teacher) on return from maternity leave.

[QueenOfProcrastination]

Hi all.

I'm a Secondary Scool Teacher currently on Maternity Leave. I think I'll be returning to work once my DC is 9mo. I teach a core subject and there hasn't been anyone in my department employed part time in at least ten years, nor are any of the other core subject teachers part time, although some of the non-core subject teachers are part time.

If I returned full time I think the department will be over-staffed by approximately half a teacher, so I think that my request could suit not only my family but also the school budget. However I'm not certain that some members of staff will see it the same way.

The Headteacher lives for the school and has been known to be difficult with part-time teachers in the past. As a result I'm struggling to write my formal request to return to work on a part time basis.

How does this sound?

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I am writing to formally request that you consider my request to return to work from Maternity Leave on a part-time basis, working two days per week.

For X years I have enjoyed being part of the XXXXX School team, working hard to contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning. Now I am a mother I feel that in order to give of my best to both of my "jobs" I cannot place X in full time childcare whilst I work full time. I understand that this will mean stepping down as XXXXXXXX, however I will use my experience in this role (and my former role of XXXXXXXXXX) to support my colleagues in these roles. While I am at school I will, of course, continue to work hard to raise standards within the department and use my experience to support the rest of the department.

I appreciate that accommodating my request has implications and possible complications for timetabling, however the Key Stage Three XXXXX curriculum and long term plan lends itself quite easily to split classes between teachers where necessary, and I am happy to teach other subjects in addition to XXXXX if required. For example I am able to teach basic Key Stage Three XXXXXX (I achieved A* at GCSE XXXXX and have previously taught one hour a week of XXXXXXXX to a low ability class.) I have BA Joint Honours degree in XXXXXXX and XXXXXXXX, so XXXXXXX is a possibility too, if required.

I am a proud member of the XXXXXXX School team, and I hope that I can continue to count myself as part of this dedicated group, albeit as a part-time teacher.

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Any comments or suggestions?

By the way, no critcism of mothers who also work full time is intended. Personally I know that if I work full time I'll rarely see my DC due to the highly-pressured atmosphere of my school and the large work / marking load I'll have. Before Maternity Leave I used to do at least 5 hours after school each day and most of each Sunday. Simply not possible, let alone desirable, now my baby's here.

Thanks in advance.

Damn it! Forgot the ? at the end of thread title. Call myself a teacher!

Hi, I'm a Deputy Head in A secondary school, and have dealt with various requests for part time. My suggestions:

I would leave out "albeit as a part-time teacher" - it ends on a possibly slight negative. Just finish very positively on "this dedicated group".

Also - try to be more specific in how you would work around the possible drawbacks to timetabling and split classes. You say the curriculum lends itself to split classes, but how will this work in reality? -ie liaison with other teachers over planning/pupil porgress and attainment? Could it impact negatively on colleagues, eg if they end up teaching more classes overall (because they are splitting to share with you, and thus have a greater number of reports to write/parents evenings to attend)?

Remember, if your plans adversely affect other colleagues (and arguably if they are having to teach split classes it could) then that can be a reason for refusing your request.

IME when my school has refused requests its usually been over this issue - the person who is requesting has been quite inflexible and specifies which days they want to work, and this would result in skewed timetabling (all the maths at the start of the week, for instance) or lots of split classes. On the other hand, my school has accepted quite a few requests, and these have always been where the person has been willing to be flexible, and is willing to 'go the extra mile' all around.

Overall the tone of your letter is really positive, and you are certainly right to focus on what you will offer the school, rather than dwelling on how it will suit your personal needs (and believe me, I've seen some corkers of requests, where the employee tells us they want to start late so they don't have to drop their child off til 9, or how they want Mondays and Fridays off so they can go away at weekends!!)

be positive, and detailed about how you will address the potential pitfalls

Good luck!

Good luck - schools are notoriously bad at allowing this. I had to leave my first post (was HoD for four very successful years and loved the school) because of this - wanted to come back three days a week and my part timer wanted to work full time (a simple job swap?!)...the Head said no but luckily I found part time job within a year (of horrific supply though!) and am still there 11 years on....Good luck - hope your experience is better than mine was

I am a part-time teacher of a core subject in a secondary school and have been since DS was born 7 years ago. Just be aware of the possibility that they may be prepared to allow you to go part-time but might not be prepared to allow you to work say, two full days and have three off completely.

I currently work five out of the six days of the school week (independent school) despite only teaching 13 periods - on Mondays, for example, I teach periods 1 and 5. You may have to be prepared to be a lot more flexible than you think - I have to go in whenever my sets have English timetabled rather than the timetable suiting my convenience.

Agree cowardlylion. The priority has to be, at all times, the best interests of the pupils, so even though the curriculum may, on paper, lend itself to split classes, this isn't necessarily the best thing for the pupils (or colleagues)

would agree with TCLion on that on - I have had unpaid hours in the middle of the day too...as a music teacher its ok as I can teach a little piano during those times...but it can be a pain if you have an hour in the middle of the day unpaid...I am lucky where I am as the school I have been at for last 11 years are flexible (I have a severely disabled son too).

Thanks for your feedback everyone.

I'm going to add to the part about split KS3 classes:

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If classes are split, I will ensure I set aside time each week to plan collaboratively witn the other teacher, and share in the marking of books, homework, exam papers and in the writing of reports in order for the students concerned to be able to make the best possible progress that we expect of any group of students, regardless of whether they have two teachers or one.
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Better?

Thanks.

What will you say if they respond that you can go part time but that they won't split classes - i.e. you will be responsible for 9A or whatever and have to come in whenever they have a lesson?

How would you set aside the time to plan collaboratively with the other teacher? This again may have timetabling implications (matching your PPA time together, ensuring the other teacher is happy to use this time for specific planning with you rather than other work).
The specific issue about split classes is that, say, for example, Class A and Class B have 4 lessons a week, split 2 with you and 2 with the other teacher, that is a greater work load overall than you having Class A for all 4 lessons, and the other teacher having Class B. It means having to get to know, and assess, double the pupils, contribute to double the reports, ditto for parents evenings etc. Multiply that by several classes and you've got quite an issue. The situation benefits the teacher who wants to go part time, because they will see the extra work load as the trade off for the part time hours they want, whereas for the other teachers who have to fit around them, there's no benefit. And in fact it can be less satisfying to teach split classes in some cases.

My school employs a number of part timers, but we are moving more towards the scenario CowardlyLion describes, where the part timer fits around the best timetable for the pupils, rather pupils and colleagues fitting around the part timer. The other alternative is a job share, so the school finds someone who wants to work the exact opposite days to you, so the post is still considered to be one full time post, and the onus would be on both employees to liaise with eachother. That can work well because both people benefit.

Don't mean to nitpick; I'm just thinking of situations we've had where requests have been made.

rather than pupils and colleagues...

Thanks for replying again. Sorry for my delayed response, had IL issues!

With regards to being allowed to go part time but not with split classes, I'd have to resign as I couldn't afford the additional childcare costs. The part-time non core subject teachers at the school only teach on certain days, however this rarely involves splitting classes for them, so I doubt I could argue that it is unfair for them to teach certain days but for me to have to come in for specific classes.

Ultimately, I'm very torn on the prospect of returning to work part-time. I know that, unless communication between me and my colleagues is excellent, splitting classes could adversely affect the students. I have worked very hard for a long time at the school to raise standards and encourage a love of learning and pride in achievement and I don't want to be responsible for anything that could harm the standards we've achieved. On the other hand I know that working full-time would be detrimental to my DD. Teaching is such an integral part of who I am, I'm struggling to get my head around requesting something that will benefit my DD but could disadvantage my department and students.

Good luck with all of this.

You might find your union to be very helpful in this sort of thing - they may even have a standard letter.

They would also be very useful if the request comes back in the negative - they deal with this sort of thing often.

But, you do sound v positive about it all though. (i.e it's not just to fit around you but should be beneficial to the students)