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Original poster

Any fellow teachers got some advice on pros/cons of dropping some hours?

39 replies

Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 15:16

I've always worked full time and did so when I went back after ds. I got pregnant again (on purpose), so it was hard, but manageable.

However, I'm now 4 months into mat leave with dd and am enjoying the fact that I get to do stuff on the weekends with the kids. All last year I had to give up at least part of the weekend and get work done - not easy when you work in the kitchen.

I never, ever saw myself as a part-timer, but seeing how quickly dd is growing has reminded me that they're not little forever and, if I'm honest, I'm probably going to regret not spending time with the kids when they're little.

I'm 32 and have an awfully long time ahead of me, but I don't think I want to be a hod - at least, not in the foreseeable. The workload is unreal and I reckon that dropping to .9/.85 might give me some breathing space - and hopefully allow me weekends off.

I'm sure some of you must have done this, how do you find it? Do you wish you'd stayed full time? Do you feel like people don't take you seriously?

OP posts:
Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 17:51

Bump?

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Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 19:08

Buuuuuump!

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MollyBroom · 23/02/2012 19:10

I have worked part time and it was fantastic, both for me and the school. I had time to do my job properly and I had time for my family I was taken seriously . . The only draw back was that if I wanted to move up the ladder I needed to be full time.

katz · 23/02/2012 19:11

My DH is a teacher and he dropped to 80%fte when we had the children, he got a day at home with them, and we were only marginally worse off because of it. He thinks it was a great decision and he now back full time as the girls are bigger. He gained more weekend time as he could do some planning on his at home day.

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 20:56

Thank you. Have just emailed a pre-emptive request to my head and now, after all the to-ing and fro-ing, he's probably going to say no!

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partystress · 23/02/2012 21:03

As I understand it, the onus is now on the employer to justify refusal to allow part-time working. Are you secondary? I would have thought easier to manage a reduced hours workload than in primary. I asked for and got a 97% contract - sounds like a piffling reduction, and it doesn't mean I have my weekends back, but I do get to pick my DD up from her school once a week which make a huge difference Smile

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 21:09

Yeah, so I reckon I'll lose between a class and a class and a half. But even that will mean 30 fewer books, 1 less parent evening, 30 fewer reports to write, 30 fewer kids to remember...

One of my colleagues (part time) has just handed her notice in, so I'm hoping he'll be happy to cobble hours together to hand to a new teacher. Think it's quite an indictment on our profession that in a department of 9, 5 of us are/or want to be part time so we can have some sort of life.

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Wigeon · 23/02/2012 21:10

My DH is a secondary school teacher and works 0.5 so that we share the childcare of the DC. He is absolutely taken as seriously as his full time colleagues. Most of the kids and staff outside his dept don't realise he's part time. He absolutely loves the balance. He enjoys being in school, doesn't get ground down by it and doesn't collapse in an exhausted, flu-ridden heap at the end of every term.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "I never, ever saw myself as a part-timer" - why not?

I wonder if working 0.9 or 0.85 would actually feel like you were doing a full time job but getting paid less.

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 21:25

I think I always associated part-time with mums pottering about - like my mum doing a bit of receptionist work or my mate's mum working in the the local supermarket. I always saw myself as work-driven - that I could do a full time job and still spend every spare minute with kids.Of course, there aren't that many spare minutes in teaching, so I spent the second year of Ds's life frantically juggling everything whilst working myself into a frenzy and being a right mardy cow. I've also realised that, at least for now, I'm really not that bothered about career progression - there's enough to do keeping on top of the GCSE changing every 2 minutes

I know what you mean about th e working less/feeling full time thing, but as the main earner, I can't really afford a big drop - and I'd probably lose my A level teaching. Besides,I'm still getting my head around dropping hours at all.

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Wigeon · 23/02/2012 21:42

I respectfully think you might be stuck in a past decade. Plenty of people (men and women, although largely women IME) do responsible, meaningful jobs, but not as much as five days a week. It might be interesting to start a thread asking what jobs people on here do part-time. DH, as a teacher, still is busy being the leading light in the school on developing the Virtual Learning Environment, is in charge of several extra curricular activities, takes a full part in departmental meetings and initiatives etc etc. But half as much as if he were full time.

I am also part-time, a civil servant, working for a major central government dept which is seldom out of the headlines, and just before I went on my current maternity leave I co-authored (with my job-share partner) an urgent review commissioned by the Prime Minister into an issue of national importance. And on Mondays and Tuesdays I went to playgroups with my daughter and attempted to bring her up to be a reasonable human being. I am also the main wage earner, but we have just decided to stick with the ancient car, not go on foreign holidays and generally live a less lavish life than we would if we were both full time.

Remember the saying: no one ever said on their deathbed that they wish they'd spent more time at the office...

Elena67 · 23/02/2012 21:49

Go part time. It's great - I work three days and, realistically, the money is manageable and I am seeing my baby grow up, get to go to playschool with him and feel that being a parent is more important than being a teacher. Plenty of time to career progress when he's in school himself...

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 22:01

Ha ha at the last decade! I think it's possibly more about where I live (which probably is stuck in the last decade) - men go to work, women go part time. I lost count of the people who just assumed I'd be part time when I had ds. I also think the part -time explosion is just about to hit where I work. When I started there were lots of older staff and lots of young staff. The young staff are now a little older and all having babies....

I keep thinking about what I'll regret more, and it will be watching the kids grow up - although currently being on mat leave, I'd be quite happy with a bit less time with them at the moment!

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Cathpot · 23/02/2012 22:04

Hi- I work 0.55 in secondary - and I feel very positive about it. I have one full day off (today actually, and I say day off but I type this after a coursework marathon) and then on a 2 week timetable only one completely full teaching day. I need a nursery pick up 5 times over 2 weeks and do a deal with another mum to drop them for me 3 times over the 2 weeks. It is lovely!

My husband mutters a bit about how I am working full time for half the pay, but actually what it means is I do have my weekends back, I dont work late every night and I feel like I am on top of things. This is despite having two year 11 classes doing different syllabuses, both of which are new to me as it all changed when I left to have kids. I have time to do things like ring parents, mark properly, and I am the only one in my department who doesnt look at the point of collapse- in fact we lost one lovely member of dept signed off sick with stress this week.

I teach because I enjoy the job and going part time has allowed me to retain that feeling without compromising my family life, and the department get a better deal as well. I think you would find it a very positive thing to do- can you find someone to share the hours with and make it easy for them to say yes?

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 22:09

He said yes to two of our dept last year, so I think he's probably set a precedent. THere's all sorts going on the mo - I only vaguely get it (in a 3 month old fog), with extra classes etc, so I'm hoping by dropping hours I can enable him to advertise for someone full time or something.

The big fear at the back of my mind is that I may never get the full time hours back, so I'm playing a little safe by only dropping a few to start with. I'm also lucky in that we start early and finish early, so even the odd early finish will get me, effectively, an afternoon with the dcs.

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busyprocrastinating · 23/02/2012 22:13

I agree, I work 3 days and am loving it. I was an hod but dropped that alongside my hours (although the hods that we have are on a job share) A lot of our department are also pt because they have young dc.

I am the main earner but we are managing just fine and I feel that it is worth tightening our belts for just a few years, which is all it will be really, till dc start school themselves. I don't feel that I am missing out on baby/toddler years and feel that my life now has a good balance. I think that teaching is one of those jobs that can really take over your life and I was totally immersed in it before dd.

Now that I am part time I get a lot more pleasure from teaching and really enjoy it when I am there. I have a lot more enthusiasm for it and feel less stressed. I only take work home about once a week now as well. (Which I should be doing right now!)

clam · 23/02/2012 22:14

I do 0.6 jobshare in a primary. Work-life balance is spot-on.
Full-time colleagues appear to be miserable and stressed beyond belief. On the one hand they live for their weekends, but then end up spending them working. Why would you inflict that upon yourself if you had any financial choice?

BackforGood · 23/02/2012 22:14

OK, I'm Primary, but went to 0.6 when I had my 2nd dc (dh was doing his PhD at the time, so money was tight to say the least!) but it is the best decision I ever made. Never, ever regretted it. I've had two new jobs since, 1 a kind of sideways move, the other a big promotion.
You don't lose that much money once you take into account you are not taxed on the first £8K, and, depends on your income vs your childcare costs, may get some help from tax credits.
I can't see the point in dropping to 0.9 though.

busyprocrastinating · 23/02/2012 22:17

Cross posts a few times there! I agree my fear is also that I won't get my full time hours back but I figured it was a risk worth taking. If I can't I might use it as a indicator that the time is right to move on

worzella · 23/02/2012 22:21

I was told that I could only apply for a TLR if I upped my hours to 0.8 minimum - which I did - but feel that I do 100% of the management job for only 80% of the money!

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 22:23

Basically, I'm just crippled by fear at the whole thing, and .9 seems a safe place to start. I could always ask to reduce again the year after-for some reason our departmental hours are always in flux.

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Original poster
Astronaut79 · 23/02/2012 22:26

And now I need to go to bed cos I reckon I've got about 5 hours before feeding time.

Am now feeling that I should've gone lower though. Hmm, will see what the boss responds with tomorrow.

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Wigeon · 23/02/2012 22:36

I think on 0.9 you won't see that much change in your life. You won't see your children that much more. You will still feel like you are at work a lot, and you will still have an awful lot of prep / marking etc etc.

Is your main crippling fear about not getting the hours back? Don't take this the wrong way, but I would have a crippling fear about not being there for my children's formative years and not being the main influence on their lives. I really feel like I (and DH) are the best people to care for them for the majority of the time when they are so young, and far far superior than even the best childminders / nurseries.

clam - hear hear. Especially: why would you not do this if you had the financial choice (which it sounds like you do and I count my blessings daily that I do).

I don't know anyone who works part-time and regrets it.

Good luck for the conversation with the boss tomorrow.

breatheslowly · 23/02/2012 22:48

In a department of that size you will get your hours back without a problem as there will always be a bit of flexibility from things like getting an NQT who needs reduced hours or someone who has been given management responsibility and needs to drop a few lessons. At .9 you need to be careful that you are timetabled to have proper times out not just a load of random free periods that you can't use (e.g.) to take your little ones for jabs or swimming. I did 80% one year (pre DD Blush) and it was great as I did my admin on the 5th day(plus a lie in) and had the weekends free to spend with DH. You might find that if you want career progression then pressure is put on you to go FT again, but maybe not.

Original poster
Astronaut79 · 24/02/2012 14:03

Head's email says that he has logged my request (for between .8 and .9) and he will conact me near easter when his staffing needs are clearer.

Am I wrong to think that my request is part of his staffing need?

Shit, after dithering, now I really want to lose those hours.

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breatheslowly · 24/02/2012 23:39

I think there is a legal time-frame for responding to flexible work requests of 28 days. Will he contact you within that time-frame?