Any teachers-need advice on hideous timetable due to maternity leave

[fizzbuzz]

Can anyone offer advice? Have been at current job for 10 years, I am a secondary school teacher. Usually have a good timetable with a lot of exam classes, and some lower school.
However due to maternity leave have been given timetable from hell, which is teaching in 4 different rooms, and is practically all lower school. Cannot face going back, all exam classes have been snitched by colleagues, and HoD has openly admitted this is due to me being pregnant.
Have contacted union who say I can be directed to do any duties as directed by my head teacher, and therefore cannot do anything.
However I feel I have been given completely shit timetable due to maternity leave, and have contacted EOC who have advised raising a grievance proceedure. That timetable is horrendous, and nothing like any previous timetable I have ever had. Advice please!

Are you going back full time, or part time? What's your subject?

I think it's fairly standard practice to give KS4/6th form classes to teachers who will be in school for the full year. It seems fairer for the students. I'm not sure what the legal position is though.

fizz I am really not an expert but had to post as your situation sounds awful, no wonder you don't want to go back!

On the union advice, I wonder if it is worth getting a second opinion; I know that schools have a catch all "any duties as directed by the head" BUT surely your right to go back to the same work at the same level would outweigh this? I know it's all teaching, but within that it sounds as if your job and conditions ARE significantly changed. I can't believe the union can't do anything..even if strictly, legally they are right, surely they could get involved - at least have a meeting with you and the head to try to arrange a slightly more 'normal' timetable. Would you want this? I guess some people might be hesitant to do this but I think it's one way you could go.

Get the head to justify what has happened rather than letting them get away with this!

Thanks for advice. In our school, KS4/5 are usually returned to teacher who has been on maternity leave. This appears to happen in every dept except mine. In fact colleague in same dept went on maternity leave, and I covered her classes until she got back. They then returned to her, including all free time after May when exam classes had left.
Union have been into see head, but no dice. Also had bad timetable 30 or 4 years ago when I was teaching 3 subjects in 3 different rooms, and ended up being nearly off sick with stress. I was assured it wouldn't happen again.....
Also would not have happened at all if mat leave had not occured at end of academic year.
Pissed off to put it mildly...

Fizz, sorry to hear about this - I had a similar experience when I returned mid year from maternity leave. The staff covering my groups said it would be too stressful for them to change and so I was put on courses I had never taught before (never mind it was stressful for me !). The union gave me the same advice as to you (I could be asked to do any duties )and so I am afraid I just had to get on with it.

My advice to you would be to write a formal letter stating your concerns or register a grievance via HR. Put in writing that taking so many younger groups may prove stressful and cause you to be ill (esp if it has in the past). Request a more balanced timetable which involves teaching across the age ranges. If you have a proven track record of exam sucess quote these figures in your complaint and say you feel your experience in examined teaching has a lot to offer the school and it's pupils.

If nothing is changed and you do need time off sick then you can refer back to this document and keep asking your timetable to be changed for health reasons. At the very least this should be considered from the next academic year.

For what it is worth I struggled through my timetable post maternity leave from February to July - luckily in September I changed back to most of my pre-maternity classes.

Sorry to hear about your problems - for what it is worth you are not the only one - I often think colleages imagine we have been on a lovely holiday rather than coping with a demanding newborn and so we should be able to cope with anything!

I have written letter to head which states all this.
I guess I will have to raise a grievance which is just MORE stress. Of course staff teaching exam gruops would say it was too stressful for kids to chnge teachers, they don't want shitty KS3 classes either.
You did make some valid points, especially about exam classes, as one person teaching my classes is not the best teacher in the world..
I know some of the parents at the school, and they are not very impressed either.
Am still waiting for union to get back to me.

Can you request an informal meeting with headteacher to discuss this matter? Sometimes it can be better than getting TU involved. Good luck.

Fizz, It may be worth registering a grievance if you feel you may have to take this matter further at a later date (ie a tribunal because you felt you had to leave your job because of what happened ). However, as you have said you need to decide if it is worth the undoubted stress. Perhaps your union could advise.

If you have a good relationship with the head it may be worth following Dennya's advice and seeing if a nice friendly chat will resolve the matter - you will have to dwell on the advantages to the school of returning you to these courses (such as a proven track record of exam success).

Sorry I can't offer more help. As I've already said, in a similar situation I did write a formal letter to the principal detailing my concerns and copied the union in on it. I also had a one to one chat with the principal and expressed my concerns verbally. Ultimately it didn't change anything but I did get back most of my pre-maternity courses the following September.

Good luck

i had this kind of thing when i was pg complained but left it as i knew i wasnt coming back.

is this a chnage to your normal workign patttern

but really do ytou WANT all that extra markign when you are knackered
i htink you ll fidn when you return oyu realsie that "Theres "More to Life"

This happened to my sis when she had to have an operation at the end of the school year. She was working 4/5 but her 'day off' was spread as spare lessons over 4 other days, so she couldn't actually leave the school as didn't give her time to do anything, but she wasn't getting paid either. Think she finally managed to get some of it changed to she got 1/2 day off in one chunk, but wasn't ideal.

Yup, it is a complete change to normal timetable. There is still marking whoever you teach, but older kids are much much much more pleasanter to teach, so much less stressful. Lower school are like nuclear gremlins, just bouncing off each other all thr time, very wearing.
Union have been really unhelpful, they say nothing can be done, EOC say it sounds like direct discrimination....Am currently looking at way to extend maternity leave, not that I want to go back, but need money unfortunately...

the union did suggest to me that i could apply to take parental leave - i think you can take up to about 12 weeks which is unpaid.

This happened to a college and her union (I think NUT, but poss. NAS) also said it was discrimination and were keen to get involved. They cannot discriminate against you timetabling-wise because you are pg. However, at this point in the year, I suspect it will be difficult to get the school to change it before September. Lots of sympathy - I watched this happen to a pg colleague at my last school, her entire timetable for the term before mat.leave was floating cover/sin bin cover. I decided not to return to this school - maybe it is a chance for you to look at other schools in the area?

I had it when I said I was pregnant. I wasn't too bothered as it was only for one term, and I wasn't going back. In fact, I told them I was pregnant much earlier than I would have done because when they were doing the timetable, I was being given the classes of a colleague who had left and I thought it would be a bit harsh for the children to have three teachers in two years.

i am sure that following maternity leave, you must return to your job in an equal place where you left. you should not return to someting substandard as it is classed as continuous emplyment not a break!

To be honest not v impressed with union at all. Have been told it is "not tribunal material" and have been made to feel as if I am making fuss about nothing. EOC however think it is tribunal material.
Have written to head stating what I think, and can't really do more than that. Cannot take it to tribunal without backing of union, who seem very woolly about whole thing, perhaps I should change unions....