Going back 0.8 after maternity leave -- advice?

[Phineyj]

I'm on maternity leave at the moment and am thinking of asking to go back 0.8 (I was full time before).

My reasoning:
i) I am the only teacher of my subject -- I can easily cover the lessons in that subject in 0.8, although unfortunately due to the sixth form timetable it's likely to be over 5 days not 4. As the only subject teacher, my negotiating position with school is good.
ii) 0.8 will mean I may be able to get away with paying for 2 or 2 1/2 days' nursery rather than 3 (DH doing 1 day, DM another) -- being part time will also mean school can't give me sole responsibility for a form, which means a good chance I can get the co-form teacher to do some morning registers, so less stress with drop offs at nursery (only just enough time to get from nursery drop of to school in time for register)
iii) 0.8 will not be enough hours to be required to teach my second subject, one I was forced to take on in order to qualify, am not good at teaching and have ethical objections to teaching. It is one offered at KS4 which means a lot more marking as I might easily have 4 or 5 sets each with 30 students. I really don't want to have to discuss my feelings about the subject with the (nice) Head as it is her specialist subject!

My DH feels I might as well go back full time as I will be giving up 20% of my pay for not much less hassle -- but we don't really need the extra money, whereas I think I will only just be able to cope with the planning and marking for my one specialist subject, while doing the second one as well will be too much.

I had a previous career before teaching and if I found in the future I needed the full time salary, would take on some bits of different work (or do external examining/tutoring) if school wouldn't put me back on a FT contract.

Advice please? DH is a lecturer and thinks it is the same, so I am finding it hard to convince him of the difference the extra marking, second subject and full time form teaching would make.

[lpy101]

If you think you are likely to get 0.8 and the money isn't an issue, go for it!

Anything that makes your life that bit less stressful has to be good!!

[Phineyj]

Thank you Ipy101, will try again to explain that to DH -- would think he should take it seriously as stressed me=stressed him! I did the sums and the extra money would all go on the extra childcare anyway.

[TheFallenMadonna]

How many lessons a week are available of your specialist subject? Is it a 6th form only one like Psychology or something?

[CrackerSnacker]

I teach in a secondary and work 4 days - it's perfect for me. It's one less evening I have to pack lunches/get clothes ready. One less evening I have to plan for the next day. Two fewer classes to plan/mark/do parents' eves for. And, I still feel like a 'proper' member of staff (something part-time colleagues often express concern over) and have kept my responsibilities. It's also made life slightly easier on the occasions my DD has been too poorly for nursery.
Go for it!

[olivo]

I went back 0.8 after having DD1 and it was much harder than I thought. I still had a form, someone subbed in for me on my day off, I only ended up having 3 hrs less contact time than the rest of my pt and had to attend as many meetings, inset , etc s everyone else. I had the same amount of reports to write too.

To be honest, I only managed as I put dd into nursery on the 5th day, and worked a lot that day at home. Looking back, I don't know if I would do it again. After 5 yrs, I went full time and barely noticed a difference, except in my pay packet!

Yr school may be more used to part timers though, mine wasn't really, I guess I was a bit of a Guinea pig!!

Good luck, it is a hard decision, but you sound like you are in. Good position for negotiating!

[Phineyj]

Thanks guys, this is good food for thought. TheFallenMadonna, yes, sixth form only subject, 4 classes x 9 lessons so plus a few lessons of a core subject which all our sixthformers take and I have been asked to teach, that is enough for 0.8.

olivo yes there are quite a few other part timers. The downside is they are all ridiculously busy running around on the days they are in, but seeing as before I went on mat. leave I was doing GTP on top of my full time job, I am hoping it can't be much worse...I have costed it all with DD in nursery year-round but 2 days, in the hope that I can then catch up on planning and marking in half terms and holidays (can't see how I'm going to get coursework & mocks done otherwise).

For me the big difference is that with my specialist subject I set all the homework and tests etc, so only have myself to blame if I end up with too much marking, but with the second subject I have to follow the departmental policy on homework and tests, and it is a highly academic school so that's 30 books x essays x however many sets every other week, aargh!

[cherrypiesally]

I went back 0.8 after mat leave. I was the first in our school to request it in 20 years! I also always get the same say off, a Friday which is nice. My subject is KS4 only but I do get 2 easy ks3 classes and to share a form group. Meetings are the same as usual though, as are parents eve. I also have a responsibility post to manage.
It's nice to be finished on a Thursday and now my LO is in reception I can take him to school which he loves. It also gives me time to get school work out of the way do weekends are often just for family.
I don't think I ever want to do fulltime again.

[lpy101]

Ah! It just seems like a no brainer to me!! I'm just about to go back f/t after 6 years of p/t. Feeling nervous about fitting everything in!! Would love to do 0.8! It just gives that extra bit of breathing space! Defo work on DH!!!

[noblegiraffe]

Are you sure you would be able to get a timetable with chunks of time off, e.g. two afternoons that you can actually do stuff in? My 0.6 timetable spread over 5 days means that I actually spend much longer than 0.6 in school due to trapped time. One of my days I even teach P1 and 2, then not again till P6 meaning I've got a useless large chunk in the middle of my day when I still have to put DS in childcare. If I made too much of a fuss with the school, the result would be take it or leave it, as they are not keen on part timers.

One other thing to bear in mind is that going part time will probably screw your career while you do it. My school wouldn't give any TLR to a part timer. And remember that once you're part time, you can't simply go full time again when you fancy it, your full time job will be gone.

[Phineyj]

noblegiraffe presumably you plan or mark in the 'trapped time'? I see what you mean about the childcare though. I don't know how it will work out exactly as the timetable won't be finalised for a while yet. I can't have a TLR as I don't line manage anyone (that's the policy at my school) so I successfully argued for a higher pay grade instead...but I don't want to push my luck hence trying to think it over carefully first. I guess I will carry on being very very nice to the lady who does the timetable! One good thing is that the teacher covering the post is on 0.8.

[PatTheHammer]

I've posted this before but I teach 0.8 this year and I HATE it. It is well known that 0.8 teachers are very good value for money for schools.

I teach over 5 days (KS3 and 4 and a core subject so there is no way of 'bunching' all my lessons together as too much impact on the timetable and other staff/subjects).

I teach almost exactly the same number of groups/lessons as most of my F/T colleagues who are on a lot more money than me (they may have a few extra periods free and a small TLR etc). I am still expected to pull my full weight with responsibilities in the department. The only real difference being that I don't have a tutor group. In my school they pay you 'per minute' of lesson time rather than straightforward % of teaching time, therefore tutor time counts against me and takes my 'minutes' down.

I have been chasing my tail all year, in school at 7.45am despite not being paid till 9.20am most days. I work through every break time as I am only employed up till lunchtime most days. I then never leave until a good half hour after I actually finish. Meetings, parents evenings and reports all the same as full-time teacher.

Anyway, I think having done several connotations of part-time that to actually 'feel' part-time but also feel a valued member of staff a more realistic contract is between 0.6 and 0.7. I LOVED being 0.65 and have asked to go back to that next year.

Hope you can work something out that suits you and your family.

[SweepTheHalls]

Don't rely on the form though, I teach 0.6 and still have main responsibility for my year 11 tutor group.

[Phineyj]

Oh I'm sure I will get a form, SweepTheHalls but they can't make me do the register on the days the 0.2 coincides with a morning or afternoon, ifyswim.