"It was agreed that I would write to parents and inform them of your return to work. You shared your concern that parents may attempt to discuss the details of your absence with you and we agreed that you would keep to the professional line and confirm that you have been unwell but would not share any personal details of your absence."
Last week, I discussed my initial back to work meeting. The above is taken from the letter I was sent by the head immediately after the following meeting on 24.01.20.
I was not informed of what parents were told about my absence which lasted the best part of 3 months. One thing I do know is that they were not told that it was due to a nervous breakdown, nor that it had been caused by the head.
But apparently, I "shared (my) concern with (her) that parents may attempt to discuss the details of (my) absence with (me) and we agreed that (I) would keep to the professional line and confirm that (I) have been unwell but would not share any personal details of (my) absence." Well how very, very convenient. This is not how I remember the conversation. Who would such an agreement benefit the most? Hmm, tricky one that...
I have since found out that while parents were never officially told of what had happened, a number of them were astute enough to read between the lines.
In fact, I have found out that there were a lot more astute parents than I originally gave them credit for.
In my current school alone, we are fast approaching double digits when it comes to children having come over to us from the previous place - and we have several on our waiting list.
I have no way of knowing for sure how many children have left the previous place to other schools, but I know there are more than a few.
I also know that the number of angry parents has been steadily rising since my departure.
News travels fast in the primary school community.
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