Health questionnaire advice please

Update. Reassured talking to a head teacher friend that heads don't see the health declaration as it is an HR matter.

I will put 'Work induced stress' and leave it at that, rather than complicating it with other additional details.

HT friend also said as record shows I have worked since, being 'fit for work' shouldn't be under question.

I do expect something more to be asked about previous employment at interview. My friend said heads are very understanding of current stresses and that my situation is not at all unusual and any heads worth their salt will take on board that my situation was extraordinarily stressful.

So here's hoping ... a year ago I was an outstanding teacher, student mentor and leader of 3 subjects. All my records of obs were 'lost' by management and because the school had poor SATS results (followed by great upheaval in management and teaching staff) they are now expecting Requires Improvement at the next Ofsted which is due any time now -I was also put into the RI frame - despite NO performance management all year until May and then absence with a broken ankle from /Jun- July. This year I feel I was set up to fail. Hey ho ... let's hope the new head will listen and I will have the wisdom I need about what to say and what not to say ...

Luckygirl, without question, I will put the truth.

I am reassured by some comments you and others have made, thank you.

I am just finding the whole thing stressful. I expected in good faith to have supply work by now, but there has been a problem with Met police processing - they are experiencing an 18 WEEK delay ... so my supply registration is incomplete. initially I had calculated and budgeted to mange with supply work until Sept, but this often dries up in July - would not have been a problem if I could have been earning early into week 1 of this term. The agency have plenty of work lined up and begging - so frustrating for me. The DBS won't escalate searches unless someone is experiencing hardship - their definition is someone having to pay rent by credit card. I don't want to get to that point, but am only a term away now. But by then, too much time will have passed for eam to earn enough with supply before the summer holidays.

Because of the supply DBS problem, I decided to try to get a job for April, knowing I would then have money for the summer. So a lot is riding on this appointment for me.

I know there is only my word for events that have unfolded at my previous school and it is a very complex story, but I have been treated very unjustly. I only wish I had kept written records. I received telephone advice from NASWUT who said school were breaching their duty of care an placing me under undue pressure in the workplace. Then I became poorly and just decided to resign. I honestly thought I would be earning by now.

Sorry to go on - when I start to talk about what went on I become very emotional as the hurt is so deep and I don't want that to happen under interview conditions.

You strike me as an honest person and I think you would find it hard to lie on the form. If HR do go back to the teacher with this information it is very unlikely that he/she would either be concerned, or talk to you if he/she were.

I don't think you would be comfortable with not putting the truth.

The most important thing is that you are medically fit to work with children and it sounds as though you have no problem here.
I would be surprised if the Head didn't see your medical declaration, because it's her head on the block if things go wrong, (safe guarding and all the rest of it.) Have you considered she might also phone your previous school to ask questions?
One option you have is to drop her an email saying you would like the opportunity to explain a few things regarding the stress.
To be honest, she might be feeling just as relieved as you are to have someone to fill the post, as recruitment isn't easy these days for schools.

Thank you all for your comments.

The interview was rigorous and clearly went well, but the subject of health / previous work never came up. This may be because it was for a temp post that I know they are very anxious to get sorted. They seemed to accept my initial application comments and didn't seek further clarification.

I feel that I impressed them, both with the teaching obs and further interview response. I wasn't evasive in any way - if they had asked pertinent questions I would have answered them honestly, but they never asked - and actually, just working hard to answer what I was presented with under interview conditions, I didn't feel there was any omission at the time.

I have considered emailing the head to pre-empt further query re my health form as I understand that they simply need to check my fitness for work, but have hesitated as the form is confidential at this point - dealt with by an outside agency - and my answers show I am fit for work now so I don't want to draw attention to it if I don't need to. By the by, I don't view the 'stress' I suffered from as a 'mental' condition- and there is a separate tick box for that ... I was physically very tired - burn't out really. I just needed to rest up.

Does anyone actually know if the head does / does not see the medical declaration? My understanding is that it rests confidentially with HR unless there is a query.

Any override would have to be due to something serious. I know as a school governor that we often ask at interview about their previous post - why they left etc. - this is what makes me think that this information is likely to be on the table already.

I do not think that lying or being evasive would be the right thing to do in the long run - it would come out anyway, especially if the other school is reasonably local and the grapevine is as efficient as it is here!

I think that, assuming that it is not already out in the open with the new school, they will come back to you if they feel the need after reading the medical form and you can explain how the stress arose. It will not be a revelation to them - so many teachers need time off for stress. Hopefully it will nudge them into making sure that the proper support systems and management is available.

The school has a legal obligation to verify someone's medical fitness to work with children. Different schools achieve this in different ways, but usually with some form of questionnaire. (My school for example asks just theee questions and wouldn't ask in great detail.) Nevertheless any declaration of mental illness, (stress), should prompt the school to seek further information. They may be happy to accept your explanation but there is a chance they could withdraw their offer, (sorry, completely the opposite to what Luckygirl says.)

Can't you just say you had a broken ankle, followed by a virus? I wouldn't mention the stress.

I think that honesty is the best policy and would agree with the above advice. School governors and heads will understand the situation and will have met it before. It need not necessarily be categorised as shooting yourself in the foot.

Does the school where you are taking up the new post already know what occurred at the previous school? Presumably that came up at interview. If they have decided to appoint you, then officialdom cannot override that on the basis of your medical form.

Congratulations on this appointment - they were clearly impressed with you. I wish you every success.

I would keep it to fractured ankle and work induced stress. I think thyroid and immune system investigations are unnecessarily complicating things. Especially as this is what your sick notes said.

You may be asked to say more about it at the interview, so don't look as though you are trying to hide the stress element, but do add that you were tested for thyroid and immune system problems while off sick. You were in no state to counter the bad management that was going on, which made you ill. Do you have a record of your union correspondence?