As the parent-to-be who is not carrying the child, life can be an anxious waiting game. All being well, you have a four-week window in which a birth might happen and, as a teacher, normal life must continue until it does.

My role as a PE teacher made things more complicated. Not only did I have to be contactable during lessons (lessons that took place far away from the school building and often out of mobile signal range) but my week is filled with sports fixtures, training and clubs.

There are things that all teachers can do to make it easier when they’re the partner on standby, however. Here are my top tips:

1. Plan cover before you need it

Having your cover ready in advance is essential, along with a list of ongoing issues you’re dealing with. As head of year, I had several complex matters for which I had to write a brief history, just in case anything happened in my absence.

2. Have a ‘what-if’ list

Work through the various possibilities so that, if you have to drop everything and not return for two weeks, your colleagues and students will not be adversely affected.

There were things that I usually had on a constantly changing mental list that I had to write down and hand over to my head of department; things such as information about students who potentially could go off track or those with a history of persistent absences who might relapse.

3. Think extra-curricular

As for the clubs and training sessions, I called in favours from colleagues to cover me; people tend to be very understanding, especially if they know you would do the same for them.

I made sure that the person in charge of the duty rota was aware that I was about to go on leave. In an ideal world, these things would be communicated by someone further up the chain but I found it was best to do it myself to avoid any confusion.

4. Be honest 

It can be, understandably, nigh-on impossible to concentrate during this period – you just want the baby to arrive safely. It’s OK to talk about any worries or nerves you have; the chances are that someone else has had the same feelings and it does feel good to talk the small problems through before they become big worries.

But when it does happen, good preparation means everything can continue in your absence without a hitch, as it should do.

Patrick Hallahan is a PE teacher at St Martin’s School in Essex