When Peter Fardell started teaching at Endike primary school in Hull in the early 1990s, he never imagined he’d meet his perfect partner in the staffroom. But 10 years later, not only is he almost four years into a happy marriage, but with colleague - and wife - Carole, he may also have found the perfect answer to teacher stress.

Two years ago, Peter and Carole Fardell (nee Miss Chafey) hit upon the idea that they could teach the same class - job-sharing a single post - to give them extra time for themselves and each other, and as a way of sharing the rigours of juggling childcare with career once the hoped-for family came along.

“We were rushing around as teachers do with hardly any time to do anything but teach,” says Peter. “So we thought maybe we could share a class to take the pressure off, and have time to do things together.”

Although they wanted to start a family, Carole didn’t want to give up the job, so finding a way of sharing the burdens between them seemed to make perfect sense. Luckily Endike’s headteacher, Malcolm Coates, agreed to their proposal, and the following term the Fardells took joint control of a Year 1 class, Carole teaching from Monday to Wednesday lunchtime before passing the baton to Peter, who “kind of carries on” until the end of the week and “ties up loose ends”.

“We’re both much fresher for it, without a doubt,” says Peter. “Everyone else is flagging at the end of the week but we’re still fine.”

“I love it,” says Carole. “Before we started, friends and colleagues said ‘Don’t do it, you’ll be bored silly’. Now everyone thinks it’s a good idea.”

Far from being bored, the Fardells have found the time to do “all the house things” during the week, leaving the weekends free for “nice things” - in Carole’s case, Morris dancing.

It has also, they say, made them more effective teachers. “I felt guilty at first not working on my days off, because I thought people would think I was skiving,” says Carole, who’s been at the school for 13 years. “But it has really helped my teaching. I used to be so tired by Thursday and Friday I couldn’t give my best. Now I have time to plan more thoroughly, the lessons are more exciting and I can put 110 per cent in all the time.”

They have yet to start a family, but say that being married seems to have made job-sharing particularly easy to manage. As Carole covers the beginning of the week, she does the bulk of the lesson planning, but finding time to talk over ideas is rarely a problem. “It also means we can cover for each other at a moment’s notice,” says Peter. “And it’s good for the kids - they get a teacher who’s more relaxed for the whole of the week, and they get teachers with different styles, which makes it more interesting.”

One pupil told Carole at the end of last term that having two teachers was good because “you learn more” and, as they are married, “it’s like having another mum and dad”.

For Peter, the move has been particularly liberating. As the school’s music co-ordinator, he started composing songs for the children a few years ago, and writing shows for the older children to perform. Now, with half a week’s worth of free time to practise, his music writing skills have taken off, so much so that he’s just had two books for music published by education publisher Golden Apple.

“I was writing music for school anyway, producing songs to help the kids learn,” he says. “When I went part-time I wondered if I could get them published.”

His first book, Double Trouble, comes with a CD and contains songs to help teachers introduce maths concepts to early primary children. Golden Apple’s founder, Alison Hedger, was so impressed that she asked Peter to write an anti-smoking musical for the same age group, Planet Breetheezy, which was published last month.

Has surviving on one salary been a strain? “It was a worry at first,” says Peter. “But neither of us has expensive tastes and we’d rather have time together than the money.”

Both are adamant that they’d never share the class with anyone else. “You need to communicate well and see the person on a regular basis,” says Peter.

And when the Fardell kids do arrive? “Peter would like to carry on like this,” says Carole. “But we’d have to see if we could cope with the money. Who knows? Hopefully by then Peter will be a famous musician anyway, so we’ll be fine.”

Peter Fardell’s Double Trouble, sheet music and CD for key stage 1 maths teaching, published by Golden Apple, is available from www.musicroom.com