NQT Maternity pay?

[avocadosarentmiddleclassed]

I finish my NQT year in July 2016 and hope to have my first baby in sept 2016 I'm just wondering whether it's likely that I'll be paid full maternity for a year?
I read that the Burgondy book states that I would have to go back for 13 weeks after the paid maternity period but would that have to be full time?
Have any of you been in this position and if so could you tell me what you were entitled to it all seems a bit complicated?
Thanks in advance :)

[miaowroar]

Sorry, don't know the details and presume you have already checked this - but can you get maternity pay if you have been employed for under two years?

[ArmchairTraveller]

www.tesfaq.co.uk/maternity

[avocadosarentmiddleclassed]

Thanks so much I've had a good look yes I can get MP because I started in my current school at Easter as an UQT ... Looks like I'll get 6 weeks at 90% and then £140 a week for 39 weeks then unpaid for the last part... I just don't understand how people afford to have babies?! I'm looking into other benefits/ grants... DH is trying to sell an old ruin he bought abroad when he was younger to supplement us for the first year... Do people just save/get into debt?
I feel very strongly that Id like to be at home with baby for at least the first year then go back part time.
Thanks.

[EWLT]

No teacher and very few in other jobs gets full pay for 12 months. People save and cut their cloth according to the reduced income if they want a year off

[noblegiraffe]

If you don't get the 12 weeks at 50% pay then you don't need to go back for 13 weeks. If you get the 50% pay and don't go back for 13 weeks, you have to pay the 50% pay bit back.

[noblegiraffe]

If you are working in an academy they don't have to abide by the burgundy book, so might have their own maternity pay policy.

[ArmchairTraveller]

'I just don't understand how people afford to have babies?'

I worked FT for 5 years and lived like a student, then I had a baby.
Not much use to you as advice!

[avocadosarentmiddleclassed]

Thanks, I count myself lucky that we'll have DH's income too, I suppose I hadn't realised how financially destabilising having a child would be.
I know naive.

[ArmchairTraveller]

It's surprising how little you actually need in the way of kit for a new baby. Try and get a grip on the difference between all the stuff you'd like to get and what the baby needs for that particular couple of months.

[IndomitabIe]

Regarding returning to work, it's 13 weeks pro rata. So if you worked full time before maternity leave, you must return to work for at least 13 weeks full time, or 26 weeks at 0.5 to be able to keep your maternity pay.

FWIW, this is my second pregnancy in teaching. For the first I returned to work full time after less that 5 months leave. Planning on the same (slightly less leave) this time. It's no big deal.

Good luck in your plans (and remember, things rarely go to plan when it comes to fertility & babies!)

[MrsLeighHalfpenny]

You're also naive to plan exactly when you'll be having your baby. You're not pregnant yet, and babies don't usually come on demand!

[NerrSnerr]

That's a very specific month to have a baby. It doesn't also happen to a specific timescale. We cut back on stuff when pregnant and spread the cost for the expensive stuff. Maternity leave wasn't hugely expensive but we just planned our budget and stuck to it.

[ArmchairTraveller]

Both of my babies were planned for September...
Stubborn before conception, neither co-operated with my plans.

[Shutthatdoor]

You're also naive to plan exactly when you'll be having your baby. You're not pregnant yet, and babies don't usually come on demand!

^ this

[noblegiraffe]

I avoided TTC so that I didn't go off on maternity leave in the run up to my nice Y11's GCSEs.

I actually went on maternity leave 2 years later, having seen another GCSE group through the course.

[NerrSnerr]

My baby was initially due on the 14th September by dates, was then changed at a scan to the 6th. She arrived in August.

[ValancyJane]

I was aiming ideally for a September birth. Currently pregnant with DC1 who is due in January... These things sadly don't run to plan!

Others have given you good advice; the breakdown and information [https://www.teachers.org.uk/maternitymatters here] is pretty thorough.

[ArmchairTraveller]

www.teachers.org.uk/maternitymatters

[avocadosarentmiddleclassed]

Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it.
I need a page plan but I'm well aware that babies come when they're supposed to.
Thanks again.

[MrsPCR]

NQT year is a long, tiring year. I really wouldn't recommend trying to get too pregnant too soon before the end of the year. I am 19 weeks and still really struggling with morning sickness and teaching. I've been doing it 6 years though so have plenty of resources to fall back on and rarely have to devise a whole new lesson, which means on my rough days, I can wing it more easily.

Also, you may end up signed off sick. If you miss too much of your NQT year, then they have to extend it, meaning you would go on mat leave as an NQT. With regards to returning, if you don't you may struggle to complete you NQT.

Pregnancy with regards to timing and the actual pregnancy is so unpredictable. You don't know how it will affect you until it happens.

[avocadosarentmiddleclassed]

I know what you are saying and I have considered this a great deal too but as I am a mature NQT, I want to start my family soon before my fertility begins to wane before my dear ageing grandparents pass away, my husband is also a bit older than me so the decision is based on starting a family above all else. I will try my level best to get my NQT year done and dusted first.
:( Perils of being a woman.

[PotteringAlong]

Is your school an academy? Their maternity policy might be different.

[avocadosarentmiddleclassed]

No not academy, I won't allow any kind of policy to dictate my big life decisions, I just want to be as informed as possible but whatever I'm entitled to or not won't affect my decision to start TTC early next year.