Has anyone not come back after mat leave? (Esp teachers)

[ridl14]

Posting in AIBU for traffic.

It's prob early to be overthinking like this but I'm 13w pregnant currently, about to start a new school year and I'm so anxious about going back. I moved schools last year and while my current one isn't as challenging in terms of behaviour or physical risks from the kids, the workload last year was insane to the point it repeatedly affected my health. It might sound silly but I'm worried about things like bathroom access when I have 3 back to back classes, scrutiny for sitting down when I feel dizzy and getting sick from stress/exhaustion again.

I should be going on mat leave in Spring term and part of me wants to take the year and come back 3 days a week max, then see how I adjust (and to avoid the clawback for enhanced mat pay). Part of me honestly wants to just not come back and have some flexibility to look for something else. I love most of the kids but really struggle to enjoy my life in term time.

I just spoke to a friend who took a year leave from her non teaching job and told them a month before she was due to go back that she wasn't coming back (and wasn't asked to repay anything). She also thought teachers get paid for holiday while on mat leave which I don't think we do (her family are teachers so I'm a bit more inclined to believe her).

Has anyone changed their mind and not returned to work after planning to take 1 year mat leave? Any teachers who've either returned to the classroom part time or decided not to return after mat leave?

I returned to work part time (3 days) after my first mat leave.

If this is your first, see how it goes, you might be surprised. I had horrific PPD after my first and going back to work actually helped. If you go back at the end of a term you get full pay over the break. 3 days is a perfect balance for me, although I'm lucky to have a higher earning dh so we can afford it. With my second I returned to work at 6 months postpartum, which again has been really good for my MH.

On the other hand, I had a friend who left London during her mat leave to upsize into a different county. But then she couldn't quit her job without working a term at her old school (she had to temporarily move back to London to work that one term). Otherwise she'd have had to repay her enhanced mat pay.

I was refused part-time after mat leave, so made the decision to return when DS was 5 months old, full-time, for the last half-term so that plus my summer holiday added up to the 13 weeks you have to work without repaying.

It was hard, but I got a different job part-time and was then much happier. So yet another good teacher who was essentially forced to leave because the school declined part-time work.

If you have a partner who's working, please look into shared parental leave; many teachers use it to "return" during school holidays on full pay, then go back on mat leave in term-time. Might help your year-long leave while you decide what to do. Just be aware of timelines to apply for things like part-time.

They're are FB groups out there for pregnant teachers full of people with better knowledge than I.

@Mumoftwo1316 I'm so sorry you went through severe PPD, my SIL did as well 💐 that is a really good point about returning to work helping, I will bear that in mind. Wow I can't believe that about your friend's school in London! A friend at my previous school came back after 9mo for summer term, moving away at the end of term, and the (usually awful) head told her she didn't need to come back if she didn't want to.

Thank you @SuziLikeSuziQ I actually hadn't considered that the school might refuse my PT request! I'll try and get an answer on whether they'd let me do 3 days max on return before going on mat leave. Most of my department is PT TBF so I would be surprised if they said no. Though now you mention timelines I definitely need to look into when I'd need to apply for PT on return.

I'm so glad you mentioned SPL! I've had some great advice on here about using the company to do the application for me, it seems like lots of teachers haven't heard of it.