Maternity leave - how long to take

[rosear]

Hi,
I work as a teacher, so for me it's hard to decide how long to leave or have as mat leave - I could take the whole year but part of it will be unpaid, or I could come back a bit earlier, although childcare prices are so expensive... so not sure if its worth going back earlier but paying all th salary into a nursery?
I need help!
Thanks :)

When is your due date?

Ignore the pp.

I went back one week before the summer with both. Got paid over the holidays and had no classes so just got loads of prep work done for the following year.

I recommend going back just before a holiday so you have a couple of days back and then holiday.

Look into shared parental leave. Your union will help you work out the best dates and your partner doesn't have to take any time off if they don't want to. It made a huge difference for me on maternity leave as I was able to use the scheme to "return to work" over the school holiday periods on full pay meaning I could afford to take a years maternity leave. I wish I knew about it with older DC.

www.teachersspl.co.uk

Loads of good info on this site about it, they will even work out the dates and fill in the forms for a small fee. I didn't use this service and worked with my union to fill in my dates/forms but others I know have and said it's been very helpful.