Unpaid Parental Leave as a Teacher

[EdithGrantham]

Has anyone made use of unpaid Parental leave when teaching?

I was just reading a thread about it and I was aware of the entitlement but thought it was more to use for if your child is ill but people are talking about using it to spend more time with their children. My DD is currently under 2 and I work FT so miss out on taking her to all the baby groups I loved during mat leave.

I'd love a week where I could do all that but just don't see how it'd work as a teacher, I imagine it would just make more work for my colleagues (and me when I return) and wouldn't make me very popular with said colleagues, SLT or parents!

Would love to hear of any experiences others have had.

I've just read that thread too and am a TA, wondering the same x

A teacher colleague of mine is having unpaid parental leave to go on holiday abroad with her children. She's entitled to it. I don't know anyone who's done it before and I personally wouldn't feel comfortable asking for it, knowing my class would have to be covered. It will potentially lead to other people asking and will definitely set a precedent. But legally, she's entitled.

@Foxymoxy68 given how bad I was made to feel a couple of months back when I had 2 days off with flu I'd be partly reluctant to ask for anything and partly thinking that I'd be easily replaced if I left so shouldn't martyr myself over it.

It's a tricky one. Your school can't, in theory, refuse it. But it's thorny, without a doubt. The academy I work for aren't happy at all about it. Not sure what's going to happen with my colleague.

I would be really fucked off if my colleagues did this, of course working means you miss out on baby groups etc, but at least as teachers we get all the holidays to spend with our kids.

I wouldn't be annoyed if a colleague did it because they'd be well within their rights, I'd be annoyed with myself for not having the balls to do it!

I added 7 weeks on to the end of my maternity so that I could spend more time with my children while they were small.

That sounds like a good way of doing it, I wish I'd thought of it, I returned to work 3 weeks before the summer holidays, could have used it then perfectly!

I’d love to be able to do this as well. I’m due back at work summer 2 this year as that’s when my 52 weeks of mat leave ends but would love to be able to stretch it out to the summer holidays. I don’t have a very approachable Head and I think it would go down like a lead balloon if I request it. Were your school ok with you requesting it?

I never did because I feel like I missed my chance to use it at the least disruptive time, I don't think it would go down well at all with my head and we're heading towards redundancies soon so I don't want to do anything that might put me in the bad books!