Has anyone taken parental leave?

[DejaB00]

I have seen on the direct.gov website that I'm entitled to parental leave, ie. 13 weeks of paid leave until my DC is 5, to be taken in blocks of one week (I work 3 days per week so a week would equate to 3 days). My family is abroad and I struggle with my holiday entitlement to go and visit them often enough. Apparently visiting grandparents is one of the official reasons for taking parental leave. I've been back at work 2 years and had no idea!!
Is it really true?

Parental leave as I understand it is unpaid not paid

I haven't taken it and I only found out about it last week. Dd is nearly 3!

There is nothing wrong with taking it, just remember it's unpaid.

it is unpaid
also applies to parents of children up to 18 who have a disabled child (gets DLA)

teachers aren't entitled to it for some bizarre reason

Oops yes sorry I read that bit wrong! Still, I feel cheated that my useless selfish manager, who knows I struggle with my hours and holiday entitlement and I'm finding it hard to get the home/work balance right, didn't even mention it to me. Perhaps the clue is in the fact that she's useless, she probably doesn't even know!
Thanks ladies for your replies.

I imagine the reason teachers don't get it is because it's supposed to be time to spend with your children aged over 5? If a teacher was to take leave during term time then surely their kids would be at school, so how would they spend time together?

it only applies to children over 5 where the child is disabled

so a child may not be able to attend school
or a child may be out of school - school refuser perhaps
or a child may have been expelled from school
or a child may attend school p/t and need extra care in the day
or child care arrangements may have broken down - it can be very difficult to arrange child care for a disabled child
or a child may be struggling in school which could mean that parents may need to work more closely with the school than a parent of an NT child would

Teachers are indeed able to request parental leave the same as any other employer and the unions publish guidance on this.

Employers can postpone a request for parental leave for up to 6 months do in effect they can force employees to have leave when it is less busy at work.

can you link to the guidance?
my union told me that teachers weren't entitled to it

I'm on my phone but I'll try

actually I've just googled and found an NUT link
think I must be in the wrong union.....my union told me that teachers weren't entitled to any leave at all

I always feel mine was wasted because I couldn't afford to take it. It started they day before dd1 was born so so far that's 27weeks I've 'lost'.

The relevant section on NASUWT is being updated but this is NUT

www.teachers.org.uk/node/12152

And this is ATL

www.new2teaching.org.uk/tzone/Employment/family/parental.asp

thank you so much for that info picturesinthefirelight

Who are you with?

I ask because dh is just deciding which union to join - he's thinking of ATL as hes in an indy school

I will pm you in case they see this and banish me
I am very cross with them now