Taking a maternity cover at a school

[lagrandissima]

Are there any teachers out there who can tell me what exactly the deal is when you agree to do a maternity cover contract at school. If the teacher who is on maternity leave decides to return to work (as would be her right, with 28 days' notice), does that mean that you can be given 28 days' notice to quit, or do schools generally guarantee work for a given number of months / a school year?

If you were to work the autumn and spring term, then be replaced by the regular incumbent in the summer term, would you just lose out on the leave accrued for the following summer holiday? In which case, are you better off doing supply (where the holiday pay is factored in to your daily rate, but you are not paid for the holiday itself).

bump

I did a maternity leave cover to get back into teaching after 5 years out, but was offered a permanent position to start as the maternity cover ended. I had a one week notice period, and my contract would have ended when the person returned to work, whenever that was. Even at the end of term.

You need to look carefully at the timings as it might be better to ask for supply rates. If the teacher you are covering comes back for the summer holidays (and they usually do) then you don't get paid at all. I've also had one week notice period when working a maternity cover. The school will tell you for how long they think they'll need you, but it is down to the permanent post holder when she comes back. However, if the post holder is starting maternity leave now, she is likely to be coming back in spring sometime.

It's not a bad way to get a foot into the school though if it's a place you'd like to work permanently later on.