Hello there lovely ladies!!!
I know there are alot of us in the education "industry" out there so I was hoping for some advice. I am a high school teacher in an old school that has plenty of stairs. I don't tend to sit at my desk alot but I know I will need to train myself to do this more-- harder to see what the little darlings are really up to though!!!
I was thinking that I would work up to 4 weeks b/f my due date but some women at work have said they needed to leave earlier due to the nature of the job. As this is my first bub I have no idea what I'll be like closer to the time and because I have a couple of senior classes I feel obliged to give as much warning as possible so my department can find the best person to take my kidlets through their HSC's.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance,
Hope xo
I'm a primary school teacher and due to give birth in July. I also wasn't sure how long to work for as this is my first. I teach year two so that involves lots of walking around and leaning over to talk to them (they have such little desks!) I've decided to leave 6 weeks before the due date. I have a good class this year so it won't be so bad working until then.
I am a primary school teacher and had year 2 when pregnant with my first. I stopped working 6 weeks before the due date and I think that was about perfect. I was very big and uncomfortable though.
Sorry Fletch. We posted at the same time but I do think the same as you. I think the department prefers that you start leave at 34 weeks. I remember I worked until I had to stop.
I am a primary teacher and was planning to work up until the end of the term before I was due (term 4 2006) however I ended up having to take leave without pay at 16wks due to heart probs and worked casually until a few weeks before the end of the year. I had one friend who worked up until the week before she was due, she was exhausted and also there was the issue that if she had the baby early who would cover her class??? I think finishing up around 34-36wks is pretty normal
Thanks guys,
That's been most informative. I rang Teacher's Fed today and under the new award if you have a certificate of fitness from your doc. you can keep working up to 36 weeks. Still undecided at this stage as I have no idea how ginormous I could be by then! The new award also has provisions for 14 weeks paid mat leave and access to long service on a pro-rata basis after 7 years of service-- STOKED!!! I'll be taking it at half-pay so those benefits will certainly make life easier financially.
Thanks again girlies,
Hope xo
You can work up until your due date. the federation encourages you to take maternity leave from six weeks before your due date and the government four weeks before your due date. But you can give birth at school ... basically you do not have to take maternity leave early.
I am a high school teacher in NSW and we NOW get 14 weeeks maternity leave. I have an (almost) one year old. And am planning on getting pregnant again this year. I will be pushing my benefits to the limit.
And to all those people that think teachers have it easy ... tell them to walk into a room with 30 fifteen year olds and tell them to do unnatural things like sit and pay attention.
I'm not bitter ... I'm just playing ... I love my job ... but it is really not easy. If you ever have probs with your teens. talk to their friends
I too am a teacher, I am planning on working up until 2 weeks before my EDD if I can (which is the last week of term 3). That way, my 14 weeks will take me up until the end of term 4, and I will be able to get holiday pay and return to work at the beginning of term 1, 2008. I phoned the employee service centre and they said all paid leave counts as service pro rate for holiday pay purposes. I have a year 12 class too, and if I go 2 weeks before the end of term 3 I can get them (mostly) ready for their HSC.
I am a high school teacher too. I have a 13 month old. I finished up at 33 weeks as thats when the Christmas hols started (timed it really well!!! got 5 1/2 weeks of christmas hols then my 14 weeks paid kicked in in Jan making it really almost 20 weeks paid leave so if you can time it well thats something to think about.
If the holidays weren't coming I don't think i could have lasted much longer. One of the main factors was the heat plus being on swollen feet.
I had another prob too - forgetfulness!!! I'd be talking to to class and stop mid sentence - that is a big prob! Baby brain.
I'm a High school PDHPE teacher in NSW. I am currently on part time mat leave and about to return to full time leave after a term of 3 days per week, to take advantage of the second year of extended leave and casual teach close to home. (I've found a 2 yo and 10 month old, getting to childcare by 7am and an hour drive to school to start by 8 all too much for all of us!)
I will explain what I know about NSW award. I have just been through weeks of phone calls and frustration to find out what our rights are under this new award. (they are still calling it new even thought it's now been in for over a year and expires in less than a year - then we will need to strike again!!) - Yes, after being passed around for weeks and not getting answers I am cynical and ****ed off! Call both Federation and the Department to get answers. If you call Newcastle for leave advice, a good person to talk to is Kathleen (not sure of her last name). She seems to know stuff.
You now can work up to your due date, prior to Jan last year it was 34 weeks. I worked to 34-35 weeks with both of mine and felt I could have worked longer, but my leave coincided nicely with terms so did it that way even with the new award. It really depends on how you are feeling. If you put in your leave for close to EDD and couldn't make it you could take sick leave or maybe change your mat leave if time. (After learning stuff - I would take sick leave, we have a pretty generous amount.)
We now get 14 weeks full pay (used to be 6 weeks full to cover the 6 weeks they made you take prior and 6 weeks half pay after the birth). You can take this as a lump sum, full pay for 14 weeks or (I think) half pay for 28 weeks. You need to state this on your mat leave form though. You can have 12 months mat leave and, with approval, extend this for another 12 months if you wish, with right of return to your current school. When you go back you can do part time with your Principal's approval up until your child is of school age. (have a good casual organised, that is happy to job share and does a good job - it makes it hard for your Principal to say no. It also helps if you are not timetabled to teach seniors - this is a common argument for not allowing it.)
My advice - talk to other new mums at school if there are any (our school must have fertility drugs in the water - 10 babies in the last year!), ask Federation for the fact sheets they have on Mat leave and email Teacher's Leave your questions and they will respond back via email - you then have answers in writing. I have found this the best as the answer you get depends on who you talk to and then next time nobody knows anything about it - if you have an email you have proof (and there is a policy that they must respond within 24 hours, so you get a quick answer). I emailed and finally got a (DRAFT) copy of the award provisions, so I can make informed decisions.
Good luck. If you need any help I can tell you as much as I know if you contact me. I'm not sure how you can contact me without me posting my email address - it's do-able I think. Otherwise, post asking me to contact you and I will try and find a way.
I am so cranky about the struggle to find info I'm writing letters complaining to both Federation and DET.
By the way - to get around the not sitting at your desk thing - sit on it. You can still see them and have an intimidation factor, but get a bit of rest too. My little ferals would have swung off the fans if I sat down (and they were nicer to me when I was pregnant than normally).
Hi Sim,
Thanks for posting some very useful information. I know it was a while ago but it is still useful.
I'm just wondering about this holiday leave/maternity leave and how it works as we are trying to fall pregnant at the moment. I work in NSW as a primary school teacher and am teaching kindy this year.
If all goes well I will be due at the earliest 30th Dec 2008 which is school holidays (fingers, legs and everything else crossed).
Would this mean I could finish the year with my class and work up until the last day of term 4 and then start my maternity leave on the 27th Jan 2009 (first day school goes back next year) or would I have to put in maternity leave from the EDD?
I am hoping I can take advantage of having the 5 and a half weeks paid holiday leave plus the 14 weeks paid maternity leave after that.
Your help is very much appreciated.
I need some urgent advice. As I am extremely stressed at the moment!
I am also a teacher, currently teaching k/1, in an isoslated rural school. I am currently 35 weeks pregnant (nearly 36 weeks) and have been feeling fantastic up until today when I had a big blue with the principal. I'm not due to go on leave, until I am 38 weeks, which is 2 and a half weeks away. Last term I asked my principal if I could use some of my incentive leave (which I get for working in an isoslated school in NSW) to travel to a friend's wedding. The leave I required is on the Monday and Friday before my maternity leave starts. My principal had not confirmed with me whether he was able to get a casual for the days I wanted off, so I asked him about it again today. He basically told me I was rude and incosiderate for wanting to take leave just before my maternity leave starts. Unfortunately, my friend is having a shot gun wedding, because she too, has fallen pregnant and wants to get married before she has the baby. So I didn't get much notice, otherwise I would have taken maternity 1 week earlier. In addition, to calling me rude he also questioned my priorities as a mother to be, going away three weeks before the baby is to born. Which I had already checked with OB and he said, as long as we had plently of stops I should be fine. In the end, he basically told me that if I wanted the time off, I have to amend my maternity leave and start it now. I have felt physically sick and have had diarrhoea since leaving his office this morning and don't want to go back to work now becuase he was so horrible to me and has made me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome at work. What do you think I should do? There is no one I can talk to at work because there are only three teachers in the school and one of them is an older lady who thinks I should have stopped working at 30 weeks.
I think in some cases its a very personal thing, of course im not pregnant yet but from colleagues and friends each has been very different.
One woman worked right up to the birth and I mean right up to it. We had the school on the Thursday. A whole school conference on the Fri-Sat. She went on the friday and then had the baby on the saturday!!
Some very lucky ones have been able to work until Decemeber and then officially start their maternity leave at the end of Jan/ Feb. I knwo the down side of it being hot but they still got paid during the holidays and had time off to rest.
Depending on your $ situation as well. One girl finished her class at the end, but came back for the first 2 weeks every day to complete another role she did in the school so she didnt miss out on her money for that role. I think that one was very dependant on the leadership at your site.
So holidays don't count as part of your mat leave? That's excellent - I might go a couple of weeks earlier - was factoring the Sept/Oct break as part of mat leave.
A friend who took the 28 weeks at half pay option says it's not so bad, she pays less tax so ends up with more than she'd thought.
Teachers-when to take leave???
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks