Like many parents on leave over the last year, my expectation of my parental leave was very different to the reality. I thought I would be a pro at it my second time round - I knew where all the baby groups were, what happened each day, the grandparenting strengths of my parents and mother in law, parent friends good to go for playdates, or just a strong coffee after a sleepless night. And then… Well, everyone knows the end of that sentence. So after having my son in August, we were lucky enough to have all grandparents stay and make it out with our four year old for a few dozy newborn adventures during that fourth trimester period where in many ways time, and the difference between night and day, loses all significance. The end of this sleepless period arrived in November, when, faced with lockdown 2, I began to realise that hopes of any real normal leave were fast disappearing. Which felt tough, and worrying. Mostly because I knew that, as much as I adore my son, spending all time wi...
Like many parents on leave over the last year, my expectation of my parental leave was very different to the reality. I thought I would be a pro at it my second time round - I knew where all the baby groups were, what happened each day, the grandparenting strengths of my parents and mother in law, parent friends good to go for playdates, or just a strong coffee after a sleepless night. And then…
Well, everyone knows the end of that sentence.
So after having my son in August, we were lucky enough to have all grandparents stay and make it out with our four year old for a few dozy newborn adventures during that fourth trimester period where in many ways time, and the difference between night and day, loses all significance. The end of this sleepless period arrived in November, when, faced with lockdown 2, I began to realise that hopes of any real normal leave were fast disappearing. Which felt tough, and worrying. Mostly because I knew that, as much as I adore my son, spending all time with him and only him, and being solely a parent and nothing else could create a difficult and stressful situation for me, without any additional meaning.
It was time to make a plan.
I knew I had to do something, but it was only four months after giving birth and work definitely wasn’t on my radar yet. Instead, I set myself a walking challenge - after all it was all that I was really allowed to do in November, if I wanted to leave the house. I set up a justgiving page and decided to set myself a 100 kilometre walking target and to raise money for Trussell Trust. Suddenly, leaving the house and logging to to Strava each day gave me an extra purpose that had not been there before. It felt amazing to have set myself a challenge, to be making a contribution to such an important charity, and to be walking for meaning rather than just passing time. This may not sound like CPD, but it gave me the kickstart that I needed
The walking served as a reminder that if I wanted to achieve something then I really could. Through the recommendation of a friend, I became involved with the Born in Lockdown Project set up by Emiliya Hall of Mothership Writers (@mothershipwrite). Here, I produced three very short fragments of writing focused on motherhood and birth during 2020. The process was hugely cathartic, and I decided that writing was something that I wanted to keep up with. After a little bit of a search, I discovered the incredible Mum Poem Press (@themumpoempress) run by the fantastic Katharine Perry (with some other fantastic assistants). The Mum Poem Press do so much - each month you are invited to send in a poem which is then distributed to an email feedback group who respond with their thoughts on your piece. They also produce zines (recently working with the incredible Hollie McNish) and run open mic nights, and are FREE to join. They are a fantastic community, and I would encourage any parents, or anyone with an interest in parenting to check them out.
Realising the impact that the writing was having on me personally, I began to think about its effect on me as a teacher. I remembered reading Jennifer Webb’s Teach Like a Writer in Summer term, and considering how teachers do not seem to write for pleasure. This was certainly true of me; I would always find time to read for pleasure, but to write? Yet writing for myself was only going to help me to teach my students the art of writing for themselves. At the start of 2021, I decided on my next maternity leave plan - to set up a teacher writing group through Twitter. And, as we head into month three of the group, I am pleased to see where it is going. I have read some wonderful pieces of writing, enjoyed giving feedback, and received some lovely feedback myself. It has led me to a new community, and one that I hope we can continue to nurture and grow.
As my return to work was only now a couple of months away, my mind started to turn towards KIT days, and wanting to get my head back into the education zone. The MTPT Project has been a wonderful support with this. Their coffee mornings / afternoons are such an easy way to dip your toe back into edu chat and meet other teacher parents. These conversations always inspired me to use some of my maternity leave time doing all those things that I always ran out of time to do when teaching - reading research, thinking about CPD. Since Covid, accessing CPD has become far easier. A series of webinars on reading from Greenshaw fitted in perfectly with our day - I could listen in on bluetooth headphones while feeding and playing with my son. As he became more treasure basket obsessed and independent, it was easier to dip into a CPD book for a few pages while sitting near him. Not only was I getting valuable CPD here, but he was seeing a parent reading a book - victory! I have now begun my coaching and accreditation with the MTPT Project, and am excited to see where this leads me to on my return to work.
Now that I have a month of leave to go, I am working on coming to terms with a lockdown maternity leave, and knowing that that sense of normality I had hoped for was not going to come. It has been a tricky realisation, and there have been tears for the things that we have lost and missed, but I am trying to reflect on the things that I have managed to turn this leave into. My son is so incredibly happy - he has had so much attention from both his parents, and he utterly adores his older brother. Spending hours guilt free napping with a baby was a wonderful feeling, and not having to get anywhere has led to many precious moments together at home. Now he has visited nursery he is utterly enthralled by the other babies that surround him - I feel like he is going to be ok.
As for me, I am proud that I managed to take steps to bring as much meaning as possible to this period of my life. I am a fundraiser, writer, I help others write, I have read and learned so much to take back to the classroom.
Maternity CPD goes beyond the obvious of podcasts, reading, planning and networking. Instead it is about purpose. My walking, writing, open mic nights, reading, coaching, and chatting on zoom have all developed me as an individual. It is inevitable that this will impact upon the teachers, leaders and colleagues we are when we return to the classroom.
Well, everyone knows the end of that sentence.
So after having my son in August, we were lucky enough to have all grandparents stay and make it out with our four year old for a few dozy newborn adventures during that fourth trimester period where in many ways time, and the difference between night and day, loses all significance. The end of this sleepless period arrived in November, when, faced with lockdown 2, I began to realise that hopes of any real normal leave were fast disappearing. Which felt tough, and worrying. Mostly because I knew that, as much as I adore my son, spending all time with him and only him, and being solely a parent and nothing else could create a difficult and stressful situation for me, without any additional meaning.
It was time to make a plan.
I knew I had to do something, but it was only four months after giving birth and work definitely wasn’t on my radar yet. Instead, I set myself a walking challenge - after all it was all that I was really allowed to do in November, if I wanted to leave the house. I set up a justgiving page and decided to set myself a 100 kilometre walking target and to raise money for Trussell Trust. Suddenly, leaving the house and logging to to Strava each day gave me an extra purpose that had not been there before. It felt amazing to have set myself a challenge, to be making a contribution to such an important charity, and to be walking for meaning rather than just passing time. This may not sound like CPD, but it gave me the kickstart that I needed
The walking served as a reminder that if I wanted to achieve something then I really could. Through the recommendation of a friend, I became involved with the Born in Lockdown Project set up by Emiliya Hall of Mothership Writers (@mothershipwrite). Here, I produced three very short fragments of writing focused on motherhood and birth during 2020. The process was hugely cathartic, and I decided that writing was something that I wanted to keep up with. After a little bit of a search, I discovered the incredible Mum Poem Press (@themumpoempress) run by the fantastic Katharine Perry (with some other fantastic assistants). The Mum Poem Press do so much - each month you are invited to send in a poem which is then distributed to an email feedback group who respond with their thoughts on your piece. They also produce zines (recently working with the incredible Hollie McNish) and run open mic nights, and are FREE to join. They are a fantastic community, and I would encourage any parents, or anyone with an interest in parenting to check them out.
Realising the impact that the writing was having on me personally, I began to think about its effect on me as a teacher. I remembered reading Jennifer Webb’s Teach Like a Writer in Summer term, and considering how teachers do not seem to write for pleasure. This was certainly true of me; I would always find time to read for pleasure, but to write? Yet writing for myself was only going to help me to teach my students the art of writing for themselves. At the start of 2021, I decided on my next maternity leave plan - to set up a teacher writing group through Twitter. And, as we head into month three of the group, I am pleased to see where it is going. I have read some wonderful pieces of writing, enjoyed giving feedback, and received some lovely feedback myself. It has led me to a new community, and one that I hope we can continue to nurture and grow.
As my return to work was only now a couple of months away, my mind started to turn towards KIT days, and wanting to get my head back into the education zone. The MTPT Project has been a wonderful support with this. Their coffee mornings / afternoons are such an easy way to dip your toe back into edu chat and meet other teacher parents. These conversations always inspired me to use some of my maternity leave time doing all those things that I always ran out of time to do when teaching - reading research, thinking about CPD. Since Covid, accessing CPD has become far easier. A series of webinars on reading from Greenshaw fitted in perfectly with our day - I could listen in on bluetooth headphones while feeding and playing with my son. As he became more treasure basket obsessed and independent, it was easier to dip into a CPD book for a few pages while sitting near him. Not only was I getting valuable CPD here, but he was seeing a parent reading a book - victory! I have now begun my coaching and accreditation with the MTPT Project, and am excited to see where this leads me to on my return to work.
Now that I have a month of leave to go, I am working on coming to terms with a lockdown maternity leave, and knowing that that sense of normality I had hoped for was not going to come. It has been a tricky realisation, and there have been tears for the things that we have lost and missed, but I am trying to reflect on the things that I have managed to turn this leave into. My son is so incredibly happy - he has had so much attention from both his parents, and he utterly adores his older brother. Spending hours guilt free napping with a baby was a wonderful feeling, and not having to get anywhere has led to many precious moments together at home. Now he has visited nursery he is utterly enthralled by the other babies that surround him - I feel like he is going to be ok.
As for me, I am proud that I managed to take steps to bring as much meaning as possible to this period of my life. I am a fundraiser, writer, I help others write, I have read and learned so much to take back to the classroom.
Maternity CPD goes beyond the obvious of podcasts, reading, planning and networking. Instead it is about purpose. My walking, writing, open mic nights, reading, coaching, and chatting on zoom have all developed me as an individual. It is inevitable that this will impact upon the teachers, leaders and colleagues we are when we return to the classroom.
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