'At the end of my maternity leave I knew I wanted a new challenge and applied for a new role which was offered as full time originally.  I tweeted #WomenEd and immediately received moral support from women across the world! During my full day interview I asked for breastmilk pumping facilities and was surprised how supportive the Head was when I asked for flexible working.

I'm about to return from maternity leave on 0.8 FTE and all my childcare is already in place. The school were happy to agree to this from Jan-July 2022 with a view to go full time from Sep 2022 which is what I wanted. They also agreed to later starts (9am) Jan-July as I didn't want to disrupt my son's existing routine.

I felt relieved, and surprised when they agreed. The head really valued me and wanted to hire me and was willing to work with me to be flexible. It was really empowering. I was under the impression that most schools weren't flexible (especially on start times) but the head has children himself and understood childcare arrangements.

I'm now Head of Sixth Form!' 

Elizabeth Main @mainy83