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An experience of shared parental leave at Newcastle University

Meet the family

Rhiannon and Chris O’Connor are in a unique position. They both do the exact same job as each other (Clinical Fellows at Newcastle Dental School) in the same university they met and trained in aged 18.  You might ask what such a couple could possibly talk about over mealtimes? The answer, for the last few years (since they had kids), has generally been who is more tired and who is going to have to do the next early morning.

Their first daughter, Isla, was born in March 2015 a few weeks before the government would change the family dynamic forever. In April 2015 ‘shared parental leave’ was introduced and families were now able to share the twelve months of leave previously reserved for the mother.

Luckily for the readers of this blog, in July 2018, Rhiannon and Chris welcomed to the world their second daughter, Megan, and decided to share some of their allocated leave.

Why are you sharing your leave?

Google tells us that only one to two percent of parents currently utilise shared parental leave but for the O’Connor family it was a great opportunity. Rhiannon had some pressing PhD deadlines that she wanted to meet to be eligible for job opportunities. Chris wanted to experience being the primary carer for a while and take the opportunity to spend more time with his children.

How can you split it?

In line with Government policy, the University requires mothers to take a period of two weeks maternity leave after childbirth.  Following this, parents can divide a remaining period of 50 weeks leave between themselves.  This can be structured in various ways, provided line managers agree, so parents can take periods of leave together or can take their leave separately. In addition to this, the father is also entitled to two weeks paternity leave within eight weeks of the birth of the baby.

Knowing that the first few weeks with the new baby would be the hardest, Chris took two weeks parental leave immediately after his paternity leave finished. Rhiannon took the first nine months of parental leave immediately and Chris took the final three months.

Is it paid?

Payment for parental leave can vary, depending on conditions of employment and length of service.  The O’Connors received full pay for the two weeks paternity, two weeks maternity and first 16 weeks of shared leave.  The subsequent 21 weeks of shared leave were paid at a lower rate and the final 13 weeks unpaid. 

Was it easy to arrange this leave?

Yes.  The Newcastle University’s shared leave policies are easily accessible on their website.  Once we had worked out what we could apply for, it was a case of a couple of meetings with line managers and then a bit of form filling.  Managers were really supportive and we were granted what we initially requested with no problem.

Would you recommend others consider applying for Shared Parental Leave?

Absolutely!  The opportunity worked really well for us, enabling us to balance work commitments better and both benefit from some quality time with our children.  It also helped us both appreciate the different demands of being ‘stay at home’ and ‘working’ parents, which made us more supportive of each other in these roles.

Rhiannon and Chris are now very much back at work and are still permanently exhausted!

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A day in the life of an Outreach Supervisor.

 

My name is James Thomas and I am an outreach supervisor. I studied dentistry in Newcastle University around 5 years ago and since have worked in the Newcastle upon Tyne Community Dental Services, the maxillo-facial surgery department in James Cook University Hospital and in a small general practice in Newcastle. In addition to my BDS (Bachelor of Dental Sciences), I have passed MFDS (Diploma of Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery) examinations and recently gained a post-graduate certificate in Facilitating Learning in Healthcare Practice.

I currently work in the Community Dental Services in Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals. As a service we provide treatment for patients who require special care from four sites around Newcastle. These sites also provide the opportunity for clinical teaching and training for undergraduate dental students; this is known as “Outreach”.

 

What is Outreach?
Outreach provides the opportunity for clinical experience in a primary care setting. Third year BSc (Oral & Dental Health Sciences) students, and fourth and fifth year dental students attend every other week to provide routine dental treatment to the local community. The overall aim is to provide an environment that is similar to that of a general dental practice and prepare students for life after dental school.

Students are exposed to computerised charting and records and given an appreciation of how the UDA (Unit of Dental Activity) system works. We aim to formulate realistic treatment plans and complete them efficiently; improving the students’ time management skills as they progress.

Students are allocated a regular nurse to work with and are encouraged to delegate and prescribe treatment appropriately to other dental care professionals. This should promote communication, team working and leadership skills whilst enhancing knowledge of shared care. This allows treatment plans to be completed efficiently and effectively in order to provide the best quality of care for patients.

 

Outreach supervising
There are 10 dentists in the Trust that share the responsibility of covering Outreach sessions. We generally oversee groups of 3 or 4 students and provide support and feedback where required. At the beginning of the year we are allocated a group of students and supervise them for the whole year. Having this continuity is beneficial for supervisors, students and patients.

It is rewarding to see the students develop their skills and confidence over the course of the year. Having small clinical groups provides a positive atmosphere for learning as it allows us to connect with students, identify and address any learning needs and provide support where necessary.

I find supervising student clinics enjoyable. It provides a nice variety to the week and different challenges. I want the clinics to be enjoyable and productive for both students and patients. I encourage students to take the lead when solving clinical problems and when interacting with patients. This will demonstrate their knowledge and clinical skill and give them a certain responsibility and satisfaction when completing treatment. Being able to convey this to patients is equally important; I find a well-informed patient will generally feel more confident and relaxed and additionally will appreciate the work you are doing for them.

I try to make everything I teach or feedback to the students relevant to future practice. At the end of each session we reflect on the events of the session. I encourage students to provide insight into their performance and we use this as a way to maintain or enhance their clinical care in the future.

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Nadia Karim on Newcastle University’s Summer School

Spending a week at Newcastle University’s Partners’ summer school, gave me a helpful insight into university life before starting the course in September. We were introduced to the style of lectures and seminars, as well as being taught how to reference and cite sources, which became extremely helpful when writing my in-course assessment during my first year.

The summer school gave me an opportunity to make friends with many of the people on my course and explore the campus and the city; allowing us to find our favourite places around Newcastle. This made the transition to university easier, as we were surrounded by familiar faces and places. Participating in Partners’ scheme confirmed that Newcastle University was the uni for me. Once I completed and passed the summer school, it helped to ease the pressure of A Level results day.

Now, I am a first year dental student and have become best friends with many of the people I met at the summer school. The experience of summer school meant that I was more relaxed and confident at the start of uni, since I already knew my way around the dental school and the expectations of the course.

Partners
• Gave insight into uni life
• The style of lectures and seminars
• Chance to meet people on the course
• Make friends
• Made the transition to uni easier
• Easier seeing a familiar face on the first day
• Completed the Partners’ Summer School essay – very helpful opportunity, helped us with referencing and citations – something I had not previously been taught
• Explored campus and the city

I am thoroughly enjoying my first year as a dental student. As the course is relatively small, it means that it is a close-knit community, across all five years of students. The peer-mentoring scheme means that first year students always have an ‘older’ student to turn to for advice and guidance if they have any issues or questions about exams, assessments and general uni life.

The course is extremely interesting and I have found myself being introduced to many new areas of study, including learning through practical anatomy sessions; undoubtedly my favourite part of first year. I hope to continue to enjoy the course and its challenges!

Nadia Karim, Stage 1 BDS

 

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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in the Dental School’s student representation system.

We have an Academic Representation system in the University that allows students to feedback on their course and experiences in their learning community, these structures are termed the Student-Staff Committees (SSC) that each School and Institute possess.

Our University campus is now characterised by diverse nationality, ethnicity, ability, age groups, and educational backgrounds. It is vital that we engage such students in our representation systems to ensure that they are being fully represented and so that all groups benefit from the consequences of such engagement. Where staff meet students on an equal level, the representation system is a sound platform to welcome and engage diverse populations of students.

True representation should be the embodiment of EDI, however, we want to know just how ‘representative’ we are in our Dental SSC and do we truly represent all student voices? Therefore, we (Luisa Wakeling (SSC Staff facilitator) and Paula Waterhouse (EDI Staff Rep)) applied to the Faculty Education Research Development and Practice unit for some funding to employ a student intern to help them investigate just that.

As part of this project, we will be recruiting student Equality Reps to help us review the inclusivity of our SSC, recruitment and training, and champion EDI in our curriculum and learning community.

Dr Luisa Wakeling

Lecturer, Dental Sciences

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EDI Week – Staff Profile – Dr Bana Abdulmohsen

As part of EDI week (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) and to showcase the positive benefits to staff that the University’s policies can have, Dr Bana Abdulmohsen has written a short post about how it has affected her working life…

Dr Bana Abdulmohsen
I joined Newcastle University in 2015 as a Teaching Fellow in the School of Dental Sciences (SDS). This was after completing a PhD in Dentistry at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London.

To begin with, one of the main challenges I faced was to ensure a high standard of teaching delivery due to having worked many years in a purely research environment. I have been privileged to be supported by many colleagues and have learned a lot from them in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. I understood that making mistakes is not something to feel shamed about, but it is a something to learn from, reflect on and aim to improve. Later on, my teaching skills were refined to a large extent through the Newcastle training I had for my Fellowship in Higher Education (FHEA).

Last year, I had my second child and faced a new challenge; balancing between life and work on my return from maternity leave. I was very blessed having had great support from the FMS/University when I was awarded the FMS Returner’s Support Programme fund to attend and present my research in a prestigious international conference (International Association of Dental Research and Pan European meeting IADR/PER general Session 2018, London, UK. https://iadr2018.zerista.com/event/member/492167). This was an opportunity to network with experts and I learned about the recent innovations in my research field.

The Head of School and the School Manager were both supportive in changing my pattern of work and provided me with the facility that allows me to continue breastfeeding my baby. Not to forget the benefits that NU parents can get from the Childcare Voucher Scheme for Nursery/School clubs vouchers for my two children.
Being involved as a member in the SDS Equality Diversity & Inclusion EDI Committee helps me to understand and appreciate the efforts exerted to respect the diversity and ensure fairness among all employees. All of the above makes me feel satisfied and happily committed to my work at Newcastle University.