Design note 4 - what do we mean?

In addition to the similarities between our new icon and the real Northern Lights, we particularly liked some of the themes the Northern Lights icon represented, namely:

  • Uniqueness
  • Reaching for high standards
  • Our Trust on a journey to Remarkable
  • Whether you are a student, a teacher or a trusted partner, everyone is on a unique journey, one that will take them to new places and opportunities.

Design note 3 - a bold look

To complement our dynamic new Northern Lights icon, we needed a strong colour pallette and confident, contemporary font.
The contrasting yet complimentary colours in our logo symbolises our value of diversity and unity. We often talk about 'the same but different' at Beckfoot Trust to acknowledge that whilst we have a very clear One Trust identity and clarity on what remarkable means, we also know that one size does not always fit all. 

Design note 2 - our Northern Lights

Perhaps the most important part of our new Beckfoot Trust logo is the icon, shown to the right here.

We call it our Northern Lights.

In nature, the Northern Lights are seen as something unique and truly Remarkable that are associated with the North.

Our Northern Lights icon represents The Beckfoot Trust which is also on a constant journey to Remarkable and is strongly associated with the North of England.

As part of our ongoing Journey to Remarkable we felt it was important to give The Beckfoot Trust a strong, confident and contemporary logo and brand that was worthy of an organisation with such high standards and aspirations.

The new Trust logo was a departure from the previous logo style and was definitely designed with the future in mind.

Neonatal Care Leave and Pay Policy

In this document

1.0 Policy Statement

1.1 At Beckfoot Trust, we recognise the challenges faced by employees whose newborns require neonatal care. This policy outlines the provisions for neonatal care leave and pay to support our employees during such critical times.

1.2 This procedure does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and it may be amended at any time.

1.3 This policy has been adopted by the Board of Trustees.

2.0 Scope and Purpose

This policy applies exclusively to employees of Beckfoot Trust. It does not apply to workers, agency workers, contractors, consultants, or self-employed individuals engaged with Beckfoot Trust.

2.1 Eligibility for neonatal care leave

2.1.1 Regardless of length of service, employees may be eligible for neonatal care leave if:

  1. You are the parent of, and have or expect to have responsibility for the upbringing of, the child; or
  2. You are the intended parent under a surrogacy arrangement and have or expect to have responsibility for the upbringing of, the child;
  3. You are the child’s adopter or prospective adopter via a UK adoption agency or an adoption from overseas;
  4. You are the partner of any of the above at the date of birth or placement and will share primary responsibility for the upbringing of the child with the above.

2.1.2 Under this policy, partner is defined as a person of any sex who lives with the mother or prospective adopter in an enduring family relationship but is not their full or half-blood relative.

2.1.3 Additionally, employees must also meet the following conditions in order to be eligible under this policy:

  1. The child was born on or after 6 April 2025 and received neonatal care within 28 days of birth; and
  2. Neonatal care lasted at least seven continuous days (counted from the first full day after the neonatal care started); and
  3. You are taking leave to care for the child; and
  4. Compliance with notice and declaration requirements outlined in this policy.

3.0 Overarching Principles

3.1 Definition of neonatal care leave

3.1.1 Neonatal care leave is intended to support new parents of infants who require neonatal medical attention which starts within the first 28 days of birth. Under this policy, neonatal care encompasses:

  1. Medical care provided to your child in a hospital setting.
  2. Medical care provided to your child in any other location including:
    1. Continued medical care post-hospital discharge;
    2. Care provided under a consultant’s direction; and
    3. Care which involves ongoing monitoring from healthcare professionals under the direction of the hospital in which your child was an inpatient.
  3. End of life or palliative care.

3.2 How neonatal care leave can be taken

There is the option to take neonatal care leave in two different tiers:

3.2.1 The “Tier 1 period” commences when your child begins receiving neonatal care and ends on the seventh day following your child’s discharge. If your neonatal care leave is taken during the tier 1 period, it can be taken in one continuous block or in a number of blocks with durations of no less than 1 week at a time.

3.2.2 The “Tier 2 period” is any remaining time during the 68-week period following your child’s birth which does not fall into the tier 1 period. Any neonatal care leave taken in the tier 2 period must be taken in one continuous block.

3.2.3 You do not need to have taken leave under Tier 1 to be eligible for Tier 2 leave.

4.0 Responsibilities and Arrangements

4.1 Entitlement to neonatal care leave

4.1.1 Eligible employees may take one week of neonatal care leave for each full, uninterrupted week the child is in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Neonatal care leave is available once a child has received neonatal care for an uninterrupted period of seven days, not counting the day on which the neonatal care starts. Leave must be taken in minimum blocks of one week. The maximum number of weeks remains the same, even if multiple children from the same pregnancy require neonatal care (e.g., twins).

4.1.2 In adoption cases, neonatal care leave will only be available for each uninterrupted week that the child spends in neonatal care, after the date the child was placed with you or, for adoption from overseas, after the date the child entered the UK.

4.1.3 Neonatal care leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the child’s birth. 

4.1.4 The right to neonatal care leave is in addition to any other statutory leave that you may be entitled to, including maternity, adoption, paternity, ordinary parental, parental bereavement, or shared parental leave (see section 4.8).

4.2 Starting your leave

4.2.1 Your leave will commence on the date that you have specified in your notice, provided that it complies with the notice requirements set out in section 4.3. 

4.2.2 If you are in work on the same day that you give your notice, your notice will start on the following day.

4.2.3 If notice requirements were not able to be met, your neonatal care leave will begin on a mutually agreed day.

4.3 Notification

The notice requirements differ depending on whether the period is classified as Tier 1 or Tier 2.

4.3.1 Tier 1

  1. First and foremost, we recognise that this will be a difficult time and so we ask that effort be made to follow these timelines but understand that it may not always be reasonably practical to do so. However, for each week of leave that you wish to take in tier 1, please notify the Headteacher/Central Leader by telephone or email, preferably in advance of the week you intend to take the leave.
  2. You will also be required to complete the Notice of entitlement and intention to take neonatal care leave form which will be sent to you by the HR team via Every. There is no expectation to provide this form in order to receive neonatal care leave but we do request that it is completed within 28 days of the first day of your neonatal care leave or as soon as reasonably practical.

4.3.2 Tier 2

  1. If you plan to, or are required to, take neonatal care leave during the tier 2 period, you will need to give notice of your intent by completing the Notice of entitlement and intention to take neonatal care leave form which will be sent to you by the HR team via Every.
  2. For a single week of neonatal care leave, where possible the form should be submitted at least 15 days before the first date that you have chosen for your leave to start, or as soon as reasonably practical where this timeline is not possible.
  3. If you are taking two or more weeks of tier 2 leave, your form should be submitted at least 28 days before the first date that you have chosen for your leave to start, or as soon as reasonably practical where this timeline is not possible.

4.4 Statutory neonatal care pay

4.4.1 Eligible employees may receive statutory neonatal care pay (SNCP) at the lower of the rate currently set by the Government for the relevant tax year or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower), subject to meeting the following specific conditions:

  1. Entitlement to take neonatal care leave;
  2. 26 weeks of continuous employment at the end of the relevant week of pregnancy or the week in which you are notified in writing by an adoption agency of having been matched with a child;
  3. Remaining in continuous employment from the end of the relevant week (or from the child’s birth if they were born before the relevant week);
  4. Your average weekly earnings exceed the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions; and
  5. You have completed the required form to provide notice of an entitlement regarding neonatal care leave.

4.4.2 Neonatal care pay is treated as earnings and therefore is subject to PAYE and national insurance deductions.

4.5 Enhanced neonatal care pay

4.5.1 You will continue to be paid your normal rate of pay while taking neonatal care leave. 

4.6 Changing your leave plans

4.6.1 If your intentions change and you need to cancel a period of neonatal care leave which you have already notified us about, you must inform the Headteacher/Central Leader in writing.

4.7 Requesting support

4.7.1 Employees struggling due to their child’s neonatal care are encouraged to discuss their situation with their line manager or, if necessary, the Headteacher/Central Leader. 

4.7.2 We appreciate that these discussions will be difficult but we encourage openness to ensure that the necessary support can be offered. Discussions will be handled with sensitivity and confidentiality.

4.8 Other statutory leave

4.8.1 The entitlement to neonatal care leave is in addition to any other statutory leave that you may be entitled to, including maternity, adoption, paternity, ordinary parental, parental bereavement, and shared parental leave.

4.8.2 If you have already commenced a period of statutory leave and then subsequently become eligible for neonatal care leave, or if you become eligible on the day another period of statutory leave starts, you can take your neonatal care leave following the completion of your other period of statutory leave, provided that the neonatal care leave is taken within 68 weeks of the child’s birth date.

4.8.3 If you are within the tier 1 period of your neonatal care leave but need to begin another type of statutory leave, your neonatal care leave will pause temporarily immediately before the other statutory leave begins. You can then resume your neonatal care leave in one of two ways:

  1. If you are still within tier 1 period, it will resume immediately following the end of the other statutory leave period; or
  2. If you have transitioned into the tier 2 period, the remaining balance will be added to the end of the tier 2 period.

4.8.4 Tier 2 leave cannot overlap with any other type of statutory leave if you are aware of this overlap at the time of giving notice.

4.9 Changes and bereavement

4.9.1 Employees must inform the Headteacher/Central Leader of any changes in their child’s care status. This includes the date that the neonatal care ends. If, after informing us about the end of the care period, care resumes, you must keep the Headteacher/Central Leader informed of the new start and end dates.

4.9.2 Bereaved employees may still take accrued neonatal care leave and may be eligible for parental bereavement leave under the Trust’s Leave of Absence Policy. If you have suffered a bereavement, please contact your Headteacher/Central Leader so we can discuss other support that we may be able to offer you.

4.10 Employee rights and keeping in touch during leave

4.10.1 During neonatal care leave, the terms and conditions of your contract, with the exception of normal pay, will continue. Your pay will be replaced with neonatal care pay depending on eligibility. You will continue to accrue holiday entitlement where applicable and receive pension contributions based on your normal pay if receiving paid leave. Employee pension contributions will be based on actual pay that you receive during your period of neonatal care leave. 

4.10.2 Reasonable contact may be maintained to discuss leave arrangements and updates on developments at work.

4.11 Returning to work

4.11.1 Employees are entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions after isolated neonatal care leave. If you return to work after any consecutive periods of statutory leave which exceeded 26 weeks in total, or if you took NCL following a period of ordinary parental leave of at least 4 weeks, a suitable alternative position on no less favourable terms may be offered if returning to the same job is not feasible.

5.0 Data protection

5.1 When managing an employee’s leave and pay under this policy, the Beckfoot Trust processes personal data collected in accordance with its Data Protection Policy. Data collected is held securely and accessed by, and disclosed to, individuals only for the purposes of managing the leave and pay. We will comply with the requirements of Data Protection Legislation (being the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018) and any implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time.

5.2 Records will be kept in accordance with our Workforce Privacy Notice, our Retention and Destruction Policy and in line with the requirements of Data Protection Legislation.

6.0 Review of policy

6.1 This policy is reviewed every two years by the Executive. We will monitor the application and outcomes of this policy to ensure it is working effectively.

*Please view the PDF to view policy appendices.