Don't use a section break for this. Instead, choose a "Different
first page" header and footer in File | Page Setup. See
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/wordfaqs/Letterhead.htm for some basic
steps that you can adapt to your situation.

Petite wrote:

Im trying to format a document I will be using a template. I want the first
pages margins to be different than the subsequent pages. I know now to do
this using section breaks €“ my problem is that since it is a template I will
be typing several lines into the first page and this always shifts my section
break down and thus messes up where I want my new formatting to start.

Is there a way to lock the section break or format based on the page
numbers? Ive tried doing section breaks and protecting just them but they
still get shifted down as I type on the first page.

Help!