I blocked my Headteacher on WhatsApp this week

@jsty cant comment on whether you should do the work or not as I’m not a teacher, but did rather like the post from @FrippEnos yesterday at 20.43.

I have friends who are teachers, and what I do know is that schools and headteachers can be very different from each other, so please don’t be put off from teaching if this is the only school you’ve worked at. A different headteacher might turn out to be very nurturing.

It’s on the school to have ensured you were all done and dusted by last day of term. You’re on your unpaid leave now, someone else will have to step up and do it on your behalf.

Also, depending on what it is, can it be done easily and quickly? If so then I’d probably do it anyway but if it’s hours of work then it’s a no.

Part of the problem is that the headteachers are spitefulback stabbing bastards towards teachers that have left the school for whatever reason.

All of the emotional blackmail that has been posted is overlooking that fact.

As I said above (and lots of others have also said), the OP should do it for pragmatic reasons. If she wants to continue teaching in that area, she should be aware that HT talk to each other.

Can't believe the responses on this thread. No, OP, you are not required to do it. Someone else will have to do it, someone on a much higher salary than you who is paid to cover these things.
Signed, a teacher who has had to become very familiar with her terms and conditions due to another crazy headteacher.

So as a nurse if you left your current position (handed in your ID badge etc.) to work somewhere else you would go into work when informally asked to do so?

You would be happy to have no insurance and break GDPR rules?

Outrageous behaviour on your part.

That’s not how I read it….i read it s spending the working day working.

Have you officially been asked to do the taskand invted to go back to the site?Because it will affect some of the below
Insurance are you insured to be in the building?
what are the lone worker rules?
Or is someone going to be there all the time that you are there?
Travel. Are you insured to go to do the work?
You have returned the laptop and all of your access will have been stopped on the last day of term?
Is someone going to let you back in to the system? Or will you be using someone elsel's logon (security issue)
GDPR. The school are risking a breach if they let anyone that doesn't work at the school on their system.
GDPR As you let the school you should have let all personal information about the pupils in the school or you are in breach, what are they actually asking you to do?
How will you be legally tied to the information that you are giving?
Remember that you may no longer insured legally by the school and as you are not employed by the school are you covered by your union?

And remember if this is a state school you are employed by the LEA and worked at the school. It is similar for Academy chains and how you access the site could be regulated.

I have already said that I left my school this year.

My last working day was the last day of the school term. I had to give my equipment back that day and had lost access to all school systems and my email by the time i got home because I am no longer an employee of the school. I cannot enter the school unless as an accompanied visitor because I no longer work there even though my contract is until 31st August. This is to ensure that I receive the full amount of salary I have earned this year.

But they cannot direct me to return for anything because I have completed my directed hours for this year.

The OP is contracted to work 195 days in the academic year. She has completed those now. She cannot be directed to return.

Exactly. It's also not uncommon for teachers, especially young ECTs, to have other jobs in the holidays. Other teachers have childcare responsibilities. It's all well and good saying just go and fill in the form but if primary they will have to go at a time when the building is open (potentially only a couple of weeks of the holidays) and who knows if their commute is 5 minutes or an hour. It could very easily be quite an inconvenience, not a quick half hour.

I just don't believe that many other people would go back to their old jobs to complete a task once their working days had finished. I'm a SENCO and have filled in plenty of forms on behalf of class teachers who are off sick or similar. It's the nature of the role. Things like IEPs are internal, non-statutory (for now) and can absolutely wait until September.

So if a teacher moves school area to one that goes back in mid-August (as I mentioned earlier) for example. Which school would you want them to work for for those days in August? Should they tell their new school they will not be in until their contracted start date on 1st September?

School contract dates DO NOT MATCH up with school term dates. It is the 31st August throughout England to prevent problems with switching schools and areas. However this is not when a teacher's directed hours ends. Once a primary school teacher reaches the end of the term-time, that is the end of the time they can be required to complete any more tasks - they have already completed all their work. They are then on unpaid leave.

Heads would do well to remember they are not the only people who talk to each other. Teachers sound out other teachers on which schools to avoid.

Wrong. OP is contracted until the end of August.

No it really is how it works.

Sorry, but that is exactly how a - non SLT - primary teacher's summer holidays are. Especially when they have already left a school, so there are no continuity tasks to do.

They have literally completed their work and are now on unpaid leave. The school can demand no more work from them. They have completed their employment. They have done their directed work.

In many cases they will have already started working (on a voluntary basis!) for their new school.

No.

That’s not how a teacher’s annual leave works, and trying to pretend it is is dishonest.

As others have said, you are not being reasonable.
As a secondary teacher, I relish the holidays as a chance to recuperate but also to catch up on work - this is what you should be doing if you have missed something. If you think the 6 week summer is for 100% switching off then I agree with you that you need to rethink staying in the profession.
It’s a shame your school weren’t supportive, but there are many others out there - don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Heads all know each other - you may need the reference for a change in profession, never mind another school! Unblock, respond appropriately, get the work done. You have until end of August, I can’t imagine it’s going to take all that long? If you are lucky, the Head won’t have realised you have blocked them yet.

This.

I left my school at the end of this term.

My contract ends on 31st August. The pay I will receive in August is money I have already earned throughout the year for the 195 days i was contracted to work this academic year. I no longer work there and cannot be asked to do so in any capacity.

I handed my laptop etc back on the last day and by the time I had got home, I had lost my access to all school systems including email. Because I no longer work there.

I am no longer an employee of that school. They could no more direct me to work than they could anyone else who also doesn’t work there. Or anymore than anyone else who has left any other employment could be directed to work for them after leaving for that matter.

You can't be directed to work during school holidays as they are unpaid. Most teachers do so in their continuing employment for their own benefit but you can't be directed to as the OP's former HT is trying to do.

It's not ideal but I've certainly inherited classes where SEND paperwork hadn't been completed by the previous teacher and, whilst it's a bit of a pain, it's not the end of the world. If it hasn't been done then it hasn't been done and it will have virtually no impact on the child when they return. It just means the paper trail will be incomplete.

OP is contracted to work for the school until 31st August.

No. Her contract ends on 31st August to ensure she receives all of the pay she has already earned this year. It is done this way to make sure that teachers are not left without any money when the school is closed. She is not being paid for working during August.

School holidays are not all annual leave.

No. They are unpaid and you cannot be directed to work..

OP isn't coming back.

No. She's now on holiday that she's accrued throughout the year and the school failed to check the task was done before she left. How do you know it's a half hour task. Even collecting the laptop could be a two hour job for all you know and some SEND paperwork can take hours. The school SLT have failed in their support and organisation. It happens all the time.

Let's face it...a lot of these posts reflect the entitled attitude so many (non-teaching) parents have; that all teachers should give up their holidays, or at least some of them, for the benefit of their precious children. Failure to do so makes one a "bad" teacher.
I assume these same parents work throughout their holidays too?
No, thought not.
There is no way a mainstream teacher can be directed to work over the summer holidays. End of.

OP is contracted to work for the school until 31st August.

School holidays are not all annual leave.

She was reminded about the work she didn’t do.

Instead of spending half an hour on doing it, she blocked the headteacher.

She is to blame.

Is OP literally the only person on the entire planet capable of filling in this form?

The head is aware that it needs completing. If the OP got abducted by aliens or was otherwise unable to complete the form, the someone else would have to do it, wouldn't they?

And yet your words are saying that. You've said she will have been told. You have no idea that's true. SLT might have messed up. You've also said "Some teachers do the job properly and others don’t." but are failing to recognise that the same can be said about ECT mentors, SENCOs, headteachers etc but sometimes fail to pass tasks on or give incorrect information. Don't assume the OP is at fault and SLT can't possibly be.

The contract end date is a red herring.

They have finished their employment.
They are now on unpaid leave.
They have finished their directed hours.
They are an ECT - someone is meant to mentor them, support them with paperwork and ensure they know what needs doing and that it is done before they leave that employment.
They no longer have access to the equipment required to do the job. In most schools they would already be removed from the IT systems.
Their former employer is asking for the work to be done via an unofficial route as the teacher should no longer have access to their school emails, and if they do still have access, have no responsibility for checking it.

All state English teachers have a contract date of 31st August - however that is not when their work for the year is completed.

Many, many teachers do work some or all of the holidays. They cannot be compelled to, they do so to benefit themselves and the children. It would be extremely unusual for a headteacher to try and make an ex-primary teacher complete work after their directed time is over. Most heads would not attempt it, and the only reason the head possibly thinks they can get away with it is because the OP is an ECT.

Again, it is the head/SLT that has made a mistake and is trying to get the ECT to bail them out. School morale is rock bottom in the vast majority of primary schools I visit. I am asked nearly every day for advice on getting out of full-time class teaching. It is posts like this that give the tiniest glimpse why staff are so unhappy.