AIBU to ignore GCSE results queries during holidays before maternity leave?

This!

What date does your mat leave start? Sounds like it hasn't yet in which case YABU not to show an interest in your pupils.

YANBU, so long as this is outside your directed time (which should be the case) - this would be true regardless of the impending maternity leave. There are staff in schools who are paid on leadership scale for a reason.
Turn your work messages off in the holidays in future!

Hardly ‘gaming the system’. Lots of mothers who are able to take annual leave will take some before they formally start their maternity leave.

However I don’t think OP is approaching this in the correct way by saying ‘should be on mat leave’. The issue isn’t to do with pregnancy, it’s to do with the fact that she can’t do what the HOD can with regards to remarks.

You can be directed for 195 days. You've done those for last year and next year doesn't start until at least September 1st.

So you can be asked. You might choose to reply. But you cannot be obliged.

I've been looking at emails and review requests today because it suits me to do so. If anyone demanded it of me, I would be ignoring my email until directed time.

Pass them on and enjoy mat leave.

"how would you feel in 16 years time if it was your child and someone didn’t respond…."

Someone will/should respond because there is someone paid extra to do this.

It's just not OP!

In fact, set your 'out of office' to 'I am currently on MAT leave. Please direct any queries to 'HOD' '

Why are you checking teams in the holidays if it is not expected and you don't want to get involved....not helpful now but perhaps before the end of term you should have put a message on teams directing pupils who to contact for any queries in school holidays and on your mat leave.
Tbh at almost 39 weeks pregnant I was bored at home and was happy to stil answer queries as wasn't doing much else!

You 100% shouldn't be responding. I've taught Secondary age for over 20 years and, whilst I may occasionally suggest a student for a 'review' if they are really unexpected, it is down to HOD and the exams office to deal with those.
Please enjoy your MAT leave.

You are on annual leave. Don’t open emails or look at teams.
the pregnancy and maternity leave is not relevant.
it’s not a ‘bonus’ that luckily the school is closed. You are on leave.
The school has processes for this and should be contacting the staff that have the responsibility for dealing with remarks.

I agree
how would you feel in 16 years time if it was your child and someone didn’t respond….

Are you on maternity leave or not?
It not - yabu
If you are - yanbu. But why are looking at teams /emails?

What would you normally do on results day during the summer holidays if you weren’t about to go on mat leave? I don’t know enough about teacher contracts to know if you are being unreasonable or not, but I would compare it to other summers. The fact that you are going on at leave at the end of the school holidays is a bit of a red herring to me, you have chosen not to go on maternity leave at the time you would have done if it was term time, presumably because it’s financial beneficial (not criticising that, I’d do the same).

I'm a fairly recently retired HoD.

YANBU. Your HoD should be dealing with this and students should not be contacting you during the summer holidays. I wouldn't have expected you to deal with this if you weren't as pregnant as you are.

Ignore any further contact and enjoy your maternity leave.

Independent or state school?

" if you were to contact your union about this, the rep would remind you that STPCD says that you can be contacted during the 'holidays'."

They would also say it is not directed time and you have no obligation to do anything

"After all if you weren't about to start your Mat Leave, you would be likely to be in school congratulating/ supporting your students or preparing for the start of the term. Breaks from school are NOT all holidays for teachers, as many of us keep trying to make the general public understand."

Many teachers go in to see their year 11 classes get their results. This is not obligatory and OP for fairly obvious reasons chosen not to do so

Lots of teachers use the holidays to catch up on work tasks marking planning for next year ( which op will not be doing for obvious reasons) . This is not the same as being contacted over the holidays by management to be given additional tasks...

I hate it when teaches refuses to do any work just because it's the summer hols.

It will take you 30 mins. Just have a look at the data and speak to the HoD. If you're not willing to help then perhaps stick to KS3 classes in future.

I am not a HoD but I went to school on Thursday to congratulate the kids. I discussed a couple of re-marks with my boss and spoke to some parents. It took 4 hours of my time. I didn't have to go in but I went in because I care!

I do wish work-to-rule teachers would find another career. I work with one and its irritating and she never pulls her weight.

Presumably you could have started your maternity leave earlier, but it would have been financially disadvantageous to do so. So you're not maternity leave, and they shouldn't treat you as if you are. You can't have it both ways.

Honestly it's a massive deal for the young people involved and I think if you can you should help. If you are physically unable to of course that's different.

You would have been on maternity leave if it wasn't the summer. It is the summer and you're taking that fully to maximise your maternity leave.

Not on leave yet. You're being asked to reply to a few emails.You're not being asked to do anything particularly taxing.

The HoD/SLT are paid to deal with this during the holidays.

This is entirely on them.

Those that are saying that the OP should be working are part of the retention crisis.

100% this. If you are trying to game the system by claiming to be at work until starting your maternity leave in September as many teacher do you are massively unreasonable.

YABU, If I've understood correctly you are not on maternity leave.

The MAT leave is irrelevant and I think non-teacher posters don't realise that. HODs get paid a TLR to deal with this stuff, you do not as a normal classroom teacher! I'll have a conversation in September about reviews of marking with my HOD out of professional curiosity but as a classroom teacher, it's not my call. It's their job to look at grade boundaries and recall papers, not mine.

Are you on maternity leave or does it start 31st August? I Cannot imagine anyone starting their maternity leave at the beginning of the summer holidays if you are healthy and due after the summer holidays. Its just emails and helping out your year 11 class. I'm a teacher and think you are unreasonable.