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

Agreed. I thought it was just basic professionalism not to clock watch, and to make sure you are around at critical times.

I can’t imagine working in a less inspiring environment where each and every hour is clock watched and no-one wants to do anything that they don’t consider “their job” (I suspect they know their JD inside and out).

Wouldn’t it be a better environment to work in where people come together for a purpose, are motivated to deliver outcomes rather, and are happy and willing to work as a team to achieve the best for themselves and their students?

Surely that beats counting the hours and constantly feeling aggrieved about it “not being my job”….?

Depends whether SLT or the HoD marked the paper.

I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here.

My advice is always the same - that someone who knows the papers well looks over them. It doesn't matter if you know the student well because that's not the thing that's being tested.

In my department, we have examiners for all of the papers. We each look at the ones we are experts in.

I knew the mark scheme for the NEA like the back of my hand.
Never lost a mark and was complemented on it several times by the moderator and the exam board.

The exam content changes every year, and although I can give examples on how questions are supposed to be answered, in order to be able to give an opinion (and that is all it is) on the results to the HoD/SLT (whose job it is to put pupils papers forward for a remark) I would have to read through the entire exam paper and compare every question to what I believe the mark scheme requires to make sure that I am correct in my assertation that a remark is required.

What the HoD/SLT is doing is not actually asking for my opinion, they are looking for someone to shove the work, responsibility and blame onto.

So presumably the SLT or HOD wouldn’t have them either? So your point is irrelevant?

The mark schemes are currently embargoed so unless you marked it, you don't have it.

powercats

HTs should be providing the teachers with a calendar outlinning the 1265 directed hours.
Poor HTs do not do this.

Apologies, I was, it seems incorrectly, mistakingly presuming that a teacher would know the marking scheme of the subject they’ve been teaching for. Presumably they’re not just teaching and hoping for the best?!

You're either on mat leave or you're not.
You can't have it both ways.
If you want to work to your contract and not beyond then switch off your work emails. Put your out of office on saying direct everything to HoD or whatever.

There's a significant difference between "knowing the student best" and "knowing how to advise about a possible review of marking."

It matters not one iota how well I know Bob if I haven't marked the exams. Knowing Bob won't help me to tell him what he should do.

Knowing the mark scheme for that specific exam is actually what's needed.

It sounds like they are and are just seeking input from someone who knows the student best. Or, the student is seeking input from their teacher. Neither of which seem unreasonable.

I really don’t see the issue with dealing with it. It seems minor and as if OP is the best placed person to sort it.

I hope this work shy “not my job” attitude isn’t conveyed to the students.

Also the 1265 is most definitely counted because schools have to produce an annual breakdown of how they are applied. Anyone that works in a school that doesn't is perfectly entitled to ask for that breakdown.

What isn't counted properly is the time that comes under the 'any other reasonable' part of the contract and that's the bit that can lead to issues with workload going over the actual contracted hours.

@powercats unfortunately that is wrong- the 195 days are the work days (term time plus five inset) so by their very definition anything that isn't one of those 195 days is a holiday day (if not a weekend day). The five days that staff do above what the students do are the same for all staff in a school unless they are disaggregated days, but then they would have very clear allocations of when those hours from the disaggregated day would be used. But they still wouldn't be holiday because they fall within the 195 working days time.

Not nitpicking but I think it's important to be accurate in these things as we know teacher working patterns are often discussed often with inaccurate info. As I said before, I think it's reasonable to expect brief contact on a results day as a secondary teacher and I've never known anyone else have an issue with it across several schools and 20 years, which is why I was surprised at the OP's stance.

I’ll beg to differ but you sound a right pain to work with and the type that’s dragging the UK out of the top tier.

Teachers can be directed to work during the holidays, the work hours are 1265 hours over 195 days. Nobody actually bothers counting those hours and teachers undoubtedly go way over, but it's difficult to prove and it does mean you can be asked to work in the holiday. As you are not on maternity leave then I think their request to speak with you was reasonable.

If, having spoken with them, they then asked you to put many hours of work in doing all the admin for the remark, then you would not be unreasonable to request that you are released from the task at that point, and if they don’t want to then you can begin your maternity leave early.

That is certainly your opinion 😂

🤣 maybe not, but they are the only ones bleating on about it

No teacher has ever said that its unique to teachers.
However, many claim that teachers say/think that it is unique to teachers.

And that is the point, doesn't everyone, it's not unique to teachers.

Teaching is not a vocation, no. We've not taken holy orders.

But this email and work is not part of the teacher's job.
Its part of the SLT/HoD's job.

Shouldn't they be doing what they are paid for?

Teachers don't want more, they want the terms that they agreed too.

Or a non team player/highly qualified person that doesn't want to help their 16 year old student in time if need

At the end of the day, teachers do a great job, but so do other people and they certainly don't seem to have such an issue Let's just all realise it's not just teachers working, everyone I know works hard be it for 47 or 40 weeks of year, probably rata or not.

No- it is what differs a highly qualified professional (who knows their own worth, values their own time and is not prepared to be expected to work for free during annual leave) from those who prioritise work over family.