To be annoyed at my employer?

[Ecgwynn]

I am expecting my first baby, due this Thursday. I am a secondary school teacher and my maternity leave started on 16th April. I have just received a phone call from my line manager asking me to do reports for 90 children. The reports are done on a computer system and the spread sheets to put the comments into were opened from 16th April, so I was not supposed to have done them before I left.

AIBU to be really annoyed at this? I understand that I taught the classes and that only I really know about their progress and how to improve etc but I would have happily done this before I left work if I'd been told I was still responsible for it and been given a bit of time to get it done (ie have someone cover a few lessons).

I'm really upset that I'll probably end up having to do them. I can't see a way out of it. :(

A comment bank report taking 2 hours per child? How?!! 2 minutes at the outside surely?

I'm not a teacher but until very recently my mother was. At secondary age reports are ven more important. Personally, if you're going back I'd do them & chock it up to experience because a I think it could really harm you're reputation with colleagues and parents if you don't.

Having said that, I'd have an 'open and honest' with your line manager because whilst you maybe should have foreseen this, it doesn't sound like they've been super-organised in helping you and a 1 day handover if you're planning substantial mat leave is pathetic IMO.

I am a little surprised if you are an experienced teacher (e.g. Not just out of uni) that you didn't foresee this and tbh I do wonder if it wasn't maybe a touch of wishful thinking on your part which I've been guilty of myself with I've off on occasion

YANBU

I remember that feeling of having to work doubly hard as my Mat leave approached - preparing handover notes as well as day-to-day - esp hard when you didn't meet your replacement and so had to ensure as many loose ends as poss tied up. You gave other the HOD the data that was needed - simples.

Whatever happens the world will not end, the sky will not fall in, and this will be sooooo forgotten by the time you return to work. What if your baby had been unexpectedly early? The reports wouldn't have been done at all.

Try not to stress and good luck with the baby.

OP just turn your mobile off, dont answer the house phone, dont check your emails, dont go near the windows or door, steer clear of facebook, become non contactable... sorted !!
It will get sorted by ur manager who HAS YOUR HANDOVER NOTES and has been briefed as they where AWARE they would be writting them, before they had to take time off! Or you will have to write them :(

I am fence sitting but I would say that it seems that you were taking advantage of the timing of the Easter holidays to, in effect, get 2 weeks extra paid ML and that has me leaning towards YABU.

If you were working during the holidays, that is to say not on ML, then you could and should have used that time to prepare the reports which could then be inputted onto the sytem by your replacement or HOD as appropriate.

As it is, it seems that you had 2 weeks off and didnt do anything about it despite being officially still "at work" and are now complaining that you are expected to do it when on official ML. You say that you made sure your work was up to date by the start of the holidays, but that isnt when your ML started, you should have made sure you were up to date by the 15th, and in normal circs that would have included making your reports. Either you were working in which case you must do it, or you werent in which case you owe them 2 weeks ML. You cant have it both ways!

Actually, not fence sitting at all, YABU.

I do wonder if it wasn't maybe a touch of wishful thinking on your part which I've been guilty of myself with I've off on occasion

I wonder who the OP was going to write them: the magic report writing elves?

I for one wouldn't have left me colleagues in the shit to this extent. Not least as I'd have to face them when I came back to work.

I was working much harder than usual for the last few weeks of term whilst also being heavily pregnant.

Sorry but I have 6 kids and I know that being heavily pg isnt a reason for not doing your job, if you choose to be at work.

If being PG made your job harder then you should have started ML earlier, and if you didnt want to do that then you should do your job to your usual standard. Thats why ML was invented, so that women didnt have to work until the last minute and struggle. You had a choice and you chose to keep working, and that means....well....working! You could have finished at any point from 29 weeks onwards but you chose to take advantage of the holidays and your EDD so it worked for you, and you have to pay a price for that.

You will struggle for sympathy saying "but I am 38 weeks pg!" when your colleagues are thinking "yes, and you could have finished work 2 months ago!"

I would do them I would have to for the children and the parents; I would feel like I was letting them down otherwise. I also think you should have been more proactive in chasing this up. It sounds as if you were thinking stuff it, won't be my problem.

I did quite a bit of working from home during my maternity leave I was quite happy to because I was two weeks overdue and bored stiff after a while and it really helped to take my mind off the birth, I felt like I was just moping around waiting towards the end. My employer also called me once during a scan regarding a report he wanted! Felt like telling him to 'f' off but I guess not everyone else?s life stops just because someone is pregnant.

In 16yrs time you may appreciate the teacher who's taken the time to make sure you know the progress of your child before they go on ML. Parenthood is often about cramming 60hrs into 20. If you struggled to cope before you had the baby you'll never manage after.

In your shoes I would have made hand-written notes on each pupil and given them to your HoD to transfer once the computer system was up and running. Obviously it's too late retrospectively to ask for the spreadsheets to be opened early for your pupils. I wouldn't think it fair for the pupils to miss out on a report because your ML has started. Can you nip is as others have suggested as a KIT day and do them tomorrow?

Even a properly written (ie not comment bank) report doesn't take more than 10mn per child, assuming all the marks are in the system already. If it's 90 pupils that's about 1.5 days work. With comment bank, maybe about 3-4 hours to do all of them.

If the reports can be done now without any further input from you, then I suppose you had already done all you reasonably could before you left.
If you are needed, then you are being extremely unreasonable to suppose you can just shrug off the responsibility because you are no longer physically on the premises.
You knew on your last day something vital was left undone, why didn't you flag it up with someone then?

I think that your employer has more of a right to be annoyed with you! You don't seem to have given any thought to the welfare of your pupils prior to going on maternity leave as their new teacher won't have enough information about them to ensure that their needs are met and your pupils and their parents won't have the necessary information so as to make the best of their education.

I'd be pretty annoyed if you were the teacher for a child of mine. I worked until 38 weeks pg with DD1 and ensured that I was proactive and tied up all loose ends. I have the same intention this time around (22 weeks with DS1).

You should have written the reports . Report deadlines do not come out of thin air, you knew they were due and could have done them over Easter.