To think school heads should be contactable in school holidays

[EloiseMinch]

A secondary head is likely to be on 70k+ and a primary head of 50k+. Those are high salaries for positions of senior management responsibility. AIBU to think they shouldn't just cut off completely in the school holidays?

Maybe some heads really are working in the holidays but I know the head at DC's school definitely doesn't. She is, for example, completely uncontactable from the end of one term to the start of the next.

Dottierichardson is right. Head are hard to find at the moment. What will you do if you hound this one out and she can’t be replaced?

You would not be able to get a TA to start work easily even if you advertised now.

You need to run an advert, normally min 2 weeks between posting and closure date.

You need to shortlist and invite candidates to interview, they need warning, so at least another week wait

You need to have a group of children for them to work with, teaching staff around to help inform judgements and a free governor (not possible to get all of those in holidays) for the interview.

Then if you manage all that then you need the current employer as a min to give a reference, DBS checks etc....

You are not going to achieve that in the new few weeks, regardless of the funding issue.

The rules of ofsted say if the school has a website then it must have contactable email addresses for staff and it must tell you who you are contacting. My school has me, the head and the business manager in with our names and emails. Surely your school does the same . Or is the email on the letter head. Just email that

And i would expect that the OP's head would also reply to an e-mail directed through the school office that raised a similar welfare / safeguarding / child protection issue that needed action during the school holiday.

If a safeguarding or child protection issue comes to light over the school holidays, and there is no-one within the LA’s children’s social care team or the police service who can respond, they will normally contact the LA’s education safeguarding team, as they know the school is closed.

I have attended one child protection conference during the school summer holidays because it was an emergency and because the head teacher was able to open the school for us to store the paperwork safely and not have it at home, which is a breach of safeguarding guidance and could lead to both of us being fired.

My DM was a primary head, worked till 11pm most nights, all day Sunday and at least half holidays. In the end my DF resorted to booking 3 weeks away to stop her working all through the Summer. Uncontactable isn't the same as not working.

YABVU

I'm a school leader and your reasons for wanting to contact the school are not good grounds for disturbing the head or anyone else outside of termtime.

Your naivety that PTA could raise funds for TAs is quite something.

She will be working. It's just not her parent contact time. Just as if you wanted to see a surgeon, you don't demand that you speak to her when she is out of clinic. If your query was as important as you've hinted, you'd have been offered plenty of ways to have a dialogue with the head / CoG over the summer holidays. Or you'd have made sure that key things got said before term end.

Well done to the posters who have truly handed OPs arse back to her.

The 195 days does not apply to deputy heads SixGeese. I know your DH works more than that, of course!

As I mentioned a few times, I see a clear distinction between school teachers and a non-teaching head. I surprised when people don't see that difference.

Of course there's a difference in what they do. I don't see how that's relevant tbh. Both do a difficult and demanding job. The Head gets paid more because of the level of responsibility and work. So what? If you think either is cushy, perhaps start out as a teacher and progress to being a Head. Either way, you'll deserve more money than you earn and you'll very much need your holidays.

I'll say it again: POST A LETTER TO THE HEAD. Have people forgotten how to do this nowadays?

She probably won't reply during the holidays, but you will have told her your concerns and can make an appointment to discuss them further September.

Oh, and cancel the cheque while you are at it.

Clearly the head has gone to Maui

I emailed DS teacher who happens to be the head, during the Easter holidays marked 'to respond to when term starts' asking about the revision topics for exams a week into term. Was surprised when I got a reply. When saw him at parents evening he said he didn't mind at all.

I get 4 weeks annual leave and always respond to urgent emails whilst I am off work. However I wouldn't respond to things that could wait until my return. I think this is what heads should do and to be fair they probably do.

Don't see a need to contact primary heads TBH but can see why an email in the weeks leading up to start of term to a head would be sent and probably all heads would answer

Oh, and the head of a small primary fairly new to role might only be on £44k - that’s not a huge amount really when you consider the responsibilities of running a business and looking after children!

The teachers aren’t your employees. You don’t get to click your fingers and have them come running whenever you need them.

Truly staggering entitlement.

I'll say it again: POST A LETTER TO THE HEAD.

Our mail is held by Royal Mail until we return to school because the school is closed and, obviously, we don’t have a letterbox.

The business manager will sometime pop into the delivery office to pick it up, but it can’t be guaranteed and neither can a reply from the head.

Who'd be a head teacher? £50k is nowhere near enough to have to put up with absolutely dingbats like the OP.

So, are you on your school's PTA, OP?
Nah, you're probably busy.

The head is contactable by those who need to contact her. During term time, this will include parents (via the correct route of emailing the office) but when there are no children at school then she does not need to be contactable to discuss paltry matters.

My salary is in the same sort of bracket. I can assure you that when I'm not being paid, I am not contactable except in an emergency. I may on occasion choose to connect to my emails, as is my prerogative, but there is no expectation for me to do so.

Further, I often work in schools during the holidays and cannot actually recall an instance whereby the head has not been on the premises.

OP is long gone!!!!

I imagine that those with a real need to contact them (Governors, Education Authority, Police etc) can do so. So there'snot an issue surely.

I think this thread is only here to drum up responses and put some debate about it in the Fail or daytime tv.

Why on earth do you need to contact them in the holidays?! Get a grip OP.

I'm guessing that OP thinks the headteacher sits behind her desk, fingers laced together, with a huge smile on her face, waiting for a knock at the door or the phone to ring. Arrives at 8:30am and leaves at 3:30pm. Does nothing else all day, after all, she is a non-teaching head teacher...has that been mentioned?
Obviously as school finished on Friday, Saturday morning the HT was lounging on a sunbed, sipping cocktails in Bermuda. She'll spend the rest of the holidays wafting around, taking up hobbies, combing her hair and generally loving life.
Must be nice!

Thank you mumsnet for having headteachers' backs. Another thread that warms the cockles.

clearly the head has gone to Maui I think the op has gone chasing after her.

The HT (and indeed all the staff) at my dc’s school work tirelessly all term for the kids.
They do an amazing job and I often think the HT in particular is bloody amazing.
OP, you clearly have absolutely no understanding of what their jobs entail and are being EXTREMELY UNREASONABLE to expect to be able email them during holiday time!
I couldn’t comprehend doing that job and staying sane!