I blocked my Headteacher on WhatsApp this week

[jsty]

To make this post as short as it needs to be.

I am an ECT who decided not to renew my fixed term contract at the school I have been working at this year, my contract ends on the 31st August. On the last day of work I handed in my work laptop and lanyard/fob before I left the building. Fast forward to now, I received a text message from my headteacher this week. Basically I have not completed some SEND paperwork, that was due before the end of the term. The headteacher was claiming it was essential to be completed. The message was worded very politely and wished me the best of luck for the future but they basically asked me to come into work, collect my work laptop and complete it before the end of the summer holidays, preferably as soon as possible.

I do not recall being told that this needed to be completed. The last half term I found so overwhelming and felt all I was doing was working for most hours in the day.

I responded by not replying to the message and blocking the headteacher. I have felt unsupported during my time working there from SLT. I have gone 3 months working there without a single meeting/observation from my mentor.

I probably have responded in the wrong way and dread what my reference from this school could be now but I just want to enjoy my summer holidays in peace and relax.

I am going back on supply in September to decide whether I want to stay in the profession or not.

I wish people would read this and realise that teaching contracts are different to other contracts.
I think it's highly unlikely this piece of paperwork is vitally needed for the child in the middle of August when presumably the SENCO is also on holiday.

Yes, I'm a primary teacher.

And I agree with what you say about secondary teachers helping with re-marks and results day. It's part of what I'd expect teachers to do in my non-directed work to support the students. I'd also expect it with Year Six staff and SATS, especially with the mess-up that happened this year.

I would be surprised with any primary head wanting ex-staff in school or to have access to IT systems once term-time ends though. In my experience, they generally want the cut-off to happen as quickly as possible. They often want the lanyards, keys and laptop for new staff anyway! I would expect as an ex-teacher to only be allowed on school site with SLT present and to have to sign-in as a visitor. I would not expect them to have an absolutely non-essential access to any paperwork and nothing that could not have been sorted out in term-time. I would have expected a lot of SLT to see that as very risky behaviour regarding staff they can no longer direct.

I wouldn't expect other random paperwork tasks though. As I say, in primary I would find it strange to have an ex-teacher still on the email or IT system this far into the holidays.

I'm not saying teachers should absolutely work to rule - but this is clearly an example of SLT dropping the ball. I know how badly a lot of ECT are supported in primary and how it is affecting retention and overall school morale.

When moving schools:
Do I do required planning, resource making and classroom set-up during the holidays - yes.
Would I be available to a new member of the team or a year group partner to answer a planning query - yes.
Would I expect to be contacted about a piece of paperwork they've not needed in the last 3 weeks and only just realised that they are missing - no.

How do we know the OP wasn’t supported in her role? Just because she says so? Reading between the lines, it sounds to me like the school decided not to renew her contract, not the other way round. That would explain why she’s feeling so aggrieved.

For all those saying she’ll easily get supply work, I wouldn’t be so sure. From my own experience as a teacher and the fact that my ex was a HT, I can tell you for a fact that HTs are a cliquey and very gossipy lot and think nothing of phoning each other to ask about someone they are thinking of recruiting. Totally bypassing anything that might be in a written reference. One time I applied to a school after a period on sickness absence with stress at my old school. At the interview, I was ambushed with information that the HT could only have got from my previous HT, as I hadn’t disclosed the reason for my sickness absence in my application. Needless to say, I wasn’t offered the job.

My ex regularly sought, and shared, information about staff and prospective employees, in ‘off the record’ phone calls with other HTs. It may well go on in other sectors too, but schools operate in a very underhand way in my experience.

So the bottom line is: piss your HT off and don’t be surprised when you struggle to find another job.

Because as an ECT someone should have been doing important paperwork alongside someone which clearly didn’t happen otherwise it would have been done. Someone should have also spotted it hadn’t been done before the holiday if the correct systems were in place.

I'm still in education, just a role with wider impact. Plus more money, but significantly more responsibility, more hours, and far fewer holidays.

I’m SLT and a SENCO OP, you do need to do this work but it shouldn’t take too long. You’re under contract and head teachers talk.

You don’t need to “fix” anything for me thank you. How patronising. This is yet another teacher not doing what they were supposed to.
The contract ends on 31st August.
It is not ok that a child with additional needs has not had this paperwork completed and it is the OPs responsibility to do so.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

OP isn't coming back.

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..

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.

No.

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

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 it really is how it works.

Wrong. OP is contracted until the end of August.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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