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 think name calling posts are unnecessary.

I do think this post highlights generational differences to attitudes to work. As a teacher who trained in 2003 - I have always worked an extraordinary amount of hours above my working hours. However particularly in the last four - six years since COVID - with an increasingly young staff, they have started to say ‘no’ to all the things I just did.

In some ways I have admired them. Because what did it get us? Higher and higher expectations and burnt out.

I don't think the non-teachers on here quite understand what is meant by Directed Hours and how they work...
Mainscale teachers cannot legally be directed to work over the holidays.

No, I think she is probably burnt out/exhausted/ostriching/bedrotting.
6 weeks hols is often...
2 weeks collapse in a heap
2 weeks resume a sense of normality
2 weeks dread going back
However, if totally reached the end of your rope, you could be in bed for a month. The body keeps the score. OP probably has overwhelm with a side of resentment.
Least you can do OP is:
Respond saying:
you are away all Summer
you did not receive deadline info
you can fill it in in September but they will need to pay you for a half day/a full day as you will miss 0.5/1 day's pay otherwise
Again, good luck x 🍀

And your union will support you if the HT gives you an unfair reference due to their poor systems for checking deadlines have been met in term time. Supply agencies only need a factual reference before you start working for them to be safeguarding compliant.

@Sweetbeansandmochi I qualified in 2004 and went the opposite way - started off thinking that very long working hours in an average day and expectations were just to be "accepted" but as I got older and the expectations got increasingly ridiculous, found the courage to say no more.

Choosing to go in is very different to being guilted to go in like the OP. If people want to go in, unpaid, each summer to get ahead and prep for September then that's lovely, but they aren't a better person than the one who is juggling their children at home or caring responsibilities etc and cannot spare a day to attend the school building to work.

Schools need to stop feeding this narrative if we want good teachers to remain in the profession. Give staff enough time to complete their work on their working days and take better care when balancing workload, not assume people will catch up on Sunday night or during school holiday breaks.

We had a load of SEN paperwork to do urgently at the end of term to do with the new JCQ regulations, so I assume it’s similar. Yes we were all knackered but you don’t fuck about with SEND paperwork. Sorry OP, ECT years are a steep learning curve and your work/life balance is important, but this is not the hill to die on when the majority of the impact will be on students.

Ah the irony of posters replying with the one word "lazy" 😂

Even if you’re not concerned about your responsibilities here, you’re a fool to mess up a reference like this. You sound very young if you don’t realise the impact this will have on future employment.

But they aren't contractually required... 🙄

Teacher of 27 years here - Fuck Them
They can’t make you go in. You got no support, the goodwill on your part is gone. If this paperwork was that important you would’ve been reminded to do it via email or in person before the end of term. There will be other people who fill in the forms - I’m saying this as one of the people who does fill in the SEND forms when others forget and goes into school in the summer holidays

I think it’s unreasonable a Headteacher is relying on an ECT to complete urgent SEND paperwork and messaging you in the holidays to come in and complete it.

But you don’t just block people because you can’t be arsed with a bit of professional confrontation. It’s incredibly childish and rude.

You should have argued your case politely and firmly and told her that, unfortunately, you are not available.

You’ve fucked your reference now, and damaged your professional reputation.

What does SENDCo mean in teaching world

Morally, purely from the perspective of the welfare of the children whose reports you have not done, I feel you are in the wrong and its potentially not something another person can do as you have that personal knowledge that is needed.

If the welfare of the kids isn't at the heart of your desire to be a teacher, then yes, you are in the wrong career.

Finish the work and walk away with your head held high.

@IHeartKingThistle If work-life balance matters to the OP, I suggest she gets out of teaching now.

Technically, you cannot be directed to work during the summer holidays, regardless of the fact that you are still under contract.
On the other hand, if it was something you were asked to do before the end of term, you were directed to do it then, and so arguably if you didn't do it on time you were choosing to do the work during the summer holidays.

If it's something that only you could do (until the child's new teacher has got to know them), then I'd be inclined to do it sometime before the end of August, but "as soon as possible" is probably just for the head's convenience, so choose when suits you. If you drop them a quick message to say "I'm on holiday at the moment but will pop in during the last week of August to finish that off", then they may feel rather more inclined to support future job applications than if you just don't reply.

Well done you and all your keen overachieving colleagues - all those years you have steadily chipped away at reasonable work/life balance and helped to make the profession unsustainable and contributed to well documented mental ill health and burnout among teachers. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Agree with this.

OP you feel bad about it because you do care and probably worried that this is now going to affect outcomes for a child

But the fact is if this was really crucial it should have been picked up before term finished and you should have had support to get it done.

They should not be relying on an ECT to complete SEND paperwork on their own.

Interesting views on here. 20 years in teaching , half of that as a head. Directed time is not “work time”- it is time when management can direct you to do certain things- like be in school, teach, meet with parents. Teachers are paid a full time salary, not term time only pro -rata , like many teaching assistants and school support staff. The 1265 directed time quota was always rightly designed to protect teachers from endless meetings and admin. As professionals who are paid full time, the rest of their time is self directed. And the very best use it to plan, further their professional development, run clubs and events for children, and perhaps even complete essential planning for some of the most vulnerable children and young people. And they have their contractual holiday, of course, where they cannot be directed to come in unless they are on the leadership scale. Where they are entitled to relax, take their holiday and decide how and when they ensure they are ready for the next academic year. In recent years I have found it interesting that a small number of teachers translate directed time as “the only time they will do anything related to their job.” I wonder what people’s views would be if a doctor refused to complete a similar request for a patient. I have the utmost respect for the profession I have devoted most of my working life to. Being a head is one of the most stressful, challenging and thankless jobs there is. And this head will need to ensure this child’s paperwork is completed. And no doubt it will be. But this type of work is best completed by the child’s own teacher whose insights would no doubt have been truly valuable for the child’s education. I wish the OP all the best in their career.

Not in the unpaid holidays she doesn't. NEU rep. And contrary to common belief the holidays aren't "paid". The pay for term time is divided into 12 payments. There is no directed time in August. There is a proportionate amount of paid time off like in any job but you wouldn't suggest a person on a week's holiday from Tesco pops back in to stack a few shelves, would you?

I'm presuming it's SEND support plans. They should have been reviewed and new ones shared with the parents before the end of term. This is a statutory requirement.
If it was evidence forms needed for an ADHD or ASC pathway, they are time dependent and the applications will be rejected by the external agencies if paperwork isn't completed and returned in time. In this instance, you are jeopardising the assessment for vulnerable children.
Either way, it's not very professional and headteachers talk to eachother.

All of this does not alter the fact that teachers cannot be forced to work outside directed time (DT). As an aside, the bit about "others tasks as directed by the HT" (not verbatim), in contracts refers to tasks, not when, so anything outside DT is out unless the staff member consents to it, as tens and thousands of teachers do every weekday, weekend and holiday.

The OP's manager is at fault here for not checking before the OP left.

It is completely inappropriate for your HT to contact you on WhatsApp. If you are in a union, tell them. Work needs to be confined to work platforms and work time.

I'm a lecturer and see this martyrdom, competitive compliance and attempted guilting increasingly at work. Pretty much always the women, the men do very much less of it. Increasing numbers of women lecturers. Fascinates the fuck out of me. It's clear the OP can't be made to do this, it's laughable to think she's the only one who can fill in a form. I hope she doesn't.

@FlyingPlank But refusing to fill in the form makes her a bad teacher who should rethink her entire career. Apparently