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

[LilyGreenJade]

Currently 38+5 pregnant. Teacher and so fortunately finished for the summer as normal in July. Had it not been the summer holidays, I would have taken maternity leave at 37 weeks anyway. DH and I have also been ill for a few days this week with a fairly bad stomach bug.

GCSE results’ day yesterday. Only Heads of Department and senior staff expected to be in school/contactable on the day, which I am not. This is stated in contract.

Received an informal Teams’ message from Head of Department yesterday saying they needed to speak with me regarding a particular student (a simple case of organising a remark which only HoD can do anyway) and could I let them know when I was free to talk. I felt really annoyed that firstly I was being contacted during the holidays, secondly that they are fully aware I am close to my due date/would have been on maternity leave otherwise, and thirdly that there is nothing I can do to help. HoD has form for passing on work which is their’s to do. I ignored their message. I then also had several students sending me messages on Teams late last night regarding remarks. I very briefly replied to them saying to speak to the HoD.

I emailed the HoD and Deputy Head Academic this morning explaining that although I had seen the overall results, I was not really in a position to begin analysing paper breakdowns, discussing remarks, and contacting students/parents. I said I was happy for any remarks to be processed. As of tonight, I have had no reply.

YABU - results are important and you should be involved as their teacher.
YANBU - You should not be contacted during school holidays as per your contract, and especially given the proximity to your due date and that you would have been on maternity leave anyway if not for the holidays.

@LilyGreenJade this is exactly the attitude that gets teachers a bad reputation. You’re not yet on maternity leave and these are some of the most important days of your students lives. Don’t you care?

It’s very common to have to pick up emails and / or deal with important work whilst on leave in any professional job. Is what differs a professional from someone who isn’t…

Exactly so full time pay and holiday for part time hours, not pro rata as others do, you work more hours than paid for but do get benefits others certainly dont

"you work more hours than paid for but do get benefits others certainly dont"

One of which is not having to work on holidays!

But so do alot of people it's not just teachers that do this, and others do it without getting the benefits of 12 weeks off, it's all a new thing teachers used to agree they had good deal now they want more than that

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.

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.

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

That is certainly your opinion 😂

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.

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.

@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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?!

powercats

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

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