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.

Never seen an YABU/YANBU at 50/50 before. It sounds like you're not contractually obliged to do this but can you do it easily and as a kindness without too much trouble to yourself?

Depends if it involves looking at pupils' scripts and deciding if a mark is fair.

Most people who work in education are very caring. Far more so than the private sector.
Your comment is ridiculous.

Just do it!

Either you are too poorly to do this or not. It doesn’t seem much. I mean you are presumably reading these responses so your eyeballs are fine.

OP don't open your laptop again and take Teams off your phone. HODs do not need teacher input during the holidays. If they want to order a remark they can use their professional judgement based on how close the student was to the grade boundary or wait until school starts again and speak to you then. My school has a policy about not sending emails over weekends and holidays and SLT actually stick to it.

If someone asked me off the top of my head to to say how close I thought a random student was to the grade boundary above, I wouldn't necessarily remember their target grade. Not at this point in the summer anyway. Surely all the useful data should be saved centrally anyway.

Just checked to see if the OP bothered returning to the thread before I bother commenting on the query…

Yes! So do most people I know with professional jobs. I end up picking up an occasional call/message or replying to a few urgent emails even in the holidays. I’m happy to help if I’m free. Often it would take me 5 mins to reply where it might take someone else 2 hours to understand the case.

Yes a lot of people do.
Our Safeguarding team will have someone available every day. They will be going to emergency meetings and taking calls.
SLT are expected to be available.
Lots of teachers go in during the holidays to get things prepared.

Just to be clear- it wouldn't be a kindness to any of her pupils, as it's the HOD's job - so it's doing something that they are paid for and OP is not!

Tell me you’re not a teacher without telling me you’re a teacher.

You’d last 5 mins in the corporate world.

It depends what you mean by “not in a position” to assist. If you mean due to your imminent due date, YABU because you have not started mat leave yet and cannot have your cake and eat it. If you mean because you are being militant about your contract terms, YABU because one would hope you had some emotional involvement with your students’ futures otherwise why bother being a teacher. If you mean because it is literally outside the remit of your job and it’s yet another instance of HOD dumping their work on you when it is the summer holiday and you are heavily pregnant to boot, YANBU and your email reply was perfect - put your feet up OP and have a cup of tea.

If the HoD/SLT cared they would do the job that they were paid for and not bother the OP

So you’re saying teachers are heartless and don’t give a shit about eachother? You don’t need to be a teacher to know that’s not true

But she's not on maternity leave...

Technically, under normal pay & conditions, you cannot be directed to work during the holidays, maternity leave or not. Their problem.

Are they doing this with other colleagues, or are they leaving them until they get back in September? I guess they may have realised that they stand a better chance of getting a response from you now than in September, although they can't expect a response either way.

If you are the only teacher of the subject, then I would have some sympathy with them, particularly if whoever will be doing the maternity cover does not have GCSE experience, so won't necessarily be any use looking at the paper when they start in September. That's not to say I'd do it, though; just that I'd be polite and apologetic about it, and maybe suggest who else in the academy chain or local area does the same board, so they can look elsewhere. And for kids, just redirect them to HoD.
(In my case it would have been simple, as DD turned up early, so not only had my maternity leave already kicked in, but I was in hospital).

Put a bounce on your email/Teams. Arguably you should just not look at them at all, but I imagine you want to know how your groups have done, and so on.

You don't need to be a teacher to see that this is a HoD/SLT overstepping and wanting someone to do something that is not their job.

The OP is working... She's checking emails and actioning them...

As a Teacher you need to make your mind up whether you work part time or full time and be paid accordingly! If you are full time then you take the same 25 days as the rest of the country and not taking the piss 16 weeks!

What??

As most of us know, school holidays are unpaid for teachers.
So whether we choose to work unpaid in holidays is entirely up to us. Personally I do choose to work as I am an absolute twat who accepts the role as a both a job and a (tragic) hobby. I also find that working in holidays can lessen the pressure in terms of time.
However, I totally support colleagues who decide not to work in unpaid holidays eg results day attendance and follow up advice on remarks. It is entirely the choice of the individual teacher.
In OP’s case the maternity leave is a red herring. She is simply declining requests for her to work unpaid in holidays.

given the proximity to your due date and that you would have been on maternity leave anyway if not for the holidays.

But you aren't on mat leave, and thats your choice, and presumably you've done that because financially it benefits you to be paid for the holidays so your maternity paid period starts later.

So until you start mat leave, you need to expect to be treated like any other working teacher, and it wouldnt be that unusual to be contacted in this sort of situation.

Wowsers...some bitterness there....

As most of us know, school holidays are unpaid for teachers

This is debatable.

The holidays are not directed time, no. But teachers are paid annual salaries and continue to be paid in August. You are not unemployed in August, or eligible for JSA during that period. You are paid.