Let's be clear what is and what isn't on my job description as a teacher...

Picture the scene: a Year 7 boy is sitting in the medical room having been splendidly sick twice in the space of an hour. The receptionist is on the phone to his Grandmother because his parents cannot be contacted (all numbers have been tried) and she is the third on the boy's emergency contact list. Grandmother is asking why he can't just go back to class - she doesn't want him if he's ill because she might catch the bug he has got. Receptionist gives me a weary look and pushes on. Eventually, someone from home is dispatched to collect the vomiting Peter who is looking more and more like death warmed up, but you can tell that they don't really think this is part of their contract.

Or this: teacher is a bit fed up with the attitude of her Y10 GCSE class. They are set 1 but many of them are underperforming. They are not horrible, they are just lazy and entitled. She asks them whose responsibility it is to get their grades up. She is assured by a good 60% of this class that it is her responsibility; it's her job to make sure that they get their grades regardless of what they are prepared or not prepared to do. As far as they are concerned, pitching up to lessons is all that is in their contract.

Another example: a senior and very experienced colleague is in charge of A Level coursework for his subject. It used to be that - after a good deal of teaching and preparation -  students produced a single draft which he gave feedback on before they produced ther final piece. Gradually he has had to go to two drafts and now to three in order for students to make the required improvement. My colleague has always been quite prepared to do the work involved as students work generally improves by about a grade with each draft. This year he has done his usual stirling work but to his dismay many of his students have simply not done the work on each draft to make improvements. Their belief in his ability to magically produce their improvement is staggering. Sir will make it all alright. He won't let me fail. He is contracted to ensure success at all costs, isn't he?

When I first started teaching (back in the mid 1990s) we were fairly clear about where our job as teacher started and finished. Children were our responsibility from 8.45 am until 3.45pm. It was understood that some things were in our remit, and lots of things were not. Since then, it seems to me, a lot of things have migrated from the parents to do list and onto ours.

So here, for the record, is the way I think it should be...

Job Description
Learner

• Come to school on time every day.
• Bring the right books and equipment every day.
• Listen to your teachers.
• Comply with the rules of the school.
• Give your parent/guardian letters home from the school.
• Complete the tasks you are set to the best of your ability.
• Respond to the feedback you are given by your teachers.
• Keep yourself and others safe.
• Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
• Accept responsibility for your actions and their consequences.

Job Description
Parent

• Prepare your child for school by ensuring that they can dress themselves, pick up after themselves and attend to their basic hygiene. 
• Ensure your child has the correct uniform, sports kit and other essential equipment every day. Label everything.
• Be available - or ensure that someone you trust is available - in case of emergency. Inform the school immediately if there are changes in your contact details.
• Keep your child at home if they are really unwell. It is your job to make that determination.
• Monitor your child's activities on social media - yes this is hard for you, but it is impossible for us.
• Know where your child is at all times. 
• Ensure your child sleeps properly every night - take the electronic equipment out of the bedroom and keep it out.
• Ensure that your child understands that word "no" is not an invitation to begin negotiations.
• Set clear and consistent boundaries for your child so that it is not a shock when they are expected to follow rules at school.
• Ensure that your child understands that their actions have consequences.
• Support the school by taking their word  - even over your child's - when something goes wrong. 
• Do not co-sign on your child's poor behaviour, lack of attendance or lateness. These will affect progress at school. If you co-sign on them, you remove our power to help you.
• Tell the school the truth.
• Talk to your child about their day and be interested in their progress.
• Celebrate your child's successes.
• Provide your child with a quiet space to do their homework and supervise them to ensure it is done. 
• Challenge your child's language when it is inappropriate.
• Sanction your child when they make poor choices and help them to make better ones.

Not on My Job Description*

Teacher

• Solving problems that are caused by a poor parenting decision.  
• Being the "bad cop" so that a parent can be the "good cop".
• Making a child want to learn.
• Sorting out cyberbullying that is happening out of school. It is out of my control.
• Deciding whether you should send your child to school or not.
• Spending time before school, at lunchtime and/or after school teaching unwilling children who have not tried in my lesson and who don't want my help.
• Supervising children before school and after school because parents haven't made appropriate arrangements.
• Running around the school looking for a child's lost equipment because they have left it somewhere. 

* I have a job description as a teacher, it's very long and none of these things are on it!