If I hand my notice in at Christmas...

[rollonthesummer]

Can I go at February half term, or is it Easter?

Am a teacher, obviously :(

[DriftingOff]

It's Easter, but check your contract. You may be able to ask your head teacher to release you from your contract early

[saadia]

Yup Easter I'm afraid. I was in the same position last year and desperate to leave but was also my NQT year so could not request early release. Am at a new school now and much happier if that's any help.

[TheDuchessOfSalford]

You might be able to go at half term. HT DH had a teacher hand her notice in over half term and is leaving at Christmas. It depends on the Head, possibly - DH is a lovely one!!

[Littlefish]

It's half term I think. Phone the local authority and check with them, or your union. I'm pretty sure that teachers only have to give half a term's notice, but there are set dates because terms are not all the same length.

[funchum8am]

It's half term isn't it, so long as you resign before the official cut off date? I know it is 31st May to resign for the end of the academic year on 31st August, so no idea why it would be a whole term at another time of year.

[RinkyDinkyDoo]

I'm finishing at Christmas, I handed my notice in 24th Oct, the 31st was in half term. It's half a term.

[RinkyDinkyDoo]

community.tes.co.uk/tes_jobseekers/b/how_to_accept_a_job/archive/2013/05/12/how-to-resign.aspx

[rollonthesummer]

I know you can hand your notice in at a half term to go at the end of a term. I had it in my head though that you could only go at the end of a term, rather than a half term.

[rollonthesummer]

Yes-that's what that link says. My next date to resign is the end of February, to leave at Easter. That seems a long way off!

[Maisycat]

In state schools burgundy book rules normally apply;

· to leave at 31 December, give notice by no later than 31 October;
· to leave at 30 April, give notice by no later than 28 February;
· to leave at 31 August, give notice by no later than 31 May.

You can ask to leave earlier, but unless there are special circumstances it's unlikely to be granted, and it is possible if you just leave anyway to be sued for breach of contract.

[DownByTheRiverside]

Sorry rollon, but Maisycat's right, unless you can get special dispensation.
It's what happened to me through ignorance once, wanted to take up a post in Feb so I resigned by Christmas and then the LEA said no, I had to stay til Easter.
My head didn't know it was a rule either.

[DriftingOff]

Maisycat is correct. The confusion with the half term notice thing, is that if you hand in your notice by the end of a half term, then you can go half a term later at the end of that term. BUT if you hand in your notice at the end of a term, you can't leave at the end of a half term, so you have to leave at the end of the following term, so you end up working a full term's notice. Easter is particularly weird, especially if Easter is early. I don't know when Easter 2015 is, but if it's early, you may find you will have to work for 2-3 weeks after Easter, in order to work up to 30th April. If you have another job to go to at Easter though, then HTs will normally agree between each other to allow you to move at Easter. The worst case scenario would be if you handed in your notice on 1st November, then the HT could insist that you work a 6 month notice period (to 30th April). Nightmare!

[AriaBanjo]

Ask your HT as it is up to them.

[AriaBanjo]

Sorry posted too soon. I was able to leave at feb half term (I was only part time though) as they could cover me easily. If you let them know you are really unhappy and not coping it's in their interest to replace you sooner rather than later.

[calzone]

Teacher quit last week and is leaving at Xmas........

[BranchingOut]

If you are absolutely sure that you want to leave I suggest that you go ahead and hand in your notice ASAP, as your replacement might be working on supply and therefore could step in a bit sooner.

[Recovering]

Yup calzone - that's up to half term for the end of the term. So op could resign anytime between now and Feb half term basically... In order to leave at Easter.

[Itsfab]

This has been interesting to me as six weeks doesn't seem very long to find a replacement. Are there lots of teachers available?

[Recovering]

It's bizarre as it can be 6 weeks if it's half term just before or like op, closer to 6 months depending on where in the cycle you are.

Other teachers also have to give notice so it's much harder if minimum notice is given as they'd obviously have to work notice- often supply is brought in while in transition.

[funchum8am]

I've learned something from this thread! Sorry for earlier misinformation. Better to resign now so your school has plenty of time to find a replacement. It has just taken me FOUR rounds of interview to get a maternity cover from Oct half term to May. Depends on subject though - some are even harder to find good teachers for while others are less tricky.

[RosieProbert]

Does anyone mind if I jump in here and ask a question?
I'm currently on mat leave and have basically been offered an interview at a new school in may.
I've been headhunted basically.
If I 'get the job' how on earth do I go about accepting it?
Would I have to return to work at my current school before may31st or just accept the new job and stay on mat leave until July?

Does anyone have experience of this?

OP - good luck for the future

[RosieProbert]

Just to explain before anyone asks, I had to tell the HT that I was pg. the nature f the role meant I couldn't start it and go off on mat leave. The HT employed someone on a temp contract as cover and will re interview for the role in May. She said I was a high,y valued candidate for the role and that I was perfect for their school. So basically, if I do well at the interview this time I'm pretty confident that I would get the job.

[funchum8am]

You can resign during mat leave (am currently in a similar position myself). My school say I need to give one month's notice to resign from my post with them, rather than stick to the usual rules, but that might just be my school/situation.

[HamAndPlaques]

You can resign on mat leave but you must observe the notice periods as laid out above. You may have to repay any enhanced mat pay unless you go back to your current school for a fixed period, usually 13 weeks.

[pippinleaf]

If you're an awful teacher, your head doesn't like you or it would be very easy to replace you with someone good then you may find you can go when you like. We are always very accommodating of teachers we'd be happy to lose.