A question about resignation dates and relocating.

[MsDran]

I am employed on a 0.5 permanent contract.
Is it true that if I hand my notice in after June 1st I cannot leave until the end of December?
I am planning on relocating sometime between Aug 2016 and Aug 2017 and am trying to figure out the timescales and practicalities. DH will not be changing jobs (we live an hour away from his work now and will be moving an hour in the opposite direction) but I will. We will be selling our current house and I would like to work in my current job until the move.
We cannot move before Aug 2016 as my oldest is doing his A levels that summer.
In an ideal world we would put our house on the market and move 12 weeks later, but it could easily take a lot longer.
I'm currently wondering if it makes more sense to put house on the market early Feb, then if things go quickly I could resign Feb half term. Also school may be more willing to let me leave May half term if things take a little longer (or summer if need be) I don't have a permanent class so it shouldn't be too disruptive.
Keen for any advice or to know how others have managed it.

[toomuchicecream]

If you hand your notice in after 31 May (NOT 1 June) you can't leave until 31 December. That's officially anyway. It's actually at the discretion of your HT so it entirely depends on them.

When I left my NQT job I got the job in the first week of June and was made to stay until Christmas. However, when I left my second school I got a job at the beginning of March but the HT let me go at the end of term even though he didn't have to and it caused him a lot of extra hassle to find cover for me at short notice (useless HT but a very kind man!).

[MsDran]

Thanks, for some reason I'd always assumed we could give a full half terms notice. I appreciate we have to give a reasonable amount of notice but it does seem crazy that you can hand in your notice on June 1st and not leave for 7 months.

[PotteringAlong]

It is half a term notice. Resign by June 1st to leave aug 31st (my DH got a new job today and will do just that!). If you want to leave at Christmas you need to resign at oct half term.

[PotteringAlong]

But yes, if you don't resign until after may half term you can't go until October half term because the summer term doesn't end until august 31st

[spanieleyes]

It is NOT a half term's notice. There are only three resignation dates and three leaving dates
To leave at the end of... Teachers must resign by: Heads must resign by:
Autumn Term
(31 December) 31 October 30 September
Spring Term
(30 April) 28 (29) February 31 January
Summer Term
(31 August) 31 May 30 April

So if you resign before 31 May, you can leave at the end of the summer holidays, if you resign on the 1st June ( or after) you must stay until 31 December.
Obviously a Head can release you early ( and some academies/free schools/independent schools may have different resignation/leaving dates) but otherwise as above. There is no resignation at half terms unless by agreement.

[HagOtheNorth]

I'm always surprised by the number of teachers that don't know that, spanieleyes. It's certainly been the rule for the last 30 years or more in state schools.

[spanieleyes]

Amazing, isn't it!

[MsDran]

I've been at my school for 15years (first job) so haven't had to think about it before, but somewhere in the back of my head I knew we could only leave at the end of a term. I'm just worried because a friend locally has been selling her house and though it goes under offer quite quickly it has twice now fallen through quite close to exchange, no fault of theirs or the house, they were just unlucky. It's made me realise I'll have to hand my notice in and hope it doesn't take us too long to sell.

[Littlemisssunshine72]

I had this exact problem- not knowing how long/if we were going to sell our house.
My head offered me the chance to leave but then keep working as supply as then I could leave when I liked. Only thing if the move fell through, I would be without a permanent contract and not being paid holidays etc, which I needed for the mortgage.
In the end it was really touch and go when we would be moving and feb half term was looming and I still didn't know whether to resign.
In the end my head actually saved a whole load of hassle by extending the resignation cut off date until the week after half term- this week made all the difference and by then we were certain were moving.
We ended up moving two weeks before the end if term which I ended up commuting for-expensive but at least it made things possible.

[MaraThonbar]

Bear in mind that the more notice you can give your HT, the more likely s/he is to accommodate any requests that you may have once you move, such as leaving at a half term. Explicitly state that you have resigned as early as possible to enable the school to recruit and plan for your departure.

[MsDran]

I have great relation with the head / school and will tell them an outline of my plans next summer term. There are several part time roles in the school and some are in areas where a mid-year change of teacher wouldn't be an issue. Some roles, like my current one, it would not be ideal. That's why I'm trying to figure out the timescales now.