Is there a time Independent school staff will most likely move on?

[PettsWoodParadise]

Dear teachers, DD's outstanding state school is considering joining a large MAT. This trust has both independent and state schools within its umbrella. One of my concerns is the number of teacher vacancies on the MAT website, 27 are for independent schools and 60 for state. The Governors have replied to my question saying that this term is the most popular for independent teachers to be recruited as a reason for the high number of vacancies. I have no way of knowing how accurate this is or isn't. They've already said that 'many' of the vacancies are independent but clearly it is less than half that of the state school vacancies. It may be that they have fewer independent schools in the trust so based on a percentage basis it may seem higher but it doesn't come across that way. I am trying to trust the Governors but am struggling and this claim it is a busy term may well be accurate. Can anyone enlighten me so I can at least know whether this is an accurate statement (or not). Thank you.

[leccybill]

How many schools are in the trust? That's a lot of vacancies whichever way you look at it.
Are some for Heads of dept? Poss a management issue. I'd be suspicious.

[PettsWoodParadise]

Yes, that is what caught my eye at first and this excludes TA and admin roles, but there are just over 30 schools in the MAT so really only three per school although some don't feature and some have a six vacancies. I may be worrying about nothing but this and a few other bits of info just make me very nervous. As the Governors have stated in writing the reason is many independent school vacancies come up at this time of year I just want to be informed if this is the typical time or if they are speaking balloney.

[needsahalo]

This is prime time for recruitment whichever sector you are in.

[TataEs]

also teaching is not how it was... where teachers stayed in a school for almost or all of their teaching careers. teachers move around a lot more, there are more positions within schools that allow for career progression.
it does seem a lot. but 6 positions in a five form enters school is not the same as 6 positions in a 1 form entry school. also it would be interesting to see if they are replacing staff or creating roles. creating roles/positions would be a positive imo. i'm not sure just from the numbers you have given a true conclusion on the situation.

[LIZS]

As they have to give a full term's notice, longer for senior positions, now is the typical recruitment time for next academic year. Many overseas positions are also advertised in the Spring term through recruitment fairs.

[PettsWoodParadise]

Thanks for that, good point about the size of the schools and comforting to know that it can be a positive thing too and it is a busy time for recruitment. We have great teachers at DD's school with low staff turnover so I don't want it to become somewhere with lots of disruptive churn with the experienced and good teachers edged out for cheaper teachers. We spent a lot of energy and time picking the right fit school for her and it would be such a shame that it all changed. On the job board for the MAT is a wide range of roles advertised from NQTs to Heads and VPs so that reflects the career opportunity comment.