What would you think about this email from school? Sudden change of class teacher.

No they don't. The school's only requirement is to sure the children's education continues uninterrupted, which they have done. It's up to the parents to manage any sadness their child might feel.

@Onmytod24 also remember if a teacher is leaving because of say a terminal diagnosis, SLT will be dealing with their own emotions with this news and would probably appreciate not being bombarded with emails from parents

Basically, the OP and some posts are just nosiness disguised as 'but what about the children?!'

They will have. And it will include maintaining the teachers privacy.

They're not pretending that nothing had happened. OP has said that the schools counsellor has talked to the class, and the parents have been emailed with as much information as is possible to give while maintaining confidentiality.

Frankly, the children having a memory assembly is not remotely a priority, and could be massively inappropriate, when the reason for the departure is unknown.

Just because parents haven't heard much, doesn't mean that the school isn't doing anything. They absolutely will be, because a teacher leaving suddenly will involve a lot of work for the SLT.

@Onmytod24 they will have a policy, it will be HR guiding what they can say.

I bet the people making the most fuss in this situation will be the parents.

If you had a medical reason for leaving employment would you want all staff, clients, customers, community knowing, the same with a disciplinary. Doesn't matter what organisation you work in, HR confidentiality applies. If there were safeguarding issues the relevant people should be informed/involved

The school needs to have a policy in place on how to deal with sudden teacher departures for whatever reason. Act as if nothing has happened is just not acceptable. Pupils need an opportunity to say goodbye to their old teacher if they can’t do it in person then they need to spend an art session creating cards or have a memory assembly for the old teacher this is for the children’s sake not the parents. Unless of course there was some unpleasantness in which case parents need to be told.

This happened a while back in DC2s class. Teacher suddenly left in the middle of the term with no explanation. It was terribly sad as she was very popular with the kids.

Unofficially it is widely believed to be mental health related, in which case what can the school realistically do? They can't share confidential medical information about a staff member.

No, but teacher resignation dates do, so it’s likely something very serious has happened for one to leave like this.

It still doesn’t mean it’s any of the parents’ business though and they will probably never find out what happened.

100% that. It sounds like some of the adults are making their kids even more stressed.

"Sometimes things happen in grown ups' lives that mean they can't come to work any more. I'm sure that Mr Smith will be sad not to say goodbye, but your new teacher will be just as nice, I'm sure"

Just reassure your kid that while it’s a bit disappointing not to be able to say goodbye to Mr Smith, Mrs Jones sounds like a great teacher and move on.
Its parents job to stay calm and help children be resilient in times of change, not make a big drama out of everything.

Not for wondering but for expecting to be told.

It's natural to wonder what's happened. What's not reasonable is for parents to be bombarding the head with emails demanding an explanation.

Some of the parents have phoned and emailed (we are in contact with each other) to express concern and unhappiness about how abrupt this has been and how little information we've been given and the head has replied to an email from one father saying that Mr Smith had left suddenly and she couldn't provide any further details.

I don't disagree. But it isn't normal and so I can understand why parents are concerned.

I ran into the teacher’s partner (who I’d met at a few school events) in Tesco, months later. In my experience people who feel hard done by are usually only too willing to tell you all about it, whether you want to hear it or not.

@Lougle therefore there is probably a really good reason why school haven’t given more details. It’s not like Mr Smith has just found another teaching job to go to and we all wish him luck in his new job

They can think it's odd. It is odd. But there will be a reason and that reason is the teacher's business only

No, but the Burgundy Book does. You suggested that it isn't unusual for teachers to resign mid term. I was pointing out that in general it is because it's against their agreed terms. So it isn't unreasonable for a parent to think it's odd and be concerned.

Life and death doesn't run to a time table that respects school terms.🙄

It beggars belief that so many parents these days are unable to have anything but hysterical or disproportionate reactions to completely normal or non-events. I think there is a serious collective mental breakdown that a lot of people are having as the result of increasing isolation, screentime and conspiracies being the first thing people jump to instead of 100 completely obviously reasonable reasons.

Harassing and bombarding the school with demands for answers as if it were an emergency matter is insane. Teachers leave all the time, sometimes abruptly. I've had teaching colleagues leave suddenly for a whole host of completely normal reasons (the same as why anyone of any job would leave suddenly). Death of a child, serious injury, serious illness diagnosis, accident. etc. Normally they work a period of notice but sometimes circumstances mean it has to be sudden. Just like everyone in every other job in the entire world.

Parents thinking its unacceptable that their children ever temporarily experience disappointment, confusion or a tiny bit of upset is bizarre. It's a normal emotion they will feel millions of times in their lifetime. It's not that deep. They will forget about it by the time they watch the next episode of their favourite TV show. If parents don't make things a big deal, children won't make things a big deal. If it was a safeguarding issue, the parents of the affected child will have been contacted already. For any other reason, there's no expectation for parents to know.

No one is saying the children shouldn't be upset and that the parents should gloss over it, but nor do they have the right to hound the school to demand to know why he's left and to be privy to the reason. They just need to explain to their children that Mr Smith had to leave for personal reasons and acknowledge that while it is sad he wasn't able to say goodbye, Mr Jones looks like he's going to be a great teacher for them to finish the school year with, and then they should focus on some things they've got coming up, like the Easter hols. Honestly, by the time the kids return in April they will have forgotten all about the teacher who left. Instead, all this drama and speculation will upset the children more – and that's on the parents for their poor handling of the situation. Parents just need to parent and not expect schools to do it for them.

Yes, I agree with that. But contrary to what you are implying and @JustAnotherWhinger has said, many people do seem to be berating the OP simply for wondering.

@Miffylou but the parents shouldn’t be hassling the school. They wouldn’t have omitted details to the message to parents for shits and giggles, there will be a very good reason full details for the teacher leaving have not been provided

The parents of my late husband's class, would have had the same email, some years ago. And frankly, their discomfort at having to explain the change to their children would have been f*ck all, compared to what had happened to him, and us.

I'm so glad I'm out of teaching now. That Guardian article sums it up.

Either wilfully or because you really don’t understand, you are missing the point yet again.

A situation like this, where a primary teacher leaves mid-term, unannounced, with no explanation or goodbye to the children they have spent every working day with for months, is absolutely not something that has "happened to every child in every school for as long as schools have existed". I have worked in primary schools for over thirty years and have never known it to happen.

Yes, why the teacher has gone is their own business. But that doesn’t stop it being a puzzling issue for parents.

If you bring your children up to feel they shouldn’t be upset if a very important person in their life suddenly vanishes with no explanation at all, I feel very sorry for the children.

Having a replacement teacher in place doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't sudden. They may be a supply teacher so immediately free and agreed to do a long term placement
We had that with a teacher who had an accident, obviously disappeared overnight but a supply teacher stepped in and stayed until the class teacher returned.

In my time working in a school we've had a few teachers leave suddenly, whether for mental health reasons, cancer, stroke, serious accident, sudden bereavement and of course the parents weren't told why. In some cases most of the staff didn't even know.