So sad teacher is leaving already

[lemondrizzlebake]

My dd is in reception class and we had a message to say her teacher will not be returning after half term. I'm gutted for my dd. She was so happy with this teacher and so was I.

There is a replacement but only temporary. We are looking at a few stand in teachers throughout the year.

With the current situation I am grateful that my dd is in school but I can't help but feel annoyed that her first year is being disrupted already.

Has this happened to anyone else and was the outcome good/bad?

This same thing happened when mine was in reception at exact same time as well. Won’t lie, the half term leading up to christmas was quite disjointed, kids never knew who was going to be teaching them that day (thank goodness for an amazing TA who gave them stability). Start of the January term the school had in place a new teacher for the class who was fantastic and after a few weeks you’d think she’d been with them since the September.

DS1 had six teachers in his reception year (job shares, maternity leave, job shares, impossible to recruit full time).

Parents evening in Y1 his teacher apologised for his poor handwriting - apparently his year group had never been given lined paper so they were all over the place.

He's now Y5 and very secure in his education - they are so adaptable. Probably just as well as three of the six teachers left at the of his 2nd year.

I really hope they can get a stable teacher. A new teacher every few weeks is not good enough.

a new teacher every few weeks is not good enough

Please consider what you realistically think the school can do?

In some areas, teacher recruitment is very difficult. Primary is usually easier than the recruit but not always.

My son's teacher left after about 4 weeks in his reception year. She had been there years and went on long term sick so they couldn't replace her until she resigned so he had a string of supply teachers. In year 1, his teacher announced she was leaving at Easter she was leaving and then lockdown happened anyway...so far ok in year 2!

Different but I realised in lockdown that DS has had a disjointed time with staffing.
YR strike action and p/t schooling in summer term
Y1 job share started at Christmas
Y2 one teacher for whole year but on one year contract for senior role.
Y3 mat leave after Easter
Y4 lockdown from March.
Lets hope the y5 teacher does the whole year and stays on...

Despite regular changes (and him having SENs) he and his class are doing well.

I often did long term supply. It was hardest when someone was indefinitely sick as neither I nor the class knew how long it would be, just a week or two at a time. I aimed to be a consistent teacher until the teacher returned or the end of the year as much as I could.

@lemondrizzlebake

I really hope they can get a stable teacher. A new teacher every few weeks is not good enough.

You had my sympathies until this comment. Doesn’t really matter if you seem to good enough or not, that could well be the situation.