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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that unless it is exceptional cirucmstances, teachers should not leave mid-year?

114 replies

ArseAche · 18/03/2013 16:29

Fed up with this. Seems to be the norm these days that teachers just move on in the middle of some of the most critical years at school. Gcse, A level etc years and it is really quite unsettling for those about to take exams. Why not just see the bloody year out for the kids sake?

As I said, exceptional circumstances are fine, but just moving off to another school is pretty damn awful.

OP posts:

Original poster

ArseAche · 18/03/2013 17:19

ArseAche Mon 18-Mar-13 16:55:17
Well, it looks like i've had my hat put on well and truly

again

OP posts:

TheNebulousBoojum · 18/03/2013 17:22

So shall we listen now instead of ranting some more?

It does seem to be becoming the norm for teachers to leave when they can, and that is a change for all sorts of reasons over the last three decades.But the job has changed beyond recognition in that time too.

Original poster

ArseAche · 18/03/2013 17:26

No longer ranting. But can you teachers see it a teeny weeny bit from the students point of view too. Just like I see some of what you are saying?

OP posts:

ShipwreckedAndComatose · 18/03/2013 17:30

We do see it a tweety weeny bit from the students point of view.

I try to only leave at the end of the year and have never left mid year (most staff do exactly the same as me).

however, life isn't always that neat and there are always some kids (because its a two year course or because they are in your tutor group) who you feel you are letting down.

annh · 18/03/2013 17:30

Yes, I'm sure the teachers would agree that it is not ideal for them to leave mid-year but why would a teacher leave for anything other than exceptional reasons mid-year? If we are going to agree that pregnancy, illness, forced relocation of partner or family, promotion are all acceptable reasons, how many teachers would leave just for the heck of it mid-year?

doobeedee · 18/03/2013 17:33

While we teachers can see your point of view, the fact still remains that we would potentially have to pass up an excellent job opportunity or house move or whatever else to see a whole year out. It's sometimes just not feasible. And font forget, there are plenty of schools who do organise suitable cover or a new teacher. The teacher leaving can't predict what their replacement will be like.

myheadwillexplode · 18/03/2013 17:33

Yes I can see it from the point of view of the pupils but as I stated before that is not the problem of the teacher who has chosen to leave. It is due to the school not providing adequate cover. I've seen supply teachers just dumped in classes without even a class name list. How would they even begin to cover a course when they have no knowledge of what the kids have done before that point.

The leaving teacher will undoubtedly have left good handover notes. Decent handovers should be mandatory where this is possible but this is not always possible e.g. a teacher I knew broke her ankle in 3 places which forced her into early retirement (she was already close to retirement age but would have had time with her replacement if she'd not broken her ankle).

cricketballs · 18/03/2013 17:33

so according to some mn'ers and Gove we should not be allowed to ...

have any lunch so we can run clubs
stay silly hours in the building so parents can see we work after the end of school
call every parent if their pfb dares to be told off at any point in the day
not question low attendance
don't tell off any child
not to give homework
give more homework
have psychic powers so we know everything that is going on with every child we might pass in the corridors
only change our job when it fits the parents

I'm sure I have missed some things but op - it is not the teacher at fault; it may be the management thinking they can continue until September when NQTS are more available and are cheaper, it maybe (as my school have done) advertised but the applicants are not acceptable, it maybe a dozen of reasons

TheNebulousBoojum · 18/03/2013 17:36

'No longer ranting.'

Arse, I was meaning us ranting at you!

ShipwreckedAndComatose · 18/03/2013 17:38

as it is, teachers can only leave at three times in a year.

That's fine if you are moving from one teaching job to another but less easy if you decide to go for a nonteaching job or if your partner is relocating.

ihearsounds · 18/03/2013 17:38

The teacher might have had exceptional reasons to leave mid year.
I know a few teachers who have left within the last year, some around exam time. Unfortunate for the pupils, but they still needed to leave -
Pregnancy
Serious illness of staff member.
Serious illness of family member who rely heavily on staff member.
Assaulted in the class and no longer felt safe.
Fed up of working in a school where management didn't give a shit anymore, and the needs of the students, despite the school motto, claiming the opposite.

None of these could wait to leave at a more convenient time. Not

EvilTwins · 18/03/2013 17:43

I can see it from both sides. I'm a teacher, and there is NEVER a "convenient" time to leave. When I was teaching in my first school, I decided in the February that I was going to leave at the end of the academic year. I told the head, and also the students (long story- it was an appropriate thing to do) and despite the notice, people were still annoyed about it. I have only ever left at the end of the year (except with maternity leave) and leaving a KS4/KS5 class half way through a course can be managed to minimise disruption. So on one hand, I think YABU. However, the Head of a core subject at the school I currently teach in has resigned and is off at the end of this term. He's had enough- leaving teaching with nothing to go to. I think he's very selfish. The kids at school adore him, and he's one of those incredibly energetic and charismatic teachers who gets amazing results that you tend to see played by Robin Williams in films. He's ditching his Yr 11s just before GCSEs and they are properly devastated. I can't help thinking that for the sake of a couple more months, he should stay.

ChunkyChicken · 18/03/2013 17:46

But where does staying for "continuity" stop? If you teach a group of students in every year, do you wait until the yr 11s have finished (mid-way through the term), the yr 10s take their exams (at any point if they're modular), yr 9s have finished their BTEC (can take 1-3yrs) or the yr 7s have finished their schooling??

Teachers can't leave mid-way through a term (new style one, 3 a yr) w/out a HTs permission so sometimes end up working a much longer notice period than some other jobs, which can bring with it a whole host of other issues.

And surely if lots of teachers are leaving & the school is having trouble replacing them, what does that say about the school? The HT is ultimately responsible for ensuring the students receive continuity in teaching, and if they are key examination groups that have lost teachers, the staffing should be rearranged.

Whilst your frustration is understandable, its not down to the individual to tailor their career to suit every single student they will ever teach...

YABU.

morethanpotatoprints · 18/03/2013 17:46

Many years ago we relocated 250 miles to be nearer to family it was feb when we moved. My dh had to stay where he was to complete the term. We were 3 months without him and we had 2 dc at the time, who really missed dh. Now he was happy to complete the term for the sake of the kids but would any longer have been fair?

YABVU. You might consider these circumstances as exceptional but you can't have one rule for one and one rule for others.

BertieBotts · 18/03/2013 17:50

It might be annoying for your DD, but she's just unlucky - teachers leave mid-year for all sorts of reasons and one of their classes is always going to be a GCSE/A level/SATS/etc one.

Emphaticmaybe · 18/03/2013 17:53

I understand that teacher's have as many valid reasons for changing jobs/leaving mid-year as anyone else but I do think it's up to the head to minimise the impact on pupils.

DC4, in her year 3 transition year to a separate junior school, had no less than 3 permanent teachers (job share anyway but then a maternity leave, then covering teaching was ill for many weeks and finally the other original teacher was moved to a year 6 class when a teacher left in the middle of SATs) as well as a host of supply teachers.

In one week we counted that she was taught be a different teacher each day (most weeks it was at least 3 - some supply, some were other school staff.) It was really hard for many of the children in that class but for DD (who was an anxious type anyway) it was the catalyst for home-ed as she never really recovered her confidence.

I don't blame the teachers but I think the Head let the whole class down.

noblegiraffe · 18/03/2013 17:54

I had a baby at the ideal time, in August, so I finished in July and took a year's maternity so I started back in September.

I still left an A-level class and a GCSE class in the middle of their courses. I also left a tutor group who were just going into Y11.

Whenever a teacher leaves, it's always going to be rubbish for some students. It just can't be helped.

shushpenfold · 18/03/2013 17:56

YABU and ridiculous....

babybythesea · 18/03/2013 18:00

cricketballs - I can add one (not related to the OP in the slightest so not joining in the general bashing!)

My sister (a reception teacher) has a tea-club that has just started up at their school to help parents out with childcare after school (and to ensure some of the kids actually eat tea as this is a concern). A nice idea, yes?
She passed two parents in the corridor who were loudly voicing their displeasure that the childcare wasn't available in holiday time because quite frankly, what is a parent supposed to do then??! So not being available to look after the kids in the holidays can be added to the list.

Original poster

ArseAche · 18/03/2013 18:00

yeah I know shush - read the thread!

OP posts:

weegiemum · 18/03/2013 18:02

I think if you only let teachers leave at the end of the year, you'd have a lot more going off sick, thus necessitating that evil - the supply teacher. while looking for a job I did years of supply (always long term) and I'm not sure my pupils would have done better with the teacher who went off with "stress" the day after she didn't get a promoted post.

Teaching is a job. If you are lucky, it's a vocation. Less and less so these days though. We're not gods, or magicians, though ime I think that's what some parents want!

soontobeburns · 18/03/2013 18:07

Whe. I was in school we have a different form teacher every year. When we where in year 11 (year 10 in englad) our teacher was offered a job in a much better school, better hours, better pay etc. But he defered it for a yeae to stay with us and show us some consistency.

I loved that teacher. So in my experience YANBU.

Crinkle77 · 18/03/2013 18:09

You can't blame a teacher for wanting to move on. If anyone is responsible for the continuous stream of supply teachers it is the school.

SnotMeReally · 18/03/2013 18:09

YABU - I have worked in 2 schools where teachers died suddenly and had to be replaced for the good of their students asap rather than limp along using supply staff till end of year.
One teacher was killed in an RTA, the other had a heart attack out of the blue.

We were lucky enough in both cases to fill their posts with high calibre candidates mid year. If you had been a parent at our school, you would have been pleased that the school did all it could for your child. If you had been a parent at the schools we "stole" teachers from, you would not have known the tragic reasons for those posts, maybe their ideal next career move, coming up.

People leave their jobs all the time, when it suits them. YABU to think it should be otherwise.

However, I have also known instances where schools have felt they HAD to rely on supply teachers for longer than was ideal, because they felt that the sort of teacher they wanted, was not the sort who would jump ship mid year and leave their GCSE classes in the lurch, and they wanted to recruit from the best pool possible rather than be left with a load of NQT applicants.

My DDs teacher has been in and out all year - I have nothing but sympathy for her, as her child has been in and out of hospital.

SuffolkNWhat · 18/03/2013 18:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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