Going back to maiden name as primary school teacher after divorce

[microphoneeartoear]

I am a primary school teacher, currently going through a divorce and intend to change my surname back to maiden name once the divorce is made final. I would like to change my name as the soon as the divorce is final however after speaking to a friend she has advised me to wait to change my name at school until the end of the school year as it would be confusing for the children.

What would you say the best thing to do is?

Personally I would wait until next school year too.

I did it straight away that way for pay slips etc you are sorted it didn’t cause any issues

I would also wait.

I still use my maiden name at school despite being married for three years as couldn't be bothered with the questions lol

Definitely wait til the end of the school year for work. You can change it everywhere else but it will raise a lot of Qs with the children and just seems pointless imho

When my kids have had teachers who have married, their names changed in September rather than when it happened. It's probably easiest to be your new professional name in September

With regard to the official side of things, eg pay, pension etc, switch ASAP. With regard to name the children call you, it is completely up to you. Just expect that some parents will congratulate you on getting married because you've changed your name. This is actually worse if you do it over the summer holidays as people associate it with weddings. I might do it over the Christmas holidays just to avoid that very thing.

Change it when you want to & when feels right for you.
Personally I'd change it asap & not wait until the end of the school year.

Headteacher here. I advised a teacher not to wait. Why should she? She did it in June. Kids managed fine!

Aww this reminds me of my high school teacher telling us (with tears in her eyes) she was now Miss xxx. Even the cold hearted kids didn't know what to say.

Change it when you want. Children adapt very quickly. A colleague married in the October half-term so was her maiden name in September, then switched in November. No-one had any problems remembering.

Change it when you want-I know loads of teachers that have got married at Easter and changed their name then. Just out of really nosy interest-are you going to Miss, Ms or Mrs with your maiden name? Ignore if you rather not say x

We've had multiple teachers get married or divorced. The kids don't bat an eyelid and, although there's the occasional slip of the tongue, they always cope without any confusion. Perhaps wait until a new half term but there's absolutely no need to wait until September.

I’ve been in this situation- I decided to leave it until after the end of the school year and so endured most of a school year being called by a name that made me feel terrible. Wish I had just bitten the bullet and gone back to my maiden name straight away, the kids would have been absolutely fine with it. Do what feels best for you

We had a French teacher who went from Mrs Name1 to Miss Name2 to Mrs Name3 within a year. It caused some gossip, but ultimately there were more important things to talk about than what teachers got up to - although maybe at primary school level it would be different.

I changed my name in June having got married in May half term, the kids managed just fine! Change it when you are ready and be called what you are comfortable with 😊

I have known teachers change their name part way through the school year. As long as you don't mind the occasional slip up it shouldn't be an issue.