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

[Junglemoon]

We had an email yesterday evening from our (primary age) child's headteacher saying that his class teacher Mr Smith had left and that as of tomorrow his teacher would be Mrs Jones. No further details as to what on earth was going on, the email was literally three sentences.

Mrs Jones has been teaching them the last couple of days but our son was told and believed that Mr Smith was just off ill. He and most of his class were very upset in school this morning that there would apparently be no chance to say goodbye to Mr Smith, who is much loved by the children. Neither the children nor the parents were given any notice of this or any preparation.

On top of this the headteacher and the deputy head are apparently away at a conference and unable to answer phone calls or answer any questions and none of the other staff appear to know anything about the issue. The student counsellor was in the classroom this morning trying to reassure the children but she had no answers for them or anyone else.

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.

Obviously my mind is going all over the place. I can think of a few things that could be sudden and confidential, but if it was something that had to do with the children's safety, the school would have to inform us, wouldn't they? If something awful has happened to Mr Smith I suppose we wouldn't be owed that information but it does seem very hard on the children to just be like 'Mr Smith is gone, you won't see him again, Mrs Jones will be your teacher now'. Which is all they got.

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.

Not for wondering but for expecting to be told.

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.

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"

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.

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.

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.

@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

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.

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

@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

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.

To ensure, I meant.

You are aware that in many cases "unpleasantness" is manufactured by SLT to get rid of teachers that are older, more expensive and question the SLT on why things are being done.

In many cases the capablility issues have been manufactured. and the support designed to fail.

The hearings are not some court of law, and in many cases LADO, the police, TRA and DBS find that there is no case to answer.

No school is going to fess up to forcing good teachers to leave because teh head doesn't like them.

And putting forward the results of any internal hearing as gosple would just be wrong.

Well, I’ve worked in schools for absolute decades and I’ve never come across the school that had no consideration for a child’s welfare

Are you deliberately misunderstanding what I’ve written? It’s weird how people hang onto a set opinion and can’t listen to anything else outside of that, wel they do listen but they can’t hear.

They don’t need to. nobody needs to know explicit reasons why a teacher finds it impossible to continue working. Beginnings and endings are really important for children and we’re not handled correctly. They confessor SLT know that perhaps they’re biding their time.

@Onmytod24 the school had the student counsellor in the classroom when news was announced so the school are considering children’s welfare. They just can’t share personal information

They can be as puzzled as they like. They still have no right to any personal information.

If school say they cannot share information they cannot share information. When this happened to us, male teacher left 3 week into the term. A year, later it was published in the local paper, the findings from a tribunal that he had committed sexual misconduct - tried to take personal images from another teacher's phone - and had be struck off from a teacher. School could not share this information, they notified as all he had left and they were not in a positon to share any further informatio, they let us know the new arrangements. If your child was potentially at risk this would be part of any potential investigation and then you would be informed. They have supported your child but also try to consider that when things like this happen in a school, it often has a massive impact on staff much more than your children, who trust me will forget quickly. It is really best not to speculate and consider the wider impact on others of this speculation.

At one point do parents take responsibility for their children's welfare and dealing with their emotions instead of outsourcing it to schools all the time?

The school acted correctly in ensuring that there's been a smooth handover with the new teacher and by making sure the counsellor was on hand when it was announced. That's all they needed to do. Because if you've worked in schools like you claim to, you must know that if a teacher has left mid-term and the SLT won't say why, then it's something very private that the teacher doesn't want publicly shared. You say they should have a "memory" assembly or make cards – but that would most likely be intruding on his privacy by making his departure even more talked about. If any of the children continue to be upset, then their parents should be stepping in and assuring them that it's okay to be sad but the new teacher will be great. Instead of making a huge fuss and turning it into a massive drama.

Agreed. Of course they don't need to be told.

Poor Mr Smith. He’s probably encountered some major drama in his life (health, relative death, mental health) and has had to leave suddenly. School is trying to protect his privacy and given you all the information you need to know.
Little does Mr Smith know that now all the parents have him labelled as a paedophile and have even gone so far as to lament his leaving on MN.
God help teachers these days is all I can say. Go and give you head a wobble and mind your own business.

But why is she 'wondering' on here? We have even less information than she does.

Honestly op. This is a ridiculous overreaction on the parents behalf. Of course you can be sad he had left and Children would have liked a chance to say good bye but parents upset and emails flying annoyed that you didn't get notice makes ye all frankly sound a bit unhinged to any headmaster . As long as the replacement is a properly qualified teacher that's all you should be concerned about.
In cases like this it's more often than not illness or family bereavement etc ( complaining that there wasn't proper notice for the kids will frankly be the least of his concerns .