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.

I honestly think that you've had all the information you need and that you are entitled to.

There may well have been notice. Just not for the generally accepted dates.

In forty years of teaching I've never known that happen. Only people leaving at the end of term having given the normal notice, or people disappearing with no notice. You can't really negotiate the notice period*

*Though who knows what might happen in independent schools or a few rogue academies

Your final para isn’t something I’ve argued. I said that in a situation like OP’s it’s reasonable for a parent to believe something may be seriously amiss (because it would be trivial for the school to signal otherwise, and they didn’t). And in such a case the parent is right to ask questions, because they are one of the most important advocates and protectors their child has, and the only one who doesn’t have to trade off their child’s interest against other legitimate ones.

A parent prioritising their child’s interests isn’t an affront to our safeguarding system, it’s part of it. Just like workers’ rights aren’t ruined by the fact unions advocate for their members.

@GeneralPeter

In my sector, a bald three-sentence leaving announcement, with no softening or even the most anodyne form of thanks or good wishes, is used for, and basically only for, cases of gross misconduct.

Weren't you the one saying the "establishment" shouldn't be trusted.

A parent who wants to know what kind of gross misconduct, in case it affects their child, is doing their job right in my view.

Except that you have no idea if it is gross misconduct and want things to suit your narrative.

You are also not taking into account how poor a lot of school management is.

I have known teacher's retire mind year and the school say fuck all about them not even wish them a goodbye to their face, and there be horrendous rumours spread about them by parents and kids.

If there's been a safeguarding issue involving your child or having potentially put your child at risk, you will be told. If you're not told, then the reason for the teacher leaving is not something you have to safeguard your child from.

There are fixed points of the year when teachers can leave. The middle of a term isn't one of them. It's not the same as normal jobs where you can give a month's notice etc

@saraclara Only if safeguarding processes always work perfectly, and it’s complacent to think they do.

IISCA’s report conclusion: “schools are not as safe for children as they should be and children’s interests do not always come first when allegations of sexual abuse are made.”

Many examples in the report of schools dropping an investigation after a resignation, and not reporting concerns to appropriate authorities.

Maybe that’s all fixed now, but IISCA didn’t think so. Do you?

Teachers can leave outside of the three dates, either with the agreemen of the HT, or negotiated by the union.
They can also disappear mid year when they have gone off sick until theleave date.
There are other reasons including being forced out on capability or trumped up BS put forward by management.
And as others have said teachers can just walk out.

You can leave at other times with agreement from the Head. I've done it.

In unusual circumstances yes I know you can. But it is only normally in exceptional circumstances.

Still not the parents' business to know the reason

I agree. And again these are highly unusual circumstances. Under normal circumstances it's at fixed points.

I feel it is. It is impossible for schools to respond in a way you deem reasonable because any reason has an implication for someone.

Asking why a member of staff has left is not safeguarding your child, it's invading the staff member's privacy. As to your last comment, I have no idea how it relates to this discussion.

Well, we definitely agree on the latter.

It’s very unlikely it’s a planned absence, teachers have to give half a terms notice. And with no details it’s wrong to speculate. That said, a sudden absence in teaching usually means health or grief or disciplinary. Sometimes it could be a relatives health, but it would more likely be short term absence then. You’re going to have to be okay with not knowing.

A nursery teacher my kids loved left suddenly and we were all for writing to her etc. The school kept close lipped. It later turned out she’d been a nightmare to work with and stole. Not the hunkydory impression we had!!

Re the first para: then you haven’t been understanding what I’ve been writing.

There are thousands of ways the school might have communicated in a way that indicates there’s no cause for concern. I’ve described it as “trivial”, a matter of a few words, I’ve suggested a few of those words. I’ve said I have no interest in knowing personal details of a teacher, only in knowing that nothing is seriously amiss, and only because I have a legitimate interest in welfare of my child.

You seem to be privileging “teacher privacy” to an absurd degree, if you see “we wish him well” as an unacceptable invasion of it. As for another alternative you reject: “there is no cause for concern”, whose privacy do you think it violates?

No one's privacy has been violated. There is not an acceptable comment because the absence of s comment then becomes an indication that there is an issue. 'No cause for concern' is fine until there is cause for concern when its absence tells you everything.

As for 'teacher privilege', can you give another example where you feel it would be unreasonable for a customer not to have access to a service provider's personal circumstances?

can you give another example where you feel it would be unreasonable for a customer not to have access to a service provider's personal circumstances?

You are having a completely phantom argument here. You are the one maintaining that the only way to reassure parents there is no welfare concern is by sharing personal staff details, not me.

Even when I suggest a form of words that you accept doesn’t do that.

Your objection to that privacy-safe wording then becomes “but then if there is a child welfare concern the parents might find out.”

Your objection is also to parents even asking questions if they are concerned about their child’s welfare. Not merely that the school must be mindful of privacy when responding.

It’s a pretty extreme position.

@Cyclingmummy1 but if you want an example from another sector, based on the OP:

Your daughter regularly sees a doctor, without you present, as part of a long-running course of treatment. You get an unusually terse announcement to say he has left. It’s unexpected. Next time she attends the clinic she is met by a counsellor, without you. No explanation to you of why, and no reassurance that there is no welfare concern for your child.

In such a circumstance, is it reasonable for you to ask what has happened?

If it were your daughter in real life, would you in fact ask?

Don’t reply about how the clinic has a duty to protect privacy. I’m not asking about what the clinic should do in replying.

Don’t reply saying “you’re saying clinics must give full details of their staff’s personal lives whenever they move”. You know I’m not.

I’m asking about what steps you as a parent would take to check if your daughter is OK in that situation.

Is it reasonable to ask yes.

Is it reasoinable for schools to say anything other than its none of your business?
No its not.
You seem to be asking for schools to have some sort of code that circumvents other people's right to privacy.

You have no such entitlement.

You haven’t been reading my posts then.

Also, your position is bizarre:

”We wish him well” or “there is no cause for concern” is an unconscionable privacy violation.

Yet “It’s none of your business” is a normal reasonable response to a parent asking if there is a welfare concern with their child.

The school can’t tell you because teachers have the right to data privacy, as we all do.

"its none of your business" is not only a reasonable response, its a legal response as well.

Which data privacy right(s) are you discussing here?

It will never breach UK data protection law to share all the information you need to with an appropriate person or authority in order to safeguard a child. Consent is one lawful basis, but it is not required for sharing information in a safeguarding context. (That's from the ICO, not me). The parent is by default the child's data representative. Sharing information with a parent about a child's situation, in data law, is in that sense not even sharing with a third party.

There's either a welfare concern with the child (related to Mr Smith), or there is no such concern, or it's not yet known.

If there is... sharing of the information that there is a concern is highly unlikely to be a data protection breach. Even much more specific information is likely to have a lawful basis if the purpose is safeguarding. ICO spends quite a lot of effort dispelling the "GDPR Says No" idea in this area.

If there isn't.... absolutely no court or regulator anywhere is going to find that an individual (least of all Mr Smith) had their data rights infringed by a school saying: "there is nothing to suggest any welfare concern". What protected data of Mr Smith is disclosed there? That he's not a suspected abuser?

There might be reasons like avoiding prejudicing a criminal investigation. A NDA settlement agreement creating a contractural penalty for the school is another possibility, and shouldn't ever stand in the way of answering a reasonable safeguarding question like "is there a welfare concern related to my child?".

Safeguarding concerns about a teacher are usually not communicated to parents because the school has a legal duty to handle such matters confidentially while an investigation is ongoing. Under guidance like KCSIE, concerns are reported to appropriate authorities (such as the LADO or police), and sharing details prematurely could compromise the investigation or breach the staff member’s legal rights.

If it is a safeguarding concern, school’s priority is to protect children immediately, so any risk would be managed internally and with external agencies involved as needed. I resigned from a teaching position some years ago, nothing to do with safeguarding, and a fairy story was spun to parents about how I had to care for an elderly relative. I stayed until the end of the school year, too. No NDA but I didn’t want to badmouth the school.

Teachers go off sick all the time or genuinely have to care for relatives, and have a right to expect their health condition or family member’s health condition to be kept confidential. If it is a matter of misconduct related to the welfare of children the teacher should be dismissed and reported to the TRA, not managed out using a NDA.