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.

This happened to my autistic son 4 years in a row. Essentially they would be introduced to their class teacher, settle in, then after the Christmas hols, they would be gone. No explanation, nothing. It happened 4 times consecutively with teachers of his class and ONLY his class, not the other class.
Eventually my son, who, as I mentioned is autistic and relies on stability and routine, would come home crying, begging to be told what had happened to Mrs x or Mr Y, was fully blaming himself (he kept repeating “what did I do that made them go away?” Over and over) and it led to school refusal and running away if a teacher was off sick or his class teacher was at a conference or something. He would have full blown panic attacks and eventually left the school in July last year with serious anxiety and several other major health issues.
All I can say is, it’s really really blooming hard as a parent when that happens, but try to sympathise with a teacher who isn’t working for whatever reason. And remember to tell your kids it’s NOT their fault.

As a teacher reasons i know this has happened

1. Medical diagnosis
2. Death of child
3. Death of spouse
4. Immense personal trauma

1. Decided to say f you to the school

You will never know and it is not your place to ask

Yes, it could be any of those. And in my very long and varied experience of primary schools it is highly unusual. If the teacher wanted it kept private it should be kept private, but barring a very sudden emergency I still find it odd. Most primary teachers would want to do their best to make the change as easy as possible for the children with whom they had spent months building up a good relationship.

One of my colleagues, early on in my teaching career, simply walked out!

Bit different because it was secondary and she told the class “I don’t have to put up with this” and left! Never crossed the threshold of the school again.

This happened at my sons school and the gossip around why such a popular teacher would leave so abruptly was shocking. Some parents truly believed they had the right to know.

In this case he was still on probation and was dismissed with immediate effect after handling a bullying incident terribly.

Key word being “notice” however there was none here???

Oh come on, you just want the gossip! These things happen. If it was necessary for you or your kids to know they would've told you. It isn't relevant or necessary. You may never know.

In all the years of working in education, it's guaranteed that there will always be people demanding to know the personal details/medical information of staff and ex staff. They've left. It's none of your business why or how.

How do you know? Parents aren’t advised as soon as a teacher hands in notice.

It's not the end of the world at all when a teacher moves on but I don't think it's strange for the kids to be upset at getting no transition

Clearly there's a serious and sudden issue with this particular teacher.
He may be very ill, or a close relative is, or he could have been arrested for something.

It isn't any of your business, and well done to the school for keeping it confidential.

The kids will get over it. You and your pals emailing and calling the school is ridiculous.

How do you know he didn't work his notice??

Again, it doesn't mean the parents would necessarily be privy to that information.

My son's reception teacher left suddenly halfway through the year. He had been ill and I assumed either he left voluntarily or was forced out. It really wasn't any of my business so I didn't expect any details.

Kids were absolutely fine. One of DS's friends kept saying that the teacher had probably died but I told DS that wasn't true. They liked the new teacher too. Everything was fine.

I think you're being a bit weird TBH.

There are only certain times of the year when teachers can leave usually. So even with notice it's highly unlikely to be in the middle of March.
Still none of anyone's business

Yes they are! We were notified in December that our SENco was leaving at the end of February. We’ve just been told that another staff member is leaving at the Easter holidays.

Sometimes they are. Sometimes they aren’t.

How do you know he didn't give notice to the school? We are coming up to Easter - one of the three times teachers can leave (without special permission from their head teacher), as long as they give 3 month's (and/or half a term) notice.

He could have given notice, then had to (or chose to) go off sick for the last few weeks. School might have had plans to inform parents in his penultimate/last week, but this has forced their hand...

Yabu and nosey. Most likely had a gut load of being a teacher and dealing with idiotic parents.

I think both sides can be right. Teachers are of course entitled to their privacy but some children will be quite affected by an abrupt end to a relationship and the school as a whole need to support them in the transition. Even if it's just to say Mr Smith has had to leave school suddenly for a private reason, he will miss you all lots because you were the best class ever. He hopes you will all get on well with Ms Jones and have lots of fun.

There are times when a bit of an age appropriate "cover story," is called for out of kindness to children.

Oh ok, your two examples prove all schools across the UK immediately inform parents when a teacher hands their notice in.

Bear in mind if the teacher is seriously ill or has suffered a sudden family bereavement the staff in the school might be terribly upset, or indeed it was some serious safeguarding breach they might be in shock, so bombarding them with emails isn’t going to help them.

The school will tell you what they can or what the teacher is happy to divulge.

Supposed he's been suspended pending investigation you'd typically not hear anything about it until a court date and subsequent conviction- Unless of course your DC was affected.

It's unlikely he has resigned with immediate effect (unless due to ill health) as in teaching there are only three points of the year in which you can hand in your notice - Hence why teachers typically move on at the end of a term.

Any decent school makes sure parents are always told if a teacher is planning to leave, to give the children fair warning of the impending change. Obviously unavoidable emergency scenarios are different but with regards notice periods - decent schools let the kids & parents know asap.

Considering we’ve lived all over the place due to the RAF and my child has attended 5 schools since reception, I’d say I have a higher than usual idea of the average, yes!

Oh gosh, you should have given your expert credentials sooner!!

Teachers have a right to privacy. Unless something has happened that has potential on going risk to your kids, which given said teacher has left, isn't really possible. I think there are things it might be better the kids didn't know like my uncle was poorly, diagnosed with a brain tumour, and dead within 2 months, Would you really want the kids to know that?