Should parents be told when a class teacher is leaving and that we no longer have a Chair of Governors?

[ptangyangkipperbang]

DS1's class teacher is leaving at the Easter Holidays. Parents only know this because the job was advertised in the local paper. There has been absoloutley no communication from the school. DS1 is really upset because he has thrived in this class. Both DS1 and I are upset because he also had a really disrupted Year 2 when a teacher left. It has taken until Year 5 to fill in the gaps of knowledge which should have been covered in Year 2.

I mentioned it to a governor who said there was no point telling parents until a predecessor was appointed . Surely the school should be reassuring parents?

I have heard on the grapevine that our Chair if Governors has resigned so the school has been without one for a month. Again I am concerned that this was not communicated to parents.

Strangely lack of communication was highlighted by OFSTED!

Message withdrawn

But why would the head want to do anything except reassure the parents and children that they won't have another disrupted year?

I don't know what's normal, but I would have thought as a matter of courtesy they should let you know that there is going to be a change and they are recruiting a replacement.

Certainly, when our head became pregnant, parents were told very early on, kept informed about when her maternity leave would be, even before they had identified who would cover for her.

When our Chair resigned the Governors sent out a letter to all parents to let them know.

If a teacher is leaving there is usually a small paragraph in the newsletter to say goodbye, good luck etc. A lot would depend on the reason for leaving.

I don't think it would be necessary to write a letter specially to parents. At most, it should be a mention in the head's weekly letter to parents, but even that is a bit OTT, tbh.

I went to my Health Centre the other day and discovered that my GP no longer works there! I was slightly disappointed, because I liked her a lot and I felt she was an excellent GP. But I was given an appointment with another member of the Practice, and given a choice of two other GPs who I could register with. This seems to me to be entirely normal. I wouldnt expect to be specifically told in a letter that someone has resigned.... these things happen in the world of work, people get new jobs, move on etc. I think there's a danger that teachers get singled out, and we expect things from them that we wouldnt for any other profession. If the job is being advertised now, then presumably there;s a 3 month period before the new teacher starts, which seems plenty of time for parents and children to adjust to the fact this teacher is leaving. I don't think the Chair of Governors is a huge deal tbh - there will be a vice-Chair who presumably has been leading things in the last month.

Normal practice is to tell the parents and children once a new teacher has been appointed. The thought behind this is because if it is not known who will be taking the class it can cause worry for the children and parents. Whereas if a new person has been appointed the letter can say Mrs X will be leaving us at Easter and Ms Y will be replacing her.

id agree