If you're a teacher when can you leave your job and how much notice do you have to give?

[DebiTheScot]

I can only leave at Christmas, Easter and the Summer and have to give half a term notice. Is this the same for everyone?

It's really annoying me if I was to decide now that I wanted to leave I can't leave till Christmas. That just seems crazy.

We're in a potentially awkward situation as we want to move back to Scotland (from Hampshire) and dh is in an industry that doesn't employ many people in Scotland. So if a job comes up he has to apply for it. But if he was to be offered a job just after a point where I could have handed in my notice to leave it makes things very difficult as I can't leave my job for months and months. Seems so unfair, no other industry has to give this much notice.

Same. However it is worth discussing with your lmt and appealing to them. Some will consider it especially for teachers they want to get rid of (not saying you come under that btw).

We can leave at a half term but have to give half a term's notice. Actually, I think strictly speaking it's 6 weeks, but that's usually a half term anyway.

I think that it is at the Govenor's disgression.
I knew someone who got 2 terms' work when the previous teacher got a job in Brunei starting at Christmas. She only resigned at the beginning of December.

The resignation dates are standard across the board for teachers, but it does come under the head and governor's discretion.

I was working as a teacher when my husband's job was moved suddenly and we needed to relocate. He was told at the beginning of July, for an October move. Strictly I should have stayed in post until December, because I had missed the summer half-term resignation date, but I explained the situation to my Head and the Governor's agreed to let me go at the October half-term, as long as they recruited successfully (which they did). It wasn't ideal, but sometimes needs must.

DH has to give a whole term's notice. A colleague once gave notice on the 2nd day of the summer term, for a job that started in September, and the Head refused on the grounds that he had to give a full term's notice!! (This is a private school - I think it's standard in private schools to give 1 term's notice, and half a term's notice in state schools, although you can give longer notice if you wish, of course).

1 month.

Am in Scotland

I think it is 2 if you are principal teacher.

If you apply to another school and are appointed, your existing and new headteachers agree it amongst themselves but it is usually as above.

Contractually you have to hand in your notice by the first day of term i.e. 1st September for a December finish. However, there is no legal minimum time, if both sides agree i.e. if your head / governors agree to it, you could hand in your notice and leave within a week.

He can move when he gets a job and you move when your contracts ends.

Loads of families do the split-family thing during a big move.

What do you expect the school to do otherwise?

In our LA, it is a half a term. I know this from experience. I gave my notice in in the last week of the first half of the summer term (around end of may) for a position to start in september.

The teachers pay and conditions actually state that you can leave at the half terms if you give adequTe notice (ie you could go in November if you resigned in September). The governors could let you go with less notice if they decide ( my collegue resigned last week and they aRe letting her leave next week). If you don't give the required notice and the governors don't agree you break your contract but quite a few people do this - the consequences are not being able to get a job in that lea in the future. Good luck

scienceteacher I don't expect the school to just give me what I want, I wasn't saying that. I was just wondering if our school's rules were the same as everywhere else.

If it comes to it I'd hope that they'd agree to the saem as gladbag and let me go early if they could find a replacement.

Yes obviously he could just go and I could stay here but that wouldn't be ideal with 2 small children and no fmily to help out here.

When I was teaching you were suposed to try and only leave at the end of Christmas, Easter or summer terms, giving about half a term's notice. At the discrettion of the HT it could be at other times, such as half terms.

Other industries do have such long notice periods thogh. I worked in prison education and the notice period was 3 months, although again could be early with agreement of HR. DH is a solicitor and his notice period is 3 months too.

I don't think that the length of notice is unreasonable - it's the restrictive nature of when you can leave - only 3, or possibly 6, opportunities throughout the year. But, we all knew the structure of the school year when we signed up for the job.

I think that, as long as you put the Head, and possily the Governors, in the picture now as to the possibility of a short-notice move, and then give them as much notice as possible when the time comes, you should be OK - unless they are particularly contrary.

(BTW - LOL at the variety of spelling of 'discretion' inc my wildly incorrect attempt )

Lots of industries and professions have to give much more notice - half a term is only about 6 weeks. It's the restrictions on when you can leave that are obviously unusual compared to other industries, and might seem a bit harsh (although understandable). My parents were both teachers and I remember them applying for jobs.

But if you think about it, most teaching jobs would start at the beginning of a term anyway, wouldn't they? So you wouldn't need to leave mid-term if you were going to another teaching job as most people would presumably be doing?
Although if someone handed in their notice at October half term to start a new job in January, the school would then need to recruit someone else to start January but would not be able to do so as no one would be able to hand their notice in in time. I suppose that's where supply teachers come in.

You might find you are let go earlier though, and if not, it might be necessary to live as a split family for a while as someone else said.

Just to reiterate, it is the NATIONAL agreement for all state schools that it is half a term.

thanks for that clemette, could be useful to know. So does that mean that even though I have signed a contract that says I can only leave at the end of full terms that I could still argue for leaving at a half term?

It's all theoretical anyway, dh doesn't have a new job yet.

I wouldn't expect them to let me leave tomorrow, but it would be nice if I handed in my notice today for exapmle, that I could go at Oct half term instead of Christmas.

And yes tigerschick you're right, I always knew this was the situation and can totally understand why it's like that.