Is this a bit weird? Slightly concerned!

[Mittensonkittens]

Ds started reception in September at a school that had not long gone into special measures.

A number of staff left at the end of the summer term and they recruited a new reception teacher at the last minute.

The week before last she didn't come in and ds's class was covered by supply. She was not back this week and a rumour started going round that she had been sacked (only been at the school for 9 weeks).
A newsletter confirmed yesterday that a new teacher is taking over in January but no mention at all was made of ds's previous teacher.
In addition to this the newsletter stated that two other ks1 members of staff are also leaving, the yr1 teacher and one of the yr2 teachers. Both are going at christmas. One was also new to the school in September.

Am I unduly worried by this? It all seems a bit weird. Teachers don't tend to leave mid year and certainly not half way through the term. I was stunned when it was confirmed the reception teacher had gone - as was ds who is slightly bewildered!

It's certainly unusual. u
Is there, for example, a change of status pending or has there been a follow up unsatisfactory Ofsted ? .

Can you contact the PTA to find out what's going on?

I don't know if they'd tell me?
They had a follow up ofsted which was more positive. Although this is not saying much as the initial one was the worse ofsted report I've ever read. 4s for everything across the board.

I find the leaving midway through the term very strange.

Leaving midway through the term is strange. Teachers usually leave with the school year. Although sometimes in January or the beginning of the Easter term. We are require to give a minimum of half a term's notice.

There must be some strange or additional reasons for the reception teacher going because my understanding is that if she had just given her notice the earliest she would have been able to go would be christmas.

It isn't unusual for teachers to leave mid year - teachers have to resign by Oct 31st to leave at Christmas but often schools allow staff to leave with less notice depending on reasons. It may be illness own or family that has caused the teacher to leave suddenly. The PTA are unlikely to know more than any other parent.

Maybe she is pregnant and having a difficult early pregnancy, maybe someone is poorly, maybe she is off due to stress.

There are lots of reasons for someone to be off school, doesn't necessarily mean they have been fired on the spot so to speak.

My friend has just resigned with immediate effect (understanding head & govs) because her mum's sudden decline means she needs constant care

I guess I thought that if it was personal circumstance or pregnancy etc she would probably be signed off for a whole first rather than immediately leaving and never coming back.

Otoh I don't think she's been sacked so I guess it must be something like that.

Or perhaps it's just really horrible at the school and she's had a breakdown! I'm not sure I could hack it in a school in special measures.

I would say it generally is unusual for teachers to just 'leave' mid year. If they are pregnant, that is different and that's generally not a secret anyway by the time they leave.

We are a big school (4 class intake) and I have been there a long time; in my experience, teachers only leave us mid-year because of medical reasons or they are downright miserable! One of our Reception teachers gave their notice in just before half term and will be leaving at Christmas; that's the talk of the school and it is unusual.

I changed year groups mid year because a colleague got a post as assistant head in another school (allowed to leave with 6 days notice) and I started my first teaching post in January when the previous teacher moved out of the country.

Perhaps the Reception teacher was only on long term supply and had a better offer?

If a school is in special measures then believe me, the teachers workload is ten times that if an ordinary teachers! The pressure in ever member of staff is immense. They would have numerous observations- sometimes weekly with borough involvement. Perhaps all if this proved too much? Perhaps it made her ill? Perhaps the head wasn't pleased with how she was performing and made a deal to let her go mid contract. I've known this to happen. I doubt it was pregnancy...she would go sick. I also doubt the PTA will tell you anything. The info the school want you to have will be in the letter they e given you.

Lets hope the new teacher is a good one who stays the distance.

I should talk to your governors if I were you. They should know what is going on and should be able to tell you something. If not, they need to know that parents are concerned and want some information.

I am in a RI school and we are dropping like flies, I constantly have fantasies of leaving

Hi Mittensonkittens

We had a teacher leave and it was handled very similarly by the school. Letters saying we'd have x or y substitute this week/ month - but no explanation about the missing teacher (who had taught at the school for years).

I can say on the positive side the substitute they had in last turned out to be fantastic and in fact was hired as a teacher.

Apparently the reason she wasn't hired after her teacher training was she gives terrible interviews - suffers badly from nerves. But because she knew everybody at the interview, she was more at ease (although still very nervous).

So hopefully - although weird at the moment and probably a bit upsetting for your DC - it may turn out well in the end...

HTH