Two teachers going on maternity leave, two teachers leaving.

[MotleyCroup]

Dc started a new school a few months back. He's settled in fine and making friends.

I realise that teachers have lives outside of school, I understand teachers go on maternity leave, I understand teachers may want to better their job prospects etc etc etc

But.....

I can't help but being slightly worried by so many leaving at the same time and the impact this will have on the school as a whole. The four teachers are from different year groups. I don't want to go into too much detail as I'll probably 'out' myself but how do schools and in particular HT cope with so many leaving around about the same time? Sourcing replacements and cover must tie up quite a bit of her time and with so many places to fill I worry that things will be rushed.

This is a larger than average primary. Am I just worrying too much? Ds came from a much smaller Primary and there were no disruptions in teaching throughout his time there so I guess we've been spoilt in a way.

Tell me your experience with large staff changes in short periods of time.

My DD's school has had a massive turnover recently.
The outcome has, I believe, been really positive.

Yes the HT was busy with interviews for a while but we now have some fantastic staff on board with a mixture of experience and youthful enthusiasm.

4 staff members from a large primary is good going. Our school had an annual staff turnover of about 50% every year for 4 years of so. That was terrible. Positive outcome tho, by all accounts.

4teachers in a large primary - normal. Nothing the head won't be used to dealing with.

Thanks for all of your positive posts, makes me feel less worried how this will affect the school. I don't doubt there are negative outcomes too but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all will run smoothly.

You might have only recently found out, but the HT will have been aware for a while, and jobs will have been advertised and filled. It's the way it goes.

I think you're over-thinking this. It may or may not have an impact on the school as a whole, but it's really not going to affect your daily life, so I'd stop worrying if I were you.

Clam, I'm a born worrier. It's a burden.

4 seems low to me. 2 on Mat us typical and 2 leaving to progress shows that the school is good at developing people. New blood is healthy

Believe it or not we don't (as we did up till the 60s) have to ask the headteacher's permission to get pregnant. ;) I mean that would be the alternative, wouldn't it? The 'ideal'? Perhaps I am touchy because a parent has complained I dared to get pregnant (much wanted after several miscarriages for which I took less than the recommended time off) during her PFB's Y10. I am NOT a robot. I am a HUMAN BEING.

Nor are we owned by the school. If we need to move house or want a promotion so be it.

Really, 4 is not an alarming number. There will be qualified teachers replacing them.

You say you 'understand' but I get the impression we're somehow fundamentally different from other workers and are supposed to be utter saints. Most teachers work their backsides off... if 4 have kids or have gained a promotion, cut them some slack. As bucket says, they got new jobs because the school is good.

I really think new teachers mean fresh ideas and teachers moving on and up benefits new schools. Teachers move house, have babies, seek progression and a new challenge like everyone else

Of course I understand which is why I stressed the point in my original post, teachers do have lives too! For me it's the fact that four are leaving within a few months of each other. I was interested to read other MNetters experiences of this sort of thing happening and of course I'm justified in feeling mildly worried for the dynamics of the school especially if it may affect my child.

I work in a high school. We have 20 teachers leaving this summer!

And no, your not fundamentally different from other workers, of course not! I'd be just as concerned if four colleagues were leaving my workplace within a similar time frame.

Ds is my pfb, so I have nothing to compare this to.

And FWIW I have total respect for teachers. It annoys me that it's 'assumed' I'm meaning something different than what my original post implied.

Three, blimey!

I don't think teachers leaving has much impact really so long as there is good recruitment. It looks a lot I guess because teachers often leave jobs at the end of tje summer term so you can get a cluster rather than a dribble over the year. Most children get a new teacher every September so it doesn't really matter to them if their old teacher is still there or gone on to pastures new. In my experience children are very fickle... they can wail over leaving their "favourite" teacher in the July and have pretty much forgotten them 6 weeks later.

Also the head won't be the only person doing the recruiting so it won't be taking all her time. Other senior management members and governors will be doing some of it.

Change is pretty healthy I think... although if half the staff were suddenly leaving I may think differently!

"This is a larger than average primary. "

then I wouldn't think much about it. Change can be good, too, anyway.

I'm wondering if our DC are at the same school as that's the same mix are leaving from ours. I'm not in the least worried.

Excellent school, excellent HT. All will be well.

Interesting to hear that this is not unusual. In the DC's school (16 classes), there's only been 1 teacher leave in the 3 years DS has been there, and 1 teacher go on maternity leave (and return and her maternity replacement be given the job of the teacher leaving). Flip side to the question then is "is it bad that the staff at DC's school seem so static?"

Llj, yes you're right.

Water, if that's the case that's partly another reason why we chose this school. Lovely HT.

Maternity leave can obviously happen at any time of the year, but in the main teachers tend to leave at the end of the summer term to take up other posts to start in September, so as other posters have said schools are very used to having a concentrated period of staff turnover. Nothing to worry about :)

Oh Lordy I thought I might know you from you post as exact same quantity of teachers have left / are leaving my DDs' primary but it isn't a large school so maybe not. Are you in Sussex OP?? Unfortunately in our school's case it is v bad news as the 2 teachers leaving altogether (not on mat leave) are both exceptionally good and the only ones who are a match for our rather domineering HT...

You would expect the two who are leaving to be leaving at the same time - at the end of the school year. The two going on mat leave will have been known about for aaaages. Teachers generally have to tell early as you can't leave your class unattended for nausea or extra toilet trips, you can't take holiday for medical appointments, so it's obvious quite early on to those who have to approve time off.

Don't worry!

Dd has had a NQT this year and she had been fabulous.

Agree with the others, it just seems normal

Totally normal. It can even be a negative point sometimes to have a completely static staff for ages-my first school was like that. The head was so awful and destroyed everyone's confidence so they were too demoralised to go for interviews and leave!