Senco left suddenly. Worried for our school.

[Zoflorabore]

Hi, my dc attends a primary school which last year was given a Requires Improvement by Ofsted. Previously was always Good.

Lots of changes to the local area mean we have a number of EAL pupils and a seemingly very high number on the SEN register ( around 60 percent ).

My dc doesn't have any SEN but is in a class with a large number of pupils that do have and the school seems to be struggling. Dc is in y2.

After the easter break we received notice that the SENCO has left for pastures new or some such description.
She had been at the school for over 20 years but is still only early fifties so not retirement age. Her dc are grown up so no childcare or other such issues.

To me, this sounds like it was sudden. Maybe not but wondering if there has been a major disagreement with the SLT or if she has had a better offer so to speak.

Any thoughts?
Whilst this doesn't impact my dc directly I do worry that the fallout of this will have repercussions for the wider school community.

It's difficult to tell from what you have said though plenty of people will make assumptions.

Watch out for subsequent reports from Ofsted blaming 'previous staff' for past failures. Always a good get out clause for weak management when they know there is no right of reply.

Any thoughts about what ?
Are you asking why we think the SENCo left ?
There could be 1001 reasons. It's none of anyone's business but her's. Could be sad reasons, or could be lovely reasons. Could be related to the shit you have to put up with as a teacher once a school goes into RI, or could be nothing to do with that/ just coincidence. Could be she (or a loved one) is unwell, or could be because she's come into some money and doesn't need to work anymore.

However, what does it matter what the reason is ? Fact: Staff move on. New staff come.

Just because it seems sudden to you, it doesn’t mean it was sudden. Many times, schools do not give a lot of advance notice of a member of staff leaving even if the school has been knowing for nearly 2 months.
I wouldn’t read too much into it. In this day and age, a person staying more than 10 years can mean stagnation.

My nephew's school have had their SENCO leave and they won't have a new one until September now. I think unrealistic workloads are probably the culprit, exacerbated by funding cuts which make any type of intervention more difficult- fewer TAs, less money for laptops and so on.

Really not sure what sort of reply you're hoping for... sencos leave their jobs for the same reasons as anyone else... one of the other members of staff will be appointed senco. Life will carry on.