High teacher turnover

[VisiblyNot25]

Our primary school got new headteacher approx 3yrs years ago. In the years since, there’s been a massive turnover of staff - 8 teachers have now left. (3 form entry school) This feels concerning to me but I don’t know the best way to raise/ address it… Any thoughts? Especially from teachers.

There is literally nothing you can do. There is an enormous (and growing) recruitment and retention crisis in teaching, because schools are being squeezed, teachers would like more flexibility in their jobs (so they leave) and the social contract (behaviour, attendance) has been put under enormous pressure after Covid. This is an unsolvable problem

How do you propose to raise it? Do you have a proposed solution?

edit: I’m a secondary teacher and parent of primary aged children.

My exact question was how to raise/ address it - so, no I don’t have a solution.

I should have said in my original post none of them have left teaching - they’ve all gone to jobs elsewhere, which is why I’m concerned it’s an issue to do with the school specifically rather than the state of education/ teacher retention more generally.

I don't understand what you wish to get out of raising it. Do you think the school aren't aware of the problem? They can't just wave a wand to magic up permanent teachers because there simply aren't enough teachers.
People told them to stop whinging and get a different job, so that's exactly what they have done!

I should have said in my original post none of them have left teaching - they’ve all gone to jobs elsewhere, which is why I’m concerned it’s an issue to do with the school specifically rather than the state of education/ teacher retention more generally.

@VisiblyNot25 then yes it could be down to new SLT. The only real option you have is to change schools. Raise it by all means but again I'm not sure what you think that will achieve.

Maybe send a letter to the chair of governors as SLT may be the issue. The information for the governors should be on the school website.

8 teachers leaving over 3 years in 3 form entry school? That's not a particularly high turnover, you'd expect at least a couple to leave every year just due to their own life circumstances- moving to be with partners, moving for promotions or different experiences, or just for a change. I wouldn't give it another thought, and there's nothing you can do about it anyway.

A new headteacher will bring change and some staff won't like it. Plus if their close colleagues move on, they might too. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be the teachers were coasting and the headteacher is making change to improve things. It can be the opposite of course, and the headteacher is upsetting things and pushing great teachers to leave. It could be partly unrelated and just so happens a lot of teachers have found jobs closer to home or a promotion or so on. Are you happy with the school now? There isn't really anything you can do about it though.

It may be that the headteacher was appointed to improve standards and weed out inadequate staff. As a result of changes, the inadequate staff have been managed out. That might not be the case but you don't actually know why they've left. Closer to home, change in responsibilities, friends have moved etc. Are you happy with your child's teacher? Are you happy with the attitude of the newish head teacher? Is behaviour managed well? Do you approve of the school's ethos? If you have concerns, is there a parent's council you can join? It's common in Scotland and isn't a PTA but is actually involved in creating policy and working with the head teacher

If they’ve gone to different jobs then perhaps they’ve fallen out with Senior Leadership or didn’t really like the changes that arrived with the new head. Things might settle down in the next year or two.

There have been lots of staffing changes at my children’s (village) school, too, but tbh they swap teachers every year anyway so it hasn’t impacted them too badly.

I'm a teacher. The main thing you can do is be nice to the teachers (the ones you hope to remain). Tell them you value the work they do. Write thank you cards. Get your kids to write thank you cards.

At my last school but one, I was unhappy overall but I stayed an extra two years because the parents and students were so appreciative. I got cards and emails with nice messages. It kept me going.

I'm very happy at my current school but still sometimes have itchy feet... the same applies though, just before I went on maternity leave, a parent organised a lovely box of new baby clothes for me with a card. So thoughtful.

On MN, teachers get such a bashing. We're made to seem "grabby" for wanting Christmas cards and gifts, even small ones. Many parents only get in contact when they want to complain. You reap what you sow tbh. This is how parents contribute to a staff retention crisis

Edit to add: it's telling that op's gut reaction is "how can I complain about this". My point exactly

Thats interesting - my oldest has just left to go to high school & in the years she was there no one left (other than maternity leave) so it may just be that my sense of what’s a normal amount of staff turnover is off.

I was very happy with the school previously - & Ofsted was good with outstanding elements - so I don’t think it’s a case of the SLT turning a failing school around.

Maybe it’s less about me raising it & more about me considering whether it’s still the right school for us. My middle one only has a couple of years left, but the littlest has only just started so I could potentially move him.

Thanks v much for all the responses! Food for thought…

Thanks for your message. Making sure the teachers who are there feel appreciated is a really good thing to bear in mind. In general, the relationship between parents & teachers at our school has always seemed very good - there are always organised gift collections every Christmas & at end of year as well as individual cards etc. But I do get what you’re saying. I’m sorry if my post came across as “who do I complain to” - it wasn’t intended that way - i just think if there’s a change of direction/ ethos in the school I think it’s useful/ important for parents to be able to communicate/ ask questions about that.

The school may not have been failing as such, but the priorities for a new head teacher would be set by local authority or governors etc. They are more likely to be aware of certain issues than parents. I used to be parachuted in to work with staff in schools who were resistant to change but weren't achieving as much with classes as they might. The parents wouldn't know that, but the local authority did. Often a head teacher would ask me to provide courses and work with disaffected staff. You could tell them by their folded arms and pursed lips! Again, parents wouldn't be aware of this. If there were no changes in a number of years it tells me that the former head wasn't encouraging staff to pursue leadership opportunities: that staff might have become stale in their practice and any change was regarded with suspicion. Of course it might not be that, but in my experience it often was

8 teachers in 3 years at a school that size really isn’t unusual at all. Change of SLT will always prompt some staff to move on.

You can always look at governor meetings minutes to see if there have been discussions about staff turnover/school improvement. Obviously won’t go into detail why particular teachers have left as that is confidential but might give you an idea of what changes are being made.

That’s a really useful perspective, thankyou

That’s a good thought. Thanks!

Dd lost every single one of the main teachers from her 3 a levels. Likely to affect her grades. We were in tears over it. It’s a massive problem.

Yes - I wonder if it’s actually just that turnover was unusually low while my daughter was there - which as others pointed out isn’t necessarily a good thing - and that’s meant my sense of what’s high is a bit off.

Thanks for your perspective!

Were they older, therefore likely to be more expensive, teachers? If that's the case, with a change of leadership I would suggest they may have been managed out.

Lack of SEN provision means schools bursting with children who can't cope in a mainstream environment and staff at breaking point. Could be nothing to do with SLT and everything to do with unmet needs, violence and behavioural issues. Would you want to deal with that?

I should have said in my original post none of them have left teaching - they’ve all gone to jobs elsewhere, which is why I’m concerned it’s an issue to do with the school specifically rather than the state of education/ teacher retention more generally. But I do completely take your point.

Are your children happy there, getting a good education etc? Apart from staff turnover have you noticed anything different?

Totally agree- even on the low side I would say. That is approx 10% a year- most schools would be delighted by that and see it as a success of their workload/wellbeing strategy.

Teachers are leaving in droves at the moment.