5 months notice period legal?

[Fieldday]

I would so appreciate it if anyone had any knowledge or advice for me. I work at an independent school and naively believed my notice period would be the same as for most other teachers in the country - so I had been working on 31st May as the cutoff date. I have been for a couple of interviews this week, and one, in particular, I would love to teach at. However, I have just checked my contract ahead of giving my notice and have seen it's listed as one full term. I would have needed to give notice on the last teaching day of the proceeding term, which, for me, would have been 6th April.

Does anyone know whether a school can legally hold you to a nearly 5 month notice period? Has anyone broken their contract cutoff date and had any negative consequences? I am loth to upset my current school as I really love my department, but this disparity between the state notice period and my current school seems so unfair.

Thank you for any guidance you may have - aside, of course, from reading my contract more thoroughly next time before I sign it. Lesson already learned!

That is the standard notice period in independent schools. Yes, it's legal. I'm assuming the school you interview with would not view you leaving your school having broken your contact positively. Nor would any jobs you apply to in the future.

Thank you WhatsThatNoisee. Yes, I wouldn't want to break a legal notice period either. I appreciate you commenting.

Yes, it's standard for indies. I have known our head allow people to hand in their notice in April, but they wouldn't look so flexibility on late May.

Flexibly! (Autocorrect)

Yeah, have known one school take an ex employee to small claims court over it, and another refuse to release the teacher until Christmas. It does appear to be totally standard in fee paying schools, sorry.

I have two friends who teach in independent schools and this is the case for them too.

Have you been offered a new job? If you have, could you speak to your current head to see if they would release you at the end of summer term? Just bear in mind it is late in the year and they may well say no.

Or, speak to new school and explain and see if they will let you start in Jan - again, possibly not.

Do your current school know you are interviewing? If so, I'm surprised no one mentioned it.

It can be more than five months if you resign after the May 31 cut off too. I once got a job on 6th June. Started 6th Jan.

Much the same (and worse!) in state schools if you miss the 31st May cut off! I had an interview on 7th June one year, got the job the same day and asked for a 31st August release. It was refused...I had to work there until end December and started my new job on 4th January the following year!! 7 months notice that amounted to...completely mad! 😡

I used to work in an independent school. Not only was I on a term’s notice, but I think the head was on a full year’s notice.

While I was there we changed heads twice. We know by March of the previous year that they were leaving: their replacements were announced over a year before they were due to start, giving their old schools over a year to find someone else.

When our deputy head was appointed to a headship he started his new job in January, presumably for a similar reason. The new deputy started in the following September.