Easter resignation/ school change

[ThrallsWife]

Does anyone have experience with this? I have never resigned to start elsewhere after Easter. I'd like to resign to start when my new contract begins, which is a few weeks before the 30th April release date if I resign in time in February.

How do you word this and do schools realistically usually agree to an earlier release?

As long as you meet the resignation date, they can't stop you.

Sorry - misread.

Earlier is unlikely as they're not likely to be able to replace you earlier.

I'm in a shortage subject and we're not a good school, so there is never a guarantee they can replace me.

I meant I need to start my new job after the Easter holidays, with summer term starting before 30th April iyswim? But it would be the same with my current school. Guess I'm at their mercy...

Deadline for handing in resignation for Easter is 28th Feb, so as long as you hand it in by then there’s nothing they can do.

I think most schools would accept you need to start at the start of the summer term. However, your new school will be aware of resignation dates too and will very likely hold the job if your current school are difficult- especially if you are a shortage subject.

I moved at Easter once and was going to be starting at my new job before 1 May. My previous school tried to make me stay, but I was supported by union and able to leave. I can’t remember exactly where the information is (burgundy book?) but basically, if you’re moving to another school, your current school should release you in time to start the new term at new school; if you’re moving out of education, you’d need to stay until end of April.

Info here: ex-teachers.uk/what-else-can-you-do/resignation/

Yes - that's how it works. The leaving date is 30th April unless you are moving to another school, in which case the deal is that you start at the new school on the first day of their term. (In practice, where a teacher is not moving to another school, schools are sometimes willing to release them early so their replacement can start at the beginning of term, although this has to be by mutual agreement.)

I do know of one case in a shortage subject where it was agreed between all parties that the move could happen a bit later, when GCSEs began, so that they could see out their teaching of the exam groups.

Thanks, I've had confirmation now that I can move in time for the new term to start. Does anyone know how pay works for the changeover in April? Will that be half a month's pay only and the other school pays a month and a half in arrears or or will both pay half, usually?

I changed schools last April. You will get paid pro-rata by each school depending on the number of days you were there.

Eg. I got paid 18/30 days on my old salary from my previous school and 12/30 days on my new salary from my current school. So I got paid twice that month.

28th February 2023 is the final day to resign to leave at the end of this (spring) term.

I’m leaving at Easter but not taking up another post. On my resignation letter I put the 30th April but when I spoke to my head teacher to ask about dates she said you’re paid for two terms if you leave at Easter so 2/3 of the years salary, hence April 30th. However, I’ll actually finish at the end of Spring term which falls in March.

It is at the Head’s discretion if they are willing to release you early - it all depends if they have enough resource to cover you - as a HT myself, I will only release in extreme circumstances- house move to different part of the country, emergency etc.
Schools will know that you are contracted to be in existing job till a certain date so they should accommodate.

If you are not going to another school, then the default leaving date is 30th April. That means that you can expect to be paid until 30th April, and the school can expect you to work until 30th April. If both parties agree, then the contract can be ended sooner. In practice, I think a finish date of the day before the summer term starts is often agreed, as that enables a clean start for the replacement teacher. However either party can insist that the contract remains in place until the end of April. Another arrangement (probably less common with tight school budgets) is that the replacement teacher starts at the start of term, and the outgoing teacher does some intervention work (eg year 6 SATs prep or GCSE intervention) for the remaining couple of weeks. In primary, they might also do a first draft of reports for the class, so that the teacher taking over needs only to add to them.

If you put 30th April on your resignation, then you will finish on 30th April. If you want to finish earlier, you need to ask whether that is an option. Of course, the school might be quite keen for you to finish on the last day of the Spring term and save them the pay over the holiday, but possibly less willing to release you on the last day of the holiday. If they haven't found a replacement, they'll want to keep you as long as possible.