Do the last days of February, May and October mean much to you?
Hopefully so, as these are the crucial staff resignation deadlines that any school will need to keep in mind!
In England and Wales, all teachers are obliged to give at least one term’s notice – however, this can increase depending on seniority, with up to two terms’ notice required for SLT.
Resignations are never a particularly joyous affair, for all parties involved, especially if it’s a valued member of staff and you’re not quite sure how you’re going to replace them.
However, there’s no need to panic; if you’re worried at the prospect of being left to play catch-up when a staff member suddenly decides to hand in their notice, we have a plethora of advice to help you get the jump on your recruitment and become forward-thinking with your search for staff.
Speak to a specialist
Our recruitment team have decades of experience between them, across all levels of education recruitment. Speaking to our friendly team will give you the reassurance and assistance you need with your staffing search.
Having this conversation early on can help to give a realistic timeframe from pre-screening to appointment of a candidate – plus, you’ll have expert advice and input from our professionals with regards to candidate availability for specific subjects and suitability for the role, as opposed to wading through the unknown!
We have over 2 million candidates registered on our database – who knows, one of them could soon become a much-valued part of your school.
Utilise Talent Pools
Essentially, Talent Pools are a central register for prospective candidates to sign up for, signalling their interest in working for a particular school or region when vacancies that match their profile arise. Talent Pools can be easily set up by any school via Eteach, giving you a direct and easily accessible pool of predetermined candidates at your fingertips.
This can be a great solution if you find yourself scrambling to shortlist candidates when a resignation is sprung upon you – access to a Talent Pool means you’ll always be proactive in identifying interested candidates, and you won’t have to start from square one!
Take a proactive approach
Whatever your plan of action, it’s not a great idea to rest on your heels as the resignation period counts down. You may think you’ll have plenty of time to pre-screen, interview and appoint the perfect candidate – after all, you’ve got a whole term! - but these processes are lengthy and, if the candidate turns out to not be the right fit, you’ll have to lay the groundwork all over again. Trust us, you don’t want to deal with it last-minute on top of your existing workload.
In this competitive, candidate-led market, chances are that there are more than a few schools in the exact same position as you – which means more choice for teachers. Schools that wait too long can often find themselves eventually paying extra supply costs when they haven’t managed to find a suitable permanent appointment. You’ll also need enough time to brief your new member of staff and catch them up with the curriculum. All in all, it’s highly recommended that you start to plan ahead and explore your options. As the famous adage goes, uttered by many a teacher…’failing to prepare means preparing to fail!’
Eteach are primed and ready to offer you support and guidance from the start to the end of your search.
Thinking ahead
Even if you haven’t received resignations this time round, there’s nothing like a bit of forward planning. With these simple steps, you can put yourself in a much stronger position and even line up the perfect candidate months before you need them.
Discover how to beat the resignation deadline today with Eteach.
Get in touch
About the author
Ruby Collings
Ruby studied English Literature at the University of Brighton, having been an avid reader and writer for all of her life. With her passion for everything creative, she now works for Eteach as a Digital Marketing Executive, using her skills to deliver informative and relevant content.