Q: After just under a term of teaching I have decided to quit. I’ve developed some good relationships with my pupils and, to be honest, I’m more scared of telling them I am leaving than the senior management team. I feel bad about leaving them so soon in the school year, but I now know that teaching is not for me. I don’t know how much detail to give for my reasons. How should I approach this?
A: Are you sure you should be leaving teaching? Making good relationships with pupils is nine-tenths of the art, and you seem to have managed that.
What are you telling yourself about your reasons for leaving? What is there in those reasons that you can’t share with pupils, and why?
Whatever you decide, be honest, stay professional and don’t say anything that will cast any doubt on your support for the school.
