You can’t control who leaves. But you can control how you respond.

It’s half term.

You’ve made it through SATs.
Through GCSEs and A-Levels starting.
And we’re almost at the 31 May resignation deadline.

Some notices will have landed.
Others you’re still waiting to see.

And if there’s one thing I hope this half term brings, it’s this:

Perspective.

When someone leaves, it creates a job for us to do.
Recruitment isn’t always the part of leadership we wake up excited about.
Because, naturally, we’d prefer to keep great people than replace them.

But you and I know that movement is part of schools.
Always has been.
Always will be.

What matters isn’t whether someone leaves.
It’s what we do next.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve explored:

Replacing dread with data
Zooming out and looking at 2–3 years of leavers.
Spotting patterns in timing, roles, workload or behaviour.
Strengthening behaviour as a retention lever
Recognising that teachers rarely leave because of pay alone — they leave because of daily experience.
Using resignations as design moments
Not automatically refilling the same post.
Asking: What does the school need now? Combine? Specialise? Redesign? Strengthen?
Reducing risk by sharing knowledge early
Creating simple “How we do this” guides so no one person carries half the school in their head.
Playing the long game
Increasing the proportion of superstars over time.
Reducing the emotional drag of roles that take disproportionate energy.

None of this removes the sting of a resignation.

But it does shift you from reactive to intentional.

Sometimes movement creates space.
Sometimes it reveals patterns you couldn’t see before.
Sometimes it accelerates decisions you already knew needed to be made.
And sometimes — it simply is what it is.

Promotions happen.
Families relocate.
Careers evolve.

Leadership isn’t about controlling that.
It’s about responding well.

So if you’re heading into this break with a few vacancies — breathe.
If you’re heading in with none — breathe.

Summer 2 is when clarity replaces speculation.
You’ll know who’s staying.
You’ll know what needs building.
And you’ll move forward from there.

You can’t control who leaves. But you can control how you respond.

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