Hi everyone,

I have recently decided to put my house up for sale and move away to be closer to work - the For Sale sign will probably appear in the garden tomorrow and I am now desperatly trying to think of what to tell my pupils..

Has anyone here ever done this? I don't know what to do for the best, some thoughts have been:


I did think I should put out some sort of letter within the next week - just don't know what to say!!!
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I'll be back online later tonight to garner inspiration!!

Thanks!

I'm on my third teacher, the first two moved away. (Bit desperate measures to get rid of me don't you think??!! )

The first one said nothing, and I turned up at his house for a lesson and he'd gone. How weird is that!

The second one told me he would be moving and gave me about 3 months notice during which time I found another teacher. He was a bit concerned that I might up and leave him straight away and his income would dry up, but I assured him I wouldn't, but I guess this is a risk if you give them notice.

I'm assuming that you teach part time as you say that you want to move closer to your work. I think that you need to inform your pupils as soon as possible, particularly the ones working for grade 8/music college. The best approach would be to source alternative teachers for them (although this may mean that you lose them sooner than you'd planned) and give them this information when you break the news. If you wait for them to see the 'for sale' sign it puts you in a bad light and gives the impression that you do not value them.

I'd be inclined to give them a letter explaining that you are having to move away because of work. If you're not moving terribly far some might want to continue with you (unless you are moving to get away from them!). If possible, give them a few ideas about other teachers in the area you know and could recommend.

Have you thought about selling your pupils to another teacher? Work out what they would pay you in a year and divide it by twelve maybe. If someone wanted to sell me a pupil for £x I might think about it, especially if they were selling 10 of them to me and a detailed written report had been made on each pupil. The new teacher would get a lot of extra income for just a small fee.


I'd write a letter to the pupils ASAP.

hilarious! do the pupils get any say in this?

I would at least ask your house agent to hold off installing the sign until you have had chance to tell your pupils. They can have the house on the books to offer to viewers - I doubt if a few days without a sign would make much difference.

Do please give the students some notice and some help in finding another teacher if you can. A local teacher here let down a large number of students recently - and it was very upsetting for the younger students in particular who had grown to look up to and trust the person in question. She left without even a goodbye.
Of course everyone's personal circumstances are different, and they change. I hope your students will stick with you until you move if you treat them with courtesy and consideration.

Thanks for the advice so far - yes it's a second income to me now as i am a qualified secondary school teacher and that kind of took over (what a surprise).

I am moving to get closer to school and to a nicer area than here. It will be about an hours drive away, a journey i complete twice a day. Still - not sure pupils would want to do it as infrequently as once per week or two!!

Gosh, my last pupil tonight bounded out of the door with her books in hand saying "I really want to do this now - i totally agree with your plan, let's go for the theory exam in november and then i can do grade 6 in march!!".... off she went - it felt rather sad!

I'm in a similar position - I've known for a while that I have a job next year in Lincoln (a long 2-hour-plus journey from current home in Tamworth). I let my pupils know there was a strong possibility of me having to move in November when we applied for jobs, and told them all as soon as it came through where I would be.

I offered to look for another teacher for them, or said they could do their own thing. Two are looking themselves, the rest want me to look for them. All but one have continued with lessons and want to do so until I leave; one has stopped playing altogether (GCSEs plus finding it really very difficult).

Needless to say none are continuing with that kind of journey! You owe it to them to get things organised as soon as you can, to make the transition smoother. This especially goes for ones coming up to exams. I have two doing exams this session, and I'm finishing teaching around when results come out or just before for those without exams.



Loving this idea! PM me

I would send a letter out (thats what my flute teacher did when her prices went up), and list a number of options to the students such as staying with you but having to travel, going to a new teacher (you could reccomend a couple in the letter), or for the more advanced ones offer home visits (but mention you might have to charge a little extra).