Ten ready-to-send templates for the moments that matter when an educator is leaving. Copy, paste, edit. Warm and direct in the CLA voice.
Offboarding deserves the same care as recruitment and onboarding. How an educator finishes shapes what the rest of the team thinks about working at your service, what children and families experience during the handover, and what that educator says about your service after they leave.
These templates cover the five phases of a departure: the resignation itself, the early notice comms to your team and families, the mid notice handover, the final day, and the post exit follow up. Replace the placeholders in [square brackets] with your own details. Every template is one click to copy.
Someone has told you they are leaving. The first 48 hours set the tone for the rest of the notice period. Acknowledge the resignation, book the conversation, and get a handover plan started before the days start ticking down.
It does three things quickly: puts the acknowledgement in writing so there is a record, names the final day so there is no confusion later, and books the conversation while they are still thinking about the decision they just made. Module 11 is clear that even if the resignation came by email, the next step is a real conversation.
The script keeps you listening, not reacting. Module 11 warns against treating resignations as something to defend against, and against making generic assumptions about why people leave. The middle section forces a real handover plan rather than a vague "we will sort it out" which is how knowledge gets lost. Giving the educator a say in how the news is shared with the team and families respects the relationships they have built.
Once you have agreed with the educator how the news will be shared, move on it. Silence breeds rumour. Get the team told first, then families, then anyone else who needs to know. Keep it short, keep it warm, and keep the focus on continuity.
It lands the news once, in writing, to everyone at the same time. It names the final day, it protects the remaining weeks from becoming a slow checkout, and it tells the team what you want from them (keep it normal for the children, no speculation, come to you with questions). The acknowledgement of contribution matters. People watch how you talk about someone who is leaving and draw conclusions about how you will talk about them.
Families want continuity for their child. This email does not try to bury the news, it leads with it, then moves straight into what you are doing to keep things steady. Module 11 flags that families appreciate transparency during notice periods, especially for educators who have held strong relationships in the room. Inviting families to say their own goodbyes is small but thoughtful and it protects your relationship with the family for the long term.
The middle of the notice period is where handover either happens properly or gets squeezed into the final day. Check in on the handover plan, brief the incoming educator or buddy, and make sure key knowledge about children, programming and routines is being captured before they go.
Module 11 names one of the biggest offboarding risks: educators mentally checking out before the final day. This email is a gentle reset halfway through. It invites the educator to be honest about what is not going to get done, which is far better than discovering it on the final day. It also specifically names the things most at risk of leaving the service in someone's head: small routines, family context, and the unwritten stuff.
It respects that the incoming educator is walking into a room with a relationship history they were not part of. Module 11 calls out the importance of gradual transition for children, and this only works if the incoming educator understands the context, not just their roster. Naming the families, the children and the overlap explicitly gives the new educator permission to ask and the departing educator permission to really hand across.
The final week is where finishing well happens or does not. It does not need to be a big production. It does need to be thoughtful and specific to this educator. Generic same for everyone farewells send the wrong signal to the rest of the team about what your service values.
Module 11 is explicit about avoiding generic same for everyone farewell processes. The specificity is the whole point. Name real things this educator did. A one paragraph heartfelt note that references two or three concrete moments sits with someone far longer than a group card with a generic "all the best" on it. It is also the kind of communication that travels. Educators talk. What you write here will shape what former team members say about your service for years.
It marks the day without being overblown. It tells the team what is happening, when and where. It also reminds everyone that the best send off is a steady day for the children, which is the bar for a well run service. The practical list at the end makes sure the admin does not get lost in the sentiment.
The educator has finished, the final pay has been processed, the National Register has been updated. There are two final pieces of comms that often get forgotten but both matter. One is the exit feedback conversation. The other is a short note back to the team once the dust has settled.
Module 11 is honest about the limits of exit interviews. In small services, many people hold back from sharing the full picture, particularly if they are finishing on good terms. This email does two things to counter that. First, it offers the option of a different leader so feedback does not feel like it is going directly to the person being talked about. Second, it names the things that usually stop people being honest (worrying about the service defending itself, worrying it will affect the reference). If you get the same muted feedback from several exits in a row, that is a signal in itself worth paying attention to.
Most services skip this email and it costs them. Without it, the departure just fades and the team is left guessing whether leadership heard anything from the exit. Naming one or two specific commitments (and only ones you will actually keep) signals that exit feedback is not ceremonial. It also reinforces the culture Module 11 points at, that the experience of leaving is part of what your service is known for.