Pupils face part-time school because of teacher shortage

●Council warns ‘grave’ situation may mean classes are told to stay at home

Primary school pupils may have to attend school part-time after a council warned of a “grave” shortage of teachers and asked parents to put them in touch with any qualified staff they knew to plug the gaps.

A letter to parents of children in all primary schools in the Moray Council area said the “ongoing challenges” in recruiting staff meant some educational establishments may have to consider “partial closure”, which could see pupils told not to attend on certain days.

There are about 40 teacher vacancies across the council area. Schools in the Lossiemouth and Forres area are thought to be worst hit by staff absences due to sickness and maternity leave.

The warning is the latest sign of a teacher recruitment crisis gripping Scotland. Earlier this month it emerged that a class in Glasgow had 20 different teachers in less than four years. High schools in Edinburgh and Perthshire were recently forced to turn to parents for help to cover gaps in its maths departments after struggling to recruit a new teacher.

In the letter, signed by the council’s head of schools and curriculum development Vivienne Cross, parents were told: “Headteachers have tried a variety of different options to cover classes, including using Support for

Learning teachers as well as promoted staff (where available) and themselves to ensure that classes have a teacher.

“Headteachers are working tirelessly to ensure that a full service provision is available. However, the situation has become so grave that a number of schools are at a point where they have to consider partial closure eg a year group or class may be asked not to attend on specific day(s).”

Ms Cross added: “If you know of any primary school teachers who would be willing to come and work in Moray or be added to our supply list, please contact…”

Earlier this year, Moray offered teachers rent-free accommodation in a bid to ease a severe staff shortage. In May, the council’s education director, Laurence Findlay, told Holyrood’s education committee that the chronic shortage of staff in the area was the “number one issue” in his department.

In the Moray Council area, 27 teachers are absent due to pregnancies, with seven due to take leave imminently and a further four confirmed pregnancies among women yet to submit paperwork.

Moray Council’s leader said the Scottish Government’s policy to keep small rural schools open had contributed to the crisis, saying the number of teachers available per pupil in the local authority area was sufficient, but the high number of small schools pushed up the number of necessary teaching staff.

Leader of the council, George Alexander – who worked as a teacher for 20 years – said: “It is true that we have a serious teacher shortage in some schools at the moment and this is exacerbated by absence due to illness and maternity leave. We have advised parents by letter that some classes may have to be merged or cancelled altogether. We’ve put out a plea for supply teachers and asked our colleagues in other authorities if they can spare a teacher for a short period.

“Having said there is a shortage of teaching staff, the fact is we actually have enough teachers for the number of pupils in Moray. However, they are spread across too many small schools.

“There is no doubt we have to look at our school estate if we are to provide the best education service for our young people.

“Reconfiguration of our school estate is made extremely difficult by the Scottish Government’s continued presumption against any school closure, but I am confident that this council will succeed in persuading both the Scottish Government and the people of Moray that reconfiguration of the school estate is long overdue and will be done successfully on the basis of educational benefit.”

Liz Smith, Scottish conservative education spokeswoman, said: “This is simply further evidence of a crisis in teacher recruitment and a failure of the SNP’S workforce planning.

“There are significant issues across the country as a result of teacher shortages. They are very disruptive for both children and their parents. Children will not receive the education they deserve and need, without enough teachers in classrooms.”

Schools which sent out the letter include Applegrove Primary School in Forres, which as Scotland on Sunday reported earlier this year lost Canadian P2 teacher Heather Cattanach. She was pulled from the classroom in the middle of the school day in January due to a wrangle with the Home Office over her visa. Ms Cattanach has since been returned to Canada and her class remains without a permanent teacher.

She was initially recruited to teach in England through a targeted scheme advertised at her university in British Columbia and took a job in Scotland in January last year.

She applied to have her UK government visa extended, but a mistake on the part of her lawyers meant the application was submitted late. Despite a written plea from Moray Council’s Mr Finlay, Ms Cattanach was told she was no longer eligible to work in Scotland where she lived with her new husband, Scot Gary Mciver. She has since returned to Canada where she is reapplying for a spousal visa to be allowed to return to Scotland.

“I think it’s unfortunate I was forced to leave the UK when it’s clear Scotland requires teachers immediately,” she said. “I want to stay with my family in Scotland, a country that could use my support as a teacher. Education should be the highest priority of any country.”

In 2010, Moray Council successfully campaigned to be allowed to close Cabrach Primary in Moray, which had only two pupils. The school, which the council first applied to shut in 2008, but had its initial application rejected by the Scottish Government, cost the council £100,000 a year to run.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We invested £88 million in 2017 resulting in 543 more teachers than last year – the second year in a row there has been an increase … In Moray, the number of teachers increased this year to 856.

“While teacher recruitment is a matter for local authorities, we recognise some are-

as have faced challenges filling vacancies. We are working closely with Moray Council, and partner local authorities in the Northern Alliance, to address medium and longterm teacher workforce issues.”

The spokesman added: “It is sensible for Moray Council to keep parents informed about potential class disruption due to the increased risk of teacher absences over the winter.”

The letter was issued as all 17 pupils at Strathconon Primary School, west of Inverness, were told they would be transferred to another school about 12 miles away due to a teacher shortage.

Scotland’s teacher recruitment crisis has hit a disgraceful new low with the news that one council is considering the “partial closure” of some schools.

In a letter to parents, Moray Council admitted they were struggling to recruit new staff and even appealed for suggestions of primary school teachers who might be willing to take a job in the area.

The news comes after Trinity Academy in Edinburgh was forced to draft in university students to teach maths after adverts for two teaching vacancies failed to find anyone suitable and Blairgowrie High School sent a letter to parents appealing for “any parent with a maths or related degree” to help fill teacher vacancies ahead of exams.

The EIS teaching union has also warned that teachers are working “far in excess of their contractual hours” with some having regular 60-hour weeks. The workload was contributing to depression and fatigue and the mental health of Scotland’s teachers was “coming to a crisis”, the union said.

All this paints a bleak picture of what must be a priority for any government – the education of the next generation.

In England and Wales, the Teach First scheme has seen graduates fast-tracked into the profession and there have been discussions about introducing a similar scheme in Scotland, causing controversy over the idea of using people who have not been trained to teach. But if the alternatives are telling pupils to stay at home or drafting in young people who are still studying for their degree, then Teach First doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

The situation could also add weight to calls for Scotland to control its own immigration system. One of the vacancies in Moray was created when Heather Cattanach, a Canadian teacher working in a primary school in Forres, was removed from her class during the school day in January because of a fairly trivial issue with her visa. She has had to return to Canada and her class still has no permanent replacement. Scottish immigration officials might have used greater discretion and allowed her to stay.

Providing enough teachers is ultimately a problem for councils and the Scottish Government, which stressed it had put more money into teacher training and increased the numbers. But, in the words of many a report card, they “could do better” – and they must.