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Save our teacher!


By Caroline McMorran

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Parents of pupils at a small Sutherland primary school are lobbying Highland Council in a bid to retain one of their teachers.

Canadian Hanna Willows, employed at Gledfield Primary School for the last year under an overseas recruitment scheme, is understood to have had her application to remain rejected.

The decision has angered the parent council who say they are fed up with a continuing conveyor belt of teachers and query why someone else has to be appointed in her place..

Blair Barnett, whose daughter Grace attends the 27-pupil school, said: “Since starting school our daughter has had seven teachers and she is only in primary two. There is simply no consistency or continuity to their education."

The Gledfield protest is similar to that at Brora Primary School where young pupil Fara Sutherland launched a petition to persuade the authority to appoint probationary teacher Russell McCarthy to a permanent post there.

Miss Willows came to Gledfield under the Scottish Governments Teacher Recruitment Outwith Scotland Campaign and settled in well at the school, where there are two teachers for two composite classes.

The school’s parent council was told at its meeting on April 25 that she was keen to stay but had been rebuffed. The council has since written to Highland Council for an explanation.

Gledfield’s roll is expected to remain static in the next academic year with three primary seven pupils leaving and three nursery children joining so the same number of staff will be required.

Mr Barnett has personally contacted ward councillors Deirdre Mackay and Jim McGillivray for an explanation as well as MSP Gail Ross and Scottish Education Secretary John Swinney.

He said: “Our hope is that the council’s decision can be reversed and Miss Willows will be allowed to teach for another year, giving our children the continuity they deserve.

“It seems ridiculous that Highland Council would go to the hassle and expense of recruiting a new candidate to fill the position when a more than capable teacher is already in place. Someone who loves what she does, but more importantly someone with whom the children can relate to and who gain greatly from her teaching methods.”

Mr Barnett claimed that of the “15 or so” teachers who were employed from Canada, in the last academic year, only one has retained their job.

A spokesman for Highland Council said: “The council does not comment on individual personnel matters. Last year the council did offer fixed-term, one-year contracts to some teachers.”

“The council is currently working through workforce planning to ensure the appropriate staff complement is in place for next session, starting August 2019.”

Meanwhile Brora pupil Fara Sutherland has handed over a copy of her petition, which has more than 100 signatures, to MP Jamie Stone.

The MP has since written the Scottish Government stating that there was a “worryingly high turnover” of probationers in the Highland Council area.

He wrote: “Pupils and parents find it upsetting when teachers come and go in this way and in terms of the best teaching for pupils this turnover of staff is most unhelpful.”

Mr Stone suggested that the way probationary teachers was funded was behind the problem with probationers seen as a cheap option.

He said: “Can I therefore suggest that officials look at this funding mechanism with a view to tweaking it so that this turnover could be reduced?

“I realise this could lead to probationary teaching posts becoming permanent posts but taking into consideration the best interests of pupils, then this would be no bad thing.”


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