The headteacher of Braeview Academy has been seconded to a school hit by staffing shortages because of the ongoing teacher recruitment crisis.
Pupils at St Paul’s Academy in Dundee were made to watch DVDs last term because there were not enough teachers to cover classes.
Now, following the early retirement of headteacher John Carroll, Dundee City Council has opted to fill that vacancy temporarily with the headteacher from another high school.
Teresa Little is now acting head of St Paul’s while Raymond Perry is acting up as headteacher of Braeview Academy.
Councils across Scotland have struggled to recruit teachers.
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said the local authority said Mrs Little had been seconded because recruiting a permanent replacement for Mr Carroll would have taken too long.
He said: “Teacher recruitment is still providing to be difficult and this solution allows us to bring in an experienced teacher that can fill the role immediately.”
Councillor Laurie Bidwell, education spokesman for the Labour group on Dundee City Council, said he believed the secondment could benefit St Paul’s and Braeview Academy.
He said: “I knew that the headteacher had left and the secondment will bring some stability to the school as it can take a while to recruit another headteacher.
“I asked the director of education about Braeview Academy and he assured me they have a strong management team in place there and their depute will be acting up.
“Over the years we have had quite few secondments. In some ways it is good for headteachers to gain experience of other schools and it also lets their depute get the experience of running a school.”
Martin McGregor, chairman of St Paul’s Academy parent council, said he looked forward to working with Mrs Little.
He said: “Mrs Little is in place as temporary headteacher while the recruitment process is ongoing.
“She has a good reputation from her time as acting headteacher at Braeview so I certainly welcome her appointment and look forward to working with her.”
Earlier this year it was revealed pupils at the Gillburn Road school had been shown DVDs in the gym due to a shortage of teachers to cover absences.
Dundee’s director of education, Michael Wood, told parents the problems had been caused by short-term absences and pupils would only be shown DVDs in “exceptional circumstances”.
