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Teacher shortage means pupils miss out on foreign languages

Kincorth Academy's footballers made history in 1983.
Kincorth Academy's footballers made history in 1983.

A teacher shortage at an Aberdeen secondary school means some of its pupils are missing out on modern languages.

First, second and third year pupils at Kincorth Academy are not being given language lessons, such as French of Spanish, due to staffing difficulties.

The school is also lacking a teacher for home economics.

Head teacher Grahame Whyte told a meeting of Kincorth and Leggart Community Council that about 15 staff had left before the 2016/17 academic year.

“Some are retiring, some are going part-time and some are promoted outwith the school,” he said.

“We recruited eight teachers pretty easily but it’s been more difficult to recruit the seven and we had little time to recruit before August.”

And he revealed the lack of teachers meant that those studying for exams had to be priority.

He added: “At this moment in time we don’t have home economics.

“The first to third years have no modern languages.

“One place we are deficient is modern languages and we’ve had adverts out since the summer.

“Our priority is for those doing exams.”

Mr Whyte said every school in Aberdeen was in the same position.

Latest figures from Aberdeen City Council show there are 65 unfilled teaching positions across the Granite City.

An council spokesman said: “The fact that some secondary schools no longer provide subjects that once featured in the curriculum demonstrates both the impact of staffing shortages in the north-east and the fact that some subjects are longer as popular as they once were.

“Over the past three or four years we have seen a downturn in the numbers of pupils opting for modern languages, for example.

“The important thing is that all of our schools provide a broad and balanced curriculum list which meets the expectations and needs of parents and pupils.”

The council has been looking to lure people into teaching from the oil and gas sector.

More than £700,000 has been spent on recruitment advertising and incentive payments to pull in staff.