Friday 13 December 2024
 7.3°C   SW Moderate Breeze
SCT - 2025/26 Small Grant SchemeSCT - 2025/26 Small Grant Scheme
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Education / Surveys for those relocating to Shetland could help future recruitment, meeting hears

Photo: Shetland News/Neil Riddell

SURVEYS could be undertaken to assess the reasons behind why people have been attracted to relocate to Shetland to work in education in a bid to support future recruitment.

It comes amid a continued struggle with vacancies and also gaps in teaching due to absence, with Covid isolation requirements a key factor.

As a result, former teachers were recently encouraged put themselves on the local supply list – and a fresh call was made at a meeting of the council’s education and families committee on Monday.

Lerwick member John Fraser said he had heard that there have been some recent success in recruiting to teaching posts.

But he asked if there was any process in place to find out why exactly people have decided to move to Shetland for work, as it could help future recruitment.

Fraser said the council does plenty of work around staff retention – such as through exit surveys – but questioned if more could be done to learn more about the circumstances of those relocating to Shetland.

Children services director Helen Budge said this has often been done on an informal basis, but she was keen to take Fraser’s suggestion forward into a formal survey.

She also told Monday’s meeting that some central staff have been drafted in to cover recent absences, such as in clerical work or PE.

The relaxation earlier this year in Covid isolation requirements has helped, Budge added, although there has been a spike in cases in recent weeks.

The children’s services directorate is expecting to post a significant underspend in 2021/22 of around £1 million, and staff vacancies and recruitment difficulties are key reasons for this.

This is not unique to children’s services, however, with recruitment difficulties experienced elsewhere in the council, such as in planning.

Councillors were also told that new wraparound childcare facilities are in the works in Brae and Sandwick, which could go live in August.

Become a member of Shetland News

 

Wraparound care is provided before and after school time.

North councillor Emma Macdonald said childcare was important when it comes to recruitment and retention and she called for more innovation in the area, but acknowledged that wraparound care is not a statutory obligation for the council.

Early years manager Sam Flaws also confirmed that talks are ongoing about improving childcare provision in the Westside, although it has been a “very difficult and challenging picture”.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.