STRESSED head teachers are having "horrendous" problems finding supply teachers as schools struggle to cope with the staff shortage crisis.
The situation has become so serious that at one school in County Durham an entire year comprising 200 pupils had to be sent home for the day on three separate occasions.
Paul McHugh, the head teacher of Easington Community School was forced to send Year Seven, aged 11-12, home on one day and Year Eight, aged 12-13, home twice last term after having up to 15 staff off sick when a flu bug hit. They included supply staff already covering for absent teachers.
"It was horrendous last term," he said.
"The supply agencies were fully used up and even on occasions where we had booked supply staff in advance when the day came they hadn't any available to send us. I think there's just a desperate shortage of supply staff out there."
"All you need is another flu bug or a government training day which takes all of the English teachers out. I can't see things improving in the short term."
Anne Wilson, head teacher at Monkseaton Middle School in Whitley Bay, said: "Getting cover when the teachers are on general sick or are training is the biggest problem most of us are having.
"I think over the past two years not enough people have been trained." Union leaders say the lack of supply teachers is causing "horrendous" problems.
Terry Buckler, regional secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) North East branch, said; "The pool of people has dried up simply because of teacher shortages. It is a very serious problem."
He said Middlesbrough had been one of the hardest hit areas, particularly when the teachers were taking part in industrial action and were refusing to cover for absences of more than three days. The action has since been suspended while the NUT and National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) enter talks with the Government on their increased workloads.
First Call Educational Services, which supplies teachers across the North-East and North Yorkshire, were forced to turn down up to 50 requests for teachers per day last term because they were unable to fill them.
Christopher Elliot-Newman, First Call personnel manager said: "We know we were not the only people turning schools down because quite a lot of them had come to us by default after going to their regular agency."
Read more on this issue in The Northern Echo on Friday.
Updated: 13.15 Thursday, April 26
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