A warm Highland welcome for probationer teachers
One hundred and twenty probationer teachers were recently welcomed to the Highlands (on Friday 14 August), at an induction course held in the Highland Council Chamber.
Councillor Drew Millar, Chairman of the Council’s Adult and Children’s Services Committee, said: “It’s really good to see so many young people starting their careers in education here in the Highland and I wish them all well. We hope we are able to retain as many of them as possible after their years’ probation as the Highlands has a lot to offer as a place to live and work in. We greatly value the role teachers play in the lives of our young people and believe that high quality teaching underpins the successes our pupils achieve.”
Bill Alexander, Highland Council’s Director of Care and Learning also welcomed the 120 probationers starting in the 2015/16 academic year, he added: “This is an exciting day for all of our new probationers, and it is also an exciting day for the Highland Council. Each and every one is an asset to Highland communities, and to the schools, children and families they will be working with over the next year. I am confident that they will enjoy working in their new schools, and I hope that they all settle in the Highlands for many years to come.”
The new teachers started work in schools across the Highlands when primary and secondary pupils return to school following their summer break.
Of the 120 probationers, 44 have been allocated to secondary schools and 76 to primary schools in the Highlands.
The number of probationer teachers in primary schools in each educational area is: 15 in the North, 16 in Mid, 37 in South and 8 in West. The 44 probationer teachers in secondary schools are located in each educational area as follows: 12 in North, 7 in Mid, 16 in South and 9 in West.
The numbers of secondary school probationers who will be working in the following subjects are: Art and Design (4), Chemistry (2), English (8), French (3), Geography (2), Home Economics (1), History (8), Mathematics (3), Music (2), Physical Education (7), Religious Education (2) and Technological Education (2).
The probationer induction day is the first of a number of in-service training days throughout the year specifically allocated to probationer teacher induction and training.
20 Aug 2015