AS teacher shortages continue to dominate the headlines nationwide, Hertfordshire County Council launched its new recruitment website, set to drive down the the number of vacancies throughout the county.

The innovative website, officially launched at the Wheathampstead Development Centre on Friday, has been welcomed by prospective teachers and academics countywide, for whom the task of finding a job in the profession, has to date proved to be both confusing and time consuming.

Newly qualified teachers or returners those wanting to re-enter the teaching industry need no longer complete individual and in-depth application forms for every school to which they wish to apply, as the new website allows them to duplicate their details and forward them online to a series of establishments at the click of a button.

The design and set-up of the site is a direct response to the pressing problems of teacher shortages affecting the county's schools, which last summer earned the County Council third place in a nationwide survey of LEA's experiencing serious teacher recruitment difficulties, as carried out by The Independent.

There are currently a total of 252 recorded vacancies in schools in Hertfordshire.

The new site, which is free of charge to state educational establishments and its users, is estimated to save schools thousands of pounds in advertising costs, which the LEA says will be ploughed back into school budgets.

Since the site first went live on Monday, April 15, an impressive 200 posts have already been displayed and a total of nine vacancies filled.

Mr Stephen Lavender, head of teacher recruitment, said: "I am really pleased to see schools are already using the site so successfully.

"Once again, Hertfordshire is leading the way with a 21st Century approach to recruitment.

"I am confident that this new initiative will help to attract the high quality staff we need to encourage all Hertfordshire children to reach their full potential."

Ms Jacky Westmaas, headteacher of Coates Way Primary School in Coates Way, Watford, said: "The website is very accessible, even to me, as a technophobe.

"It's so good I have started using it already.

"I'm very impressed and it takes a lot to do that."

Thousands of teachers have been contacted directly about the new website and a national and local campaign has been launched, including posters in schools and adverts in newspapers and on buses.

The new website is at: s=6.5www.hertsdirect.org/teachinhertso

Anyone considering a career in teaching can obtain further information and advice by contacting the County Council's helpline on 01582 830351.

f=GillSans s=7 l=8vdillingham@london.newsquest.co.uko

May 10, 2002 13:00