There has been a rise in the number of Wigan school staff vacancies
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The Association of School and College Leaders said that the growing number of vacancies across England is just the "tip of the iceberg" of the struggle schools are facing as far as staff numbers are concerned.
Figures from the School Workforce Census show there were nine vacancies across the state-funded schools in Wigan in November 2022 – up from six the year before.
All the vacancies were for classroom teachers.
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Hide AdNationally, the figures published by the Government revealed the number of teacher vacancies increased from 1,564 in November 2021 to 2,334 this past November.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the numbers for vacancies were "only the tip of the iceberg".
He added: "What we hear is that it is a constant struggle to fill vacancies which often requires readvertising for posts, filling gaps with supply staff, and using non-subject specialists to teach classes.
"All of this adds to the workload and pressure on school and college leaders, as well as existing staff, and it puts at risk educational provision for children.
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Hide AdThe data also show temporarily filled school staff positions increased from 2,247 in 2021 to 3,308 in 2022.
In Wigan, 16 jobs were temporarily filled – 10 were classroom teaching roles.
Overall, the 129 schools in the area had about 2,642 full-time teachers this academic year. It was a slight increase from 2,623 in 2021-22.