THE QUEST to find a headteacher for a Ceredigion village school may soon be over.

Ysgol Gynradd Llannon, in Llanon, has been without a permanent headteacher since the start of the academic year and the role is currently shared by two ‘stand-in’ heads.

The school has had to advertise the post for a third time after receiving no applications to their first two advertisements, with two teachers on a job share presently filling the void on an interim basis.

Chair of governors Lodwick Lloyd said: “It’s a serious situation as far as we’re concerned. We need a headteacher, we need somebody here quick.

“Any school without a head is like a ship without a captain.”

Recent research has shown that Llannon is among over 100 schools across Wales which are currently without a permanent headteacher.

But county councillor Dafydd Edwards, a governor at the 43-pupil school, has revealed a fresh batch of interviews will be taking place shortly.

“We have to compliment the local authority on their approach to this situation,” he told the Cambrian News. “They have been very supportive.

“At the moment two teachers are sharing the headship: one has come out of retirement and the other has been borrowed from another school.

“It is an arrangement which has been working well.”

Only last week a union leader warned that heavy workloads and pressure on headteachers meant fewer people were inclined to take up the job.

Julian Jones, of NAHT Cymru, said the pressure on headteachers was dissuading younger teachers from applying.

“Having been within that environment and seeing first-hand what a headteacher has to cope with on a daily basis, these young people think: ‘Do I want to be like that?’, he added.

“And, quite simply, the answer is ‘no’ and you can’t blame them; and the answer will be ‘no’ until something changes.”

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