A YOUNG Canadian couple are set to start teaching in schools in High Wycombe and Beaconsfield in September after being brought to Britain in a desperate measure to help solve the county's teaching crisis.

Mike McCauley will be taking up a job at Butlers Court School in Beaconsfield and his wife Kim has been offered a post at a school in High Wycombe.

Mike, 28, was offered a one-year contract by Butlers Court headteacher James Astbury after an ad hoc telephone interview the first time Mr Astbury has ever done such a thing.

Mr Astbury said: "I have never made an appointment without meeting them face to face but when you are in a serious situation you just have to feel what they are like."

Mike and Kim are among about 30 Canadian teachers recruited for Buckinghamshire County Council by Hemel Hempstead agency TimePlan which visited Vancouver at half term.

Butlers Court faced being three staff down in September and advertisements locally and nationally had got nowhere.

It should now be up to its 14 full-time strength. Mr Astbury has offered a job, also via the telephone, to a Bucks woman teaching in Spain. He has also grabbed a teacher who has recently moved to Beaconsfield.

Mr Astbury said two members of his staff had got job promotions at the last minute.

He found out about the Canadian trip, talked to his governors and they told him to do whatever he could. Mike was interviewed by TimePlan who sent his details to Mr Astbury.

Mr Astbury said Mike had good references. There were not many vacancies in Vancouver because everyone wanted to work there and turnover was low.

Mr Astbury said there was no way he would have done this if he had been able to get UK teachers but he added he was now glad he had done it and that other headteachers were also looking at the idea.

The Canadian teachers will be employed by TimePlan which charges the school a set rate and pays the teachers.

Lilly Learmouth, TimePlan's overseas co-ordinator said the company had interviewed about 45 people in Canada, but not all were suitable.

She praised Buckinghamshire County Council for its help. The county education department is holding an induction day on August 28 for all the Canadian teachers where they will get a potted guide to the national curriculum and learn about behaviour management in English schools.