Bradford heads are looking half way round the world in a desperate bid to overcome a shortage of teachers.

One district head flew to Australia for ten days of intensive interviews in an effort to fill vacancies for up to four schools.

Tony Rickwood, of Parkside School, Cullingworth, went Down Under interviewing applicants for his own school as well as two others in special measures.

Education consultant Alan Hall, who works for Education Bradford and advises on staff recruitment and retention, said the shortage of teachers wanting to come to Bradford reflected a national problem.

It was particularly difficult for struggling schools, he said.

Mr Rickwood's trip took him to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and resulted in nine teachers being recruited.

They will be joining Rhodesway and Wyke Manor schools, which are both in special measures, and Parkside School in September.

One of them will also be starting at Laisterdyke High.

"This was the first time a head teacher has been abroad to find staff for schools in Bradford and looking at the number we got I would say we did a pretty good job," said Mr Rickwood.

"It's very difficult for struggling schools to attract staff because people are worried about how they will cope.

"In May there were about 9,000 vacancies in the Times Educational Supplement alone, and with that number of vacancies there are very definite shortage areas throughout the UK."

Mr Rickwood said schools in special measures or with serious weaknesses offered staff a challenge. "The staff have to work extra hard to pull the school around, and the staff we recruited in Australia are aware of the problems here and they've decided to go for it," he said.

He said Australia was chosen because of the language link, they have a similar curriculum and historically teachers there often seek employment in the UK for one or two years.

Mr Rickwood also hoped in the future to deploy some of his experienced staff to work at Wyke Manor and Rhodesway, and in return the new Australian recruits will work in his school.

"This is the long-term plan and we'll have to see how it works out," he said.

Mr Hall said it was difficult to say how many vacancies there were across the district as some schools dealt with their own recruitment, some used agencies and others advertised through Education Bradford.

"The struggling schools have problems in attracting new members of staff and need more assistance to do it," he said.

"I discussed Mr Rickwood's novel idea with him and the other headteachers who were involved and it has proved to be highly successful and maybe it's something we will look at doing again.

"People don't always want to go to the schools with the good reputations, they want to take on a more challenging situation and try to make a difference."

Alan Oswin, head teacher at Wyke Manor, said they already had two South Africans and one Jamaican teacher on the staff, and in September two Australians and another South African will be joining them.

"I have been impressed with their enthusiasm and determination to be a member of Wyke Manor, and their commitment to contributing towards our continuing improvement and raising standards," he said.

"Bradford schools and pupils can only benefit from colleagues joining us from Commonwealth countries."

The Australia trip was funded by Halifax-based Dream recruitment company which advertises UK teaching posts in a variety of countries, including Australia, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica.

Andria (CRCT) Odendaal, from Cape Town, in South Africa, has been a supply PE teacher at Wyke Manor for three months.

The 32-year-old, who secured the position through Dream and has also worked at a school in Taiwan, said teaching abroad was an invaluable experience.

"I knew the school was in difficult times and it's a huge challenge for all of us," she said.

"Some people have asked me why I want to stay here but the job satisfaction I get teaching in a challenging school is something you can't buy."

Earlier this month the Telegraph & Argus reported Bradford no longer had the county's highest number of schools in special categories.

During the past two years a total of 29 schools have been in special measures or special categories at any one time but this number has now dropped to 18.

Margaret Platts, head teacher at Belle Vue Girls' school in Heaton and Secondary Heads' Association convenor, said the problem in recruiting for Bradford schools was two-fold.

"There is a problem with the image Bradford has on the whole as well as the fact we have a lot of schools which are struggling," she said.

"People don't apply to struggling schools as readily because of the fear of the unknown, the fear of the challenge, and teaching is a hard job at the best of times.

"We are quite fortunate as Belle Vue Girls is a highly regarded school. Sometimes the field is a bit small but quality is what counts in the end."

Dream director of education Geoff Brown said the head teachers came up with the idea and the company gave their support and funding.

"Teachers from overseas can be a real stimulus in the staff room and the classroom," he said.

"For the average disaffected boy or girl in Bradford having a Kylie Minogue or Jason Donovan walk into the classroom could be the key to engage them in education again."