Schools are closing early so their teachers can go to job interviews, writes Madeleine Pennell.

Teachers are having to get new jobs as part of the shake-up of schools in Oxford, which will see middle schools replaced by a two-tier system of secondaries and primaries.

So many staff are having to take time off at once that some schools are struggling to run a normal timetable of lessons.

Donnington Middle School, in Cornwallis Road, is planning to close one lesson early on two separate days. Nine teachers have job interviews at the same time, which means the school cannot stay open, a spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said.

Marston Middle School, in Raymund Road, Old Marston, is also planning to close for at least one lesson so that staff can attend interviews. Schools have to be open for a morning and afternoon session.

The law does not specify how long the sessions have to be, but legally schools cannot close for the whole afternoon. County education spokesman John Mitchell said: "We support these exceptional closures, given the exceptional circumstances. We wish to provide every assistance to teachers in securing appropriate jobs in the new structure." Annie Skinner of the Save Our Schools group, which opposes the shake-up, said: "This is beginning of the disruption. Will these teachers be given permanent jobs at the end of it? What else is to come? I am concerned about the effect this will have on our children's education."