Record numbers of teachers from overseas are working in British schools. In the first eight months of last year, some 3,700 work permits were issued for teachers. But support to help them cope with such a stressful transition is variable.

Since Amy Gehring, the Canadian supply teacher who gave a whole new meaning to extra-curricular activities, was acquitted of having sex with two teenage pupils at her school in Guildford, Surrey, the issue has become a pressing one for local education authorities and supply agencies. While Ms Gehring denied the charges against her, she admitted she regularly socialised with pupils because she felt lonely and alienated once she landed here.

It is enough of a culture shock to start teaching; to do so in another country is courting problems. Some authorities are worried enough about the situation to introduce induction programmes designed to help newcomers settle.

Wandsworth in south-west London shows new arrivals the ropes and helps them make friends. Lorraine Crighton, from Christchurch, New Zealand, says she benefited greatly. She is a mature woman with a grown-up son but still found migration daunting. “It’s the funny little things that happen when you come to a new country - opening a bank account, catching buses, sorting out a flat, getting the tube, or even having to put a pound coin in your shopping trolley.”

Brendan Ryan, Wandsworth’s recruitment strategy manager, said the authority had received regular reports that overseas teachers needed help - from their practical, everyday needs to ignorance of the national curriculum. The borough’s induction sessions have proved so successful they are now held at the beginning of every term.

“We found that teachers were being sent into schools by agencies completely unprepared for the UK education system and the children in our schools,” says Mr Ryan.

“Worryingly, too, I know there have been people sent in by agencies who are not actually teachers - often they are just graduates. One headteacher even reported that a teacher arrived in school who could not speak English at all.”

The whole area is not regulated as tightly as you might expect: overseas staff can work here for up to four years as unqualified teachers or, at a lower pay rate, as instructors, but there are no other restrictions on their working here - provided they have qualified at home.

Once here, those taken on by agencies soon discover that they will receive much less paid holiday than those employed by local authorities on long-term contracts. The new arrival will feel short-changed, too, when they find out they have no entitlement to sick pay or access to the teachers’ pension scheme.

In Newham, east London, the authority provides new arrivals with shared accommodation during their first few weeks to encourage them to network and make new friends. It also offers training in the idiosyncacies of our system. If the borough puts one of them on a full-time contract, it encourages them to sign up for the graduate teacher programme so that they can gain qualified teacher status.

Tim Benson has more experience of their problems than most. He is head of Nelson primary school, East Ham. With 865 pupils on roll, it is one of the largest primaries in the country and has had 20 overseas teachers over the past two years to fill its complement. He believes the training offered is inadequate. So he set up his own in-house inductionprogramme.

“Last year, we had two Jamaican teachers and there was a big cultural gap in terms of discipline expectations, control and management,” he says. “They expected children to sit and listen for long periods without talking or being naughty. We also found they were quite unfamiliar with the idea of differentiation (providing work at all levels).”

The Government is concerned that the supply agencies fulfil their responsibilities. It is planning to introduce a voluntary quality mark that will set minimum standards for interviewing candidates, checking references, offering induction and monitoring development.

Whatever their critics might say, many agencies provide an impressive service. Angie MacCaull, a 23-year-old Canadian, was brought over by Protocol last September and now works on a long-term contract at Cayley primary school in Limehouse, east London. She has nothing but praise for the agency’s overseas recruitment officer, Shawna Hill.

“Before I even stepped into England I knew all about the national curriculum, what to expect in the schools and what to expect if I wanted to supply teach.”

Before leaving Canada, she was helped with documentation and visas. “A cab met me at the airport and took me to a hostel until I found a place. Protocol helped me find a flat, opened a bank account for me and registered me with the Inland Revenue.”

Since September, she’s attended six courses organised by the agency, as well as getting weekly check calls to ascertain if she has any problems and invite her to social events.

Ironically, Amy Gehring, who was brought over by Timeplan, regularly dropped into the agency’s Surbiton offices. Staff say they helped her find accommodation, took her out for drinks and did all they could to make her feel at home.