Wagga High School's lack of teachers leads to collapse of two classes

In a letter sent to the Wagga High School community on Friday, principal Chris Davies said the school had been "unable to fill a number of teaching positions".

As a result, Mr Davies wrote it was "necessary to collapse a Year 7 and Year 9 class [which will result] in changes across all year groups."

The letter - seen by the Daily Advertiser - said a new timetable will be issued to all students on Monday, May 1.

The Daily Advertiser understands the shakeup will result in one less class for both Year 7 and Year 9, with slightly larger student numbers in the remaining cohorts.

None of the class sizes will exceed limits set by the Department of Education's staffing agreement.

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In the letter, Mr Davies said temporary class merges would continue to occur at the school without sufficient numbers of casual staff to supplement permanent classroom teachers.

"It is worth noting that there will continue to be instances where classes are required to relocate and be under minimal supervision structure due to a lack of casual teachers available," the letter continues.

"We are determined to persevere and maintain our standards of academic excellence in the face of such challenges."

Earlier this year, a number of classes at the school were temporarily merged after a number of teachers calling in sick, and instances of collapsed classes have become more common as schools across NSW struggle to find staff.

NSW Teachers' Federation country organiser Jack O'Brien said teacher shortages continue to affect school across NSW.

"A number of schools continue to deal with the impacts of unfilled teacher vacancies and a lack of casual teachers," he said.

"The newly elected state government has publicly acknowledged the seriousness of the shortage and recognises the urgent need for reform on salaries and workload."

There are currently 2,172 permanent teaching positions vacant in NSW, according to the Department of Education figures from February 13.

The Department of Education was contacted for comment.

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