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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sean McPolin

Remote island school with just FOUR pupils needs new head teacher - on a £61,374 salary

A school on a remote Scottish island with 28 people - for of which is offering a £61,000 salary to teach just four children.

Described as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" the Foula Primary School - 16 miles off the west of Shetland - is after a new education boss.

To get to the remote island, which spans just five square miles, people either need to take a two-hour ferry from Walls in Shetland's west mainland, or a flight from Tingwall, which will cut the travel time by 15 minutes.

The job, which will see a new head teacher paid £61,374, or £15,343 per child, offers the lucky candidate a "slower pace of life".

The successful applicant will also be offered a three-bedroom rented house.

The remote island, found off Shetland in Scotland, has only four pupils in its primary school and one in nursery (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Known for its landscapes and birdlife, Foula has the second highest sea cliff in the UK, which stands more than 1,200 feet tall, and doesn't even have a shop.

Advertising the job, Shetland Islands Council said the island is a “welcoming community where you can create an idyllic island home”.

Leona Gear, who grew up in Foula, said the school is "essential because the community needs families to survive and grow".

She added: “We already go to the hostel in Lerwick at 12 and only get home one weekend a month, we couldn't do the same thing to primary children.

“It is also a great opportunity for someone to take on the headteacher role and live and work in a beautiful place unlike anywhere else.”

This is the second time in a few years the vacancy has been advertised.

The successful candidate will takeover from previous head teacher Beverley McPherson, who is retiring after being appointed in 2019.

The Foula Heritage group meanwhile said on social media that the post is a “wonderful opportunity to live and work in a spectacular island and be part of a vibrant, creative and independent, caring crofting community”.

Foula Primary School has pupils from early years through to primary seven, and in total there are four pupils on the primary roll and one child in the nursery.

The school is managed by a teaching head teacher, who is also the early learning and childcare manager.

The head teacher is supported by an early learning practitioner, an art and IT instructor as well as a school administrator, through a variety of part-time hours.

Foula Primary School, found just 16 miles off Shetland, is offering a new head teacher more than £61,000 to teach four pupils (Getty Images Europe)

The Foula school was built in 1992 and comes complete with a solar panel array as well as a polytunnel which is also available for the community.

The council said that as well as the relevant qualifications and registration experience, the “qualities we are looking for in the successful candidate are: a can-do attitude, vision, energy, initiative, good communication skills and self-discipline”.

It is also offering a relocation package as well as interview expenses from within the UK.

Chairman of the council’s education and families committee Davie Sandison said it was important for vacancies at remote schools to secure healthy levels of interest.

“Like any posting in Shetland for a head teacher in some of our remote schools, it’s a unique opportunity and it must be a really attractive opportunity for the right candidate,” he said.

Foula is also fairly unique in that its residents observe the traditional Julian calendar for festive celebrations.

It means Christmas is celebrated on January 6 and New Year falls a week later.

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