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| 'Fresh air and a warm hearth' – remote primary school seeks teacher | 'Fresh air and a warm hearth' – remote primary school seeks teacher |
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| The midday hush on the shores of Little Loch Broom is broken as all five pupils of Scoraig primary school tumble into the autumn sunshine and head straight for the swings. | The midday hush on the shores of Little Loch Broom is broken as all five pupils of Scoraig primary school tumble into the autumn sunshine and head straight for the swings. |
| Making an arc so high it may pitch him across the water and up the peak of Sail Mhor on the opposite shore, six-year-old Rafael has energy to spare after a morning of maths. “It makes me sweat when I do it!” he says. | Making an arc so high it may pitch him across the water and up the peak of Sail Mhor on the opposite shore, six-year-old Rafael has energy to spare after a morning of maths. “It makes me sweat when I do it!” he says. |
| His classmate, nine-year-old Meredith, is eagerly describing her project to design and write a newspaper. Her father, Luke Richards, who has arrived at the grey stone school house to walk his daughter home through the fields, beams his approval at her progress since the family moved to this remote peninsula on Scotland’s north west coast a year ago: “She was quite shy in the classroom but her confidence has shot up since she got here.” | His classmate, nine-year-old Meredith, is eagerly describing her project to design and write a newspaper. Her father, Luke Richards, who has arrived at the grey stone school house to walk his daughter home through the fields, beams his approval at her progress since the family moved to this remote peninsula on Scotland’s north west coast a year ago: “She was quite shy in the classroom but her confidence has shot up since she got here.” |
| Parents need no convincing of the educational potential of this tiny school which, despite its isolated location, is evidently well-resourced with four computers and shelves heavy with books, musical instruments and craft materials. But Scoraig Primary currently lacks one essential element: a permanent teacher. | Parents need no convincing of the educational potential of this tiny school which, despite its isolated location, is evidently well-resourced with four computers and shelves heavy with books, musical instruments and craft materials. But Scoraig Primary currently lacks one essential element: a permanent teacher. |
| Highland council has now run two recruitment drives without making an appointment – the closing date for the third round of applications is next Monday. But, as Zoe Fothergill, administrator of the Scoraig Teaching Group, explains, the advertisements failed to make clear the unique requirements of a posting to this island-like community, with no pub, shop, post office or mains electricity, which can only be reached by water or on foot by means of a five-mile coastal track. As Fothergill delicately puts it: “Candidates have been surprised about the need to arrange a boat to visit and subsequently withdrawn their applications.” | Highland council has now run two recruitment drives without making an appointment – the closing date for the third round of applications is next Monday. But, as Zoe Fothergill, administrator of the Scoraig Teaching Group, explains, the advertisements failed to make clear the unique requirements of a posting to this island-like community, with no pub, shop, post office or mains electricity, which can only be reached by water or on foot by means of a five-mile coastal track. As Fothergill delicately puts it: “Candidates have been surprised about the need to arrange a boat to visit and subsequently withdrawn their applications.” |
| With the dark winter days looming, Scoraig residents are aware that continuing to ferry a supply teacher across the loch twice daily will soon become untenable, and have taken matters into their own hands, launching a more focused recruitment drive online which details the heart-swelling scenery and practical peculiarities of the location, as well as the cosy bunkhouse available for rental to an intrepid educator. | With the dark winter days looming, Scoraig residents are aware that continuing to ferry a supply teacher across the loch twice daily will soon become untenable, and have taken matters into their own hands, launching a more focused recruitment drive online which details the heart-swelling scenery and practical peculiarities of the location, as well as the cosy bunkhouse available for rental to an intrepid educator. |
| Deirdre Carney, who taught at the school for three and a half years from 2000, recalls warmly: “I used to think ‘I’ve got the best job in the world’. It’s such a great place to be a teacher; there is so much potential for learning from the environment and it’s the most neighbourly place I’ve ever lived.” | Deirdre Carney, who taught at the school for three and a half years from 2000, recalls warmly: “I used to think ‘I’ve got the best job in the world’. It’s such a great place to be a teacher; there is so much potential for learning from the environment and it’s the most neighbourly place I’ve ever lived.” |
| Although Scoraig has never been an organised community, the land – which was a thriving crofting area until the beginning of the 20th century – was resettled in the 1960s by three families who wanted to live off-grid and who built up the ruined homesteads together. Now the wild peninsula hosts around 40 households and, with more than 20 newcomers arriving in the past year alone, the demand for primary places is set to double, with five local toddlers about to reach the age of formal schooling. | Although Scoraig has never been an organised community, the land – which was a thriving crofting area until the beginning of the 20th century – was resettled in the 1960s by three families who wanted to live off-grid and who built up the ruined homesteads together. Now the wild peninsula hosts around 40 households and, with more than 20 newcomers arriving in the past year alone, the demand for primary places is set to double, with five local toddlers about to reach the age of formal schooling. |
| Though Carney will admit that wintering on Scoraig demands a degree of robustness – “if your first priority is creature comforts then it’s not the job for you” – she describes how local people and places were woven intimately into school life, with a resident archeologist explaining the provenance of ancient remains found on the coastline or a visit to a nearby falls offering a practical dimension to learning about water power. | Though Carney will admit that wintering on Scoraig demands a degree of robustness – “if your first priority is creature comforts then it’s not the job for you” – she describes how local people and places were woven intimately into school life, with a resident archeologist explaining the provenance of ancient remains found on the coastline or a visit to a nearby falls offering a practical dimension to learning about water power. |
| Related: Scoraig primary school seeks teacher – in pictures | |
| The suggestion that the post’s isolation – both professional and social – has put off applicants is swiftly dismissed by Chai Jones, who taught on Scoraig for seven years from the late 1980s. He also helped the community to raise funds to run a secondary school – the first wind-powered school in Scotland – before the Highland council arranged for older children to board in the nearby town of Ullapool during the week. | The suggestion that the post’s isolation – both professional and social – has put off applicants is swiftly dismissed by Chai Jones, who taught on Scoraig for seven years from the late 1980s. He also helped the community to raise funds to run a secondary school – the first wind-powered school in Scotland – before the Highland council arranged for older children to board in the nearby town of Ullapool during the week. |
| “The last thing Scoraig is, is backward. People tend to have a whole range of skills and if you don’t have them, someone else will teach you.” (Residents’ capacities currently range from violin making to wind turbine development.) “It’s a real cultural mix and the children are well prepared for life,” he says. | “The last thing Scoraig is, is backward. People tend to have a whole range of skills and if you don’t have them, someone else will teach you.” (Residents’ capacities currently range from violin making to wind turbine development.) “It’s a real cultural mix and the children are well prepared for life,” he says. |
| Jones, who has also taught in Glasgow, likewise believes that the use of technology in Highland schools far outstrips that in the central belt. “The more remote communities attract interest from people who want to experiment,” he insists, noting how schools on the island Eigg have benefited from a high-speed internet network developed by scientists at Edinburgh University. | Jones, who has also taught in Glasgow, likewise believes that the use of technology in Highland schools far outstrips that in the central belt. “The more remote communities attract interest from people who want to experiment,” he insists, noting how schools on the island Eigg have benefited from a high-speed internet network developed by scientists at Edinburgh University. |
| Now teaching at a primary school in Arisaig, further down the coast, which is also facing similar recruitment problems, Jones suggests: “I don’t think people understand what’s on offer. The difference in attitude only needs to be slight; going to a place without a road, you say to yourself ‘maybe I can learn to use a boat’.” | Now teaching at a primary school in Arisaig, further down the coast, which is also facing similar recruitment problems, Jones suggests: “I don’t think people understand what’s on offer. The difference in attitude only needs to be slight; going to a place without a road, you say to yourself ‘maybe I can learn to use a boat’.” |
| But this “slight” change in attitude is evidently not forthcoming and council leaders have called a summit next month to discuss the current staffing crisis – there are nearly 300 class and head teacher posts sitting vacant across the Highlands and the north east, despite repeated efforts to boost recruitment with “golden hellos” for new teachers, hiring drives in Ireland and Canada, and low-cost accommodation. | But this “slight” change in attitude is evidently not forthcoming and council leaders have called a summit next month to discuss the current staffing crisis – there are nearly 300 class and head teacher posts sitting vacant across the Highlands and the north east, despite repeated efforts to boost recruitment with “golden hellos” for new teachers, hiring drives in Ireland and Canada, and low-cost accommodation. |
| From his vantage point sitting across the apex of the swings, seven-year-old Jack Sangster had a simple message for anyone considering applying to be his teacher: “I’d probably say, there’s fresh air and it’s quite isolated from everywhere else in the world, but there is a place right here for you with a warm hearth.” He pauses to consider whether he has left out any other compelling attributes, then adds: “And it’s a beautifully clean school!” | From his vantage point sitting across the apex of the swings, seven-year-old Jack Sangster had a simple message for anyone considering applying to be his teacher: “I’d probably say, there’s fresh air and it’s quite isolated from everywhere else in the world, but there is a place right here for you with a warm hearth.” He pauses to consider whether he has left out any other compelling attributes, then adds: “And it’s a beautifully clean school!” |