Remote island school - with 2 pupils - on lookout for new headteacher

A tiny island school with just two pupils is on the hunt for a new headteacher after the current one left because she misses the mainland.

The Remote Island of Foula near the Shetland Islands.

Applications are being encouraged for the job on Foula, 20 miles west of Shetland and surrounded by the Atlantic.

The successful candidate will have to be able to cope with isolation, powers cuts and heavy storms.

Nicknamed “The Edge of the World,” after a film made there in the 1930s, the island has a population of just 32.

Foula Primary School on Foula part of the Shetland Isles. Picture: SWNS

The school currently has just two pupils but one is leaving for high school on the Shetland mainland next term.

Current teacher Jayne Smith, 38, is leaving after three years.

She said: “I came thinking I’d do a couple of years.

Foula Primary School on Foula part of the Shetland Isles. Picture: SWNS

“Some people do backpacking. I came to Foula and that’s been my adventure. But I miss the mainland. I want to go while I still love it here.”

The new headteacher will receive a salary of £49,000 and a three bed home.

Foula, named from an old Norse word for birds, measures nine square miles and is made up of crofting townships on a narrow coastal strip.

There is a post office, but no shop or pub.

An advert on Shetland Council’s website invites experienced applicants.

An online posting by the school states: “This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is looking for an adventure.”

Relocation costs will be paid. The closing date for applications is Thursday, June 8.

The tiny school was in the news before when the chimney on the building needed to be fixed.

Builders refused to come to the island to fix it unless they were guaranteed to be able to leave the same day.