Teachers in race to take up job... on island with just 9 pupils

EIGHT people have applied to become the sole teacher to nine pupils on a remote island.

The £41,418-a-year post on Muck, the smallest of the Small Isles, was advertised worldwide on Facebook, with the deadline last Monday.

The principal teacher job comes with a home for rent and a relocation package.

The new educator will replace Laura Marriner, who has quit after less than two years.

She was 31 when she started at the school in November 2016, after moving to Muck from Hampshire with her husband Dean, 33, and children, Charlie, five, and Atticus, 20 months.

Muck, which has a population of only 40 and is just two miles long, is a two-and-a-half-hour ferry journey from Mallaig, Inverness-shire.

Chairman of Muck’s parent council, Mary Fichtner-Irvine, described being ‘delighted’ by the number of applicants. She said: ‘There are eight applicants, which is fantastic.

‘We are hopeful that the right person is among them. Those who are thought to be suitable will be invited to come come to Muck, meet the parents and have a look around.

‘If we can get the right person in place by August, when the school returns, that would be great but we are prepared to wait for the right person and fill in with a temporary teacher.’

Mrs Fichter-Irvine added: ‘It is important to get somebody who can take to island life.

‘It is very important the teacher – and also their husband or partner – are fully committed to island life and the community. That they don’t feel frustrated or wound up with the weather or when the ferry doesn’t run.

‘It is an amazing community and a fantastic island.’

Muck is believed to have been the last community in Scotland without 24-hour electricity, before £1million of lottery cash enabled residents to install renewable energy.

‘Amazing island and community’