Dedicated to village school
Tribute was paid this week to an inspiring teacher who devoted much of her life to education.
Ailsa Stirling was for many years headteacher of Croftamie Primary School near Drymen.
Much-loved Ailsa died at the end of December at the age of 89 but has left a legacy of learning in a long life characterised by educational success.
She was the only teacher at the tiny school in the hamlet of Croftamie in an era when single teacher rural schools were cherished. She was well known in the field of education.
Ailsa was born in Glasgow in 1927 and after qualifying as a teacher her first job was in the east end of Glasgow.
Ailsa also taught in East Lothian before taking on her first school as the only teacher in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.
She then came to Croftamie, where her long service lasted from 1967 to 1992.
Her expertise in small schools was such that she attended an international conference each year focusing on education in sparsely populated areas, attending from 1969 until 2009.
She spoke often at conferences in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia and shared her experience of her teaching career.
Ailsa was a well known and popular Burns speaker throughout central Scotland.
When she retired in 1992 villagers bought her a camera and friends from another school provided her with a new bike.
He ambition was to travel the world and she did that, travelling to all corners of the world from the Arctic to the Antarctic, enjoying trips to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Nepal and the Himalayas, China, Australia and Thailand.
She was a keen and active member of Strathendrick Agricultural Society, a public speaker of some note and enjoyed golf, curling, table tennis, painting and embroidery.
Ailsa could always be counted upon to help those in need in the area and was a familiar figure collecting for charities, especially as the organiser of the area’s annual collection for Poppy Scotland.
She took up skiing in middle age and joined Bearsden Ski Club, where she immersed herself completely in the club and its activities, both on and off-piste.
Her final months were spent in Balquhidder House Care Home in Alexandria.
Ailsa regularly attended Gartocharn Parish Church and Kilmaronock Parish Church, where a large crowd gathered on January 6 for her funeral.
Bearsden resident John Watson OBE said she was “inspriational” and a “guiding light” when it came to teaching in small rural schools.
John knew Ailsa from their time at Bearsden Ski Club, where he was club president.
He said: “Ailsa was an outstanding teacher whose devotion to the education and the wellbeing of young people defined her long and impressive life.
“She was undoubtedly a huge asset to education in Scotland, bringing unrivalled knowledge and expertise to the challenge of running small schools, something she did with great distinction at Croftamie.
“Ailsa will be much missed by her family and others in education and beyond, whose lives were enriched by her presence.”
Croftamie Primary School closed in 1996. Children from the village now attend Buchanan Primary School in Drymen. The former school building now houses the village nursery.
Devotion to education defined her long and impressive life