Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Island school set to welcome first pupils in three years

The Isle of Canna
The Isle of Canna

An island school will welcome its first children in three years after a newly arrived family called a halt to being taught by video lessons from a neighbouring isle.

The hi-tech experiment on the island of Canna, hailed as a potential model for education in remote areas, started a month ago.

Under the old trial scheme Denise Guthrie was paid to watch over her three children as they were home taught by video link by a teacher on the isle of Rum, 16 miles away.

But father Gordon found that the kids were getting in the way while he tried to work from the same home.

So now a teacher is being sent from the mainland to teach the Guthrie’s three school age children and the mothballed school will reopen on May 26.

When the Guthrie family arrived on Canna, which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, they not only increased its population by nearly 50%, from 13 to 19, but brought with them the isle’s only school children.

The family-of-six’s arrival sparked a revolution in how their children are taught – with the school day coming over the web from teacher Stuart Poole on Rum, who also teaches Rum’s two schoolchildren.

The video conferencing equipment was installed by Highland Council.

A spokesman for the council confirmed that Mrs Guthrie was employed by them as a “school pupil support officer” at a cost of £10,250-a-year.

A spokesman for Highland Council said it was the first time it had tried the remote web-based school lessons.

But this week he admitted: “It did not work. It was a good idea, but re-opening the school takes into account the needs of the family’s circumstances.

“We have identified a relief teacher who is able to go to Canna to provide the cover.

“The mother of the children will continue to provide some pupil support once the supply teacher arrives.

“The IT equipment provided for the experiment will continue to be used at the school.

“The reopening of the school is at the request of the parents, who would prefer the children to be taught by a teacher in the school.”