A new teacher is heading for a remote Highland school after the previous incumbent quit just a year after taking up his post.
Zoe Spyropoulos will start work at Scoraig Primary School in the new year, moving to the peninsula from her current work in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
She replaces Stuart Benjafield who has left the post after a year in charge on personal grounds.
Mr Benjafield took up the post last December after an international appeal to fill the post, moving from Somerset to live in the Wester Ross community which has no roads, no pub and no shop.
But he will leave his employment with Highland Council at the end of this school term.
Last night he said: “I’ve loved teaching the children of Scoraig and enjoyed my time here, however for personal reasons I am moving on.”
Bill Alexander, the council’s director of care and learning thanked Mr Benjafield for his service.
He said: “We welcome Zoe to her new job on Scoraig and wish Stuart all the best with his new ventures.”
The primary school currently has a roll of five pupils.
Scoraig sits on a peninsula between Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom to the south of Ullapool and is only accessible by boat.
Prior to Mr Benjafield’s arrival the council had struggled to find a teacher willing to take on the challenge of living and working in the area.
The Scoraig people stepped in themselves and advertised worldwide attracting worldwide interest from as far afield as Canada and India.
Speaking after he was appointed last year, Mr Benjafield said: “Somerset to Scoraig, definitely to be recommended. Truly, a stunning place with a very special, warm and welcoming community.
“I was so pleased and delighted to be offered the opportunity to come and teach the children on Scoraig and become a part of this very bright and resourceful community”.
