School Of Three Pupils

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 30, 6 February 1939, Page 3

School Of Three Pupils

WlCK—Scotland’s youngest teacher has recently taken up duty at one of the most isolated schools in Britain. He is 17-year-old Peter McLean, who is now teacher at Keoldale (School, in the extreme northwest of Sutherland, only a few miles from bleak Cape Wrath. The population of this mountainous district, which is cut off from the outer world by the Kyle of Durness, numbers less than 20, inclusive of the lightkeepers and their families at Cape Wrath lighthouse. Peter McLean has three pupils in his small school, which, with its corrugated iron roof, stands on the narrow, rough road which winds along the 12 miles from Keoldale Ferry to Cape Wrath lighthouse. One of the pupils is a son of Donald Morrison, the ferryman, and the other two pupils are the son and daughter of Robert Lowe, shepherd at Adrie. Behind Peter ’s debut as a teacher lies the story of a courageous struggle against misfortune. Two years ago, Peter, whose home is ift Kinlochbervie on the west coast of Sutherland, was a high-standing pupil at Golspie Technical (School. He was knocked down in a road accident and seriously injured. Although he recovered and was able to walk and cycle, his health was affected. But owing to his record as a pupil, it was found possible to appoint him as an uncertificated teacher at Keoldale school. This meant that the lad did not have to attend a Training .College course in the city. Peter is a Gaelic singer, and was a prize-winner at the last Sutherland Gaelic Mod. As there is no schoolhouse attached to his little school, Peter stays with Mr and Mrs Lowe, parents of two of his pupils. So teacher and pupils go to and from school together. The school is liable to change its situation from time to time. It is a portable erection, and can be quickly moved to the point most convenient for the pupils, who live at considerable distances from each other in this wide, sparsely-populated district. A Scotsman rushed into the hospital, bleeding from a cut in the cheek. “Done while shaving, I suppose?” said the doctor. “You want me to stop that for you?’’ “Not necessarily,” replied the Scot. “I was just wonderin’ how much you na.v for blood transfusions!”