Latest news with #PapaWestray
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Would you move to a tiny Scottish island to become a teacher? Orkney island's search to fill classroom post - still vacant after SIX YEARS
A remote island primary school has spent more than SIX YEARS trying to fill a teaching post as politicians warn of acute staff shortages in rural Scotland. The one-day-a-week position at Papa Westray Community School – on one of the smallest islands in Orkney – was first advertised at the end of March 2019 but remains vacant. The long-running situation has emerged as new information gathered by the Scottish Liberal Democrats shows more than 1,350 teaching posts have had to be readvertised in the past two years. Papa Westray has a population of less than 100 and is home to the world's shortest scheduled passenger flight, with the record for the 1.7-mile trip to neighbouring Westray being only 53 seconds. Its tiny community school is supported by staff from Westray Junior High School on Westray but it still hopes to secure a teacher for the one-day post. Lib Dem education spokesman Willie Rennie said action is needed to 'make teaching an attractive role if we are to tackle these shortfalls'. He said: 'Qualified teachers are enduring years of short-term, zero hours contracts yet some schools are advertising roles over and over again without any success. 'This data suggests there are acute shortages in rural areas and in key subjects like maths. 'Terrible workforce planning has resulted in missed opportunities for so many young people and so many teachers too.' Despite the lengthy vacancy, the school has performed well and was praised by education watchdogs last year. And Orkney Council is not alone in the challenges it has faced filling positions. Figures obtained by the Lib Dems show 692 teaching positions had to be readvertised across Scotland in 2022-23, with a further 665 posts advertised again in 2023-24. Mr Rennie said: 'No-one believes education is high up the SNP's agenda. That's why we need a change of government to get Scottish education back to its best.' A spokesman for local government body Cosla accepted there are 'long-standing recruitment and retention challenges in remote, rural and island areas, and in some secondary school subjects'. The Scottish Government said it is focused on improving education and supporting teachers.
BBC News
06-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Three generations of family in Papa Westray football team
Grandad, sons and grandson in island football team 11 minutes ago Share Save David Delday BBC Scotland News Share Save BBC Three generations of the Hourston family played in Papa Westray's first cup tie Three generations of one family have helped an Orkney island with a population of less than 90 take part in its first competitive football match. Grandad Alistair Hourston, 63, and his sons Barry, Shane and Daniel all played the entire game for the Papa Westray team alongside Barry's son, 19-year-old Aidan. Nearly every man living on the island between the ages of 19 and 63 was recruited for the match in Orkney's Parish Cup competition on Sunday. The team - nicknamed the Doondies - was cheered on by more than half of Papa Westray's entire population - but lost 6-0 to island neighbours Sanday. The Papa Westray football team is made up of almost all the men of working age on the island The idea for the team came about after the island previously entered a five-a-side competition and realised there were more potential players. However, the Papa Westray squad has to overcome a number of difficulties for any 11-a-side clashes. The island has no football pitch so the team will have to travel by ferry to a different island - nearby Westray - in order to play a "home" match. Meanwhile, training has been taking place indoors - or on a small five-a-side pitch near the island's only school. For its first match, a special sailing was put on to take the team and supporters to the game and back. The second leg of the tie will be played later in May where the team hopes to score its first goal. The game was played on the island of Sanday Centre-half and team manager Alistair said that despite the defeat it was a special occasion for his family - which made up nearly half the team - and the island. "It meant a lot I must admit," he said. "Going out to the pitch - a great sense of pride because it is a small island, there is only about 80 folk here. "We lost quite heavily but actually the game was surprisingly good and having three sons and a grandson - it was one of those days you will never forget." Alison Hourston and children Alma and Archie came to cheer on husband and dad Shane. Grandson Aidan said that they had worked well together. "I got a bit of abuse from my grandad - but it was good playing with them," he joked. "Obviously dad has played with me out in the garden a good bit and in a five-a-side team so it's no different with an 11-a-side team, apart from a few extra folk." Alison Hourston was at the match to support her husband Shane - and the rest of the family - along with children Alma and Archie. She said: "I am getting very emotional about it all. "I have been jumping up and down I have been very vocal - I think they are doing good. "I am really proud of them, I am proud of them all." 'Discussed tactics'
BBC News
02-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Bronze statue is exact replica of Orkney's last Great Auk
A bronze statue has been unveiled as a memorial to the last Great Auk killed on the Orkney island of Papa is an exact copy of the last of the giant seabirds that lived on the island in original remains of the Papa Westray Great Auk have been preserved by the Natural History Museum in London. These were scanned and cast in flightless bird lived in large colonies on both sides of the Atlantic and was hunted to extinction by the 1850s. The statue was unveiled to the Papa Westray community after six years of fundraising, at a time seabird numbers on the island are in is the newest attraction on the island - famous for having the world's shortest scheduled flight from its larger neighbour, Westray. Island ranger Jonathan Ford first visited in pursuit of the Great Auk in 2005. He now lives in Papa Westray and shows visitors its sights and its birds. "I became obsessed with black and white birds," he said"I saw the last breeding pair in the British Isles were killed here. So that brought me to the island otherwise I would never have visited." He added: "If Orkney's North Isles Landscape Partnership had not existed we would not have received the funding. It's been a long process but it's been worth it." For the Natural History Museum's Joanne Cooper, seeing the statue for the first time was an emotional moment. In her role as senior curator she looks after the original Papa Westray specimen. "To see it so beautifully done with the texture so detailed in bronze was really staggering. It's just perfect," says Joanne. Mystery surrounds how the Papa Westray bird was killed. It's believed to have been shot after a collector placed a bounty on its head. The seabird could not fly, but it was an excellent swimmer. Islanders recall stories of a six-hour chase by men in a boat, which ended with the exhausted bird being clubbed to death. Now, it is part of one of the world's largest collections of Great Auk remains, which includes several eggs. Honest interpretation The specimen is too fragile to be put on public display and is rarely moved. "This is a really honest interpretation of what our bird is like now," said Joanne. "You can see the wear and tear of time and where patches are missing on the wings. It's authentic."Papa Westray would usually be noisy with bird life at this time of year, but local ornithologists attending the unveiling remarked how quiet it was. Within living memory the island would be home to 15,000 breeding pairs of Arctic Terns. Now just 200 pairs have been reported each season, with few chicks surviving long enough to new statue stands on the island as a cautionary tale of man's tendency to exploit natural abundance beyond its limits, which remains relevant to this day.
