With a salary of £51,249, a four- bedroomed detached house and a school roll of seven, it is arguably the best teaching job in Britain.

There’s no rush-hour traffic to deal with either, as the head teacher’s house, on the idyllic isle of Colonsay, is just a five-minute stroll to Kilchattan Primary School.

The post is being advertised by Argyll and Bute Council as the present head teacher Gillian McKenzie is leaving, after seven years in the post, to take on a new job

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Today the school’s Parent Council is launching an appeal to attract as many applicants as possible, to help find the right person to settle into island life on Colonsay, population 130.

A house, with loch and hill views, goes with the job, and Grace Johnston, chairwoman of the Parent Council, said there are many other perks to living on Colonsay.

As the parents and pupils launched their Dream Job, Dream School, Dream Island appeal on Facebook and Instagram, Mrs Johnston said: “We have got

beautiful beaches, unspoilt scenery, low-class numbers and a lot less stress here than with a mainland teaching job.

“We have a really active engaged community and a very supportive and active Parent Council."

The Parent Council will be looking for someone who is ideally willing to commit for several years and is aware of the challenges that can be faced living in a small and remote community.

“We have one shop, one hotel and a cafe and we have good transport links with a regular ferry service and a twice-weekly air service to Oban.”

However, she added: “It’s a pretty good package for the job but because of our location it’s quite difficult to recruit people and the closing date is fairly soon, so we want to get the message

out as far as possible so that we get a good number of applicants, to make sure we get the right person.”

There are six children in the primary school, aged six to 10, plus one pre-school pupil, aged three.

Mrs Johnston said: “It’s been quite low numbers for the last seven of eight years but we actually doubled the school roll this year because we had eight at one time, but two have left now.”

The school also has a part-time teacher, a pre-school teacher, a secretary and two catering staff.

Interested applicants can find out more about the island and the job on the new Facebook page – 7 children seek headteacher for remote Scottish Island or

visit Instagram @dreamjobdreamschooldream island.

Retaining teachers in remote areas of Scotland has become acute in recent years, forcing councils and locals to adapt increasingly ingenious ways of trying to recruit staff.

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A teacher was also recruited on the Hebridean island of Muck after a Facebook campaign was launched by parents.

The hunt for a teacher on the small island was started after the previous incumbent quit less than two years after taking up the post.

Highland Council managed to slash teacher vacancies by turning to young graduate teachers from Canada to fill some posts. The Canadian teachers must have the appropriate work permits to stay for one academic year.

A spokeswoman from the General Teaching Council said: “The recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland is a complex issue which requires targeted and coordinated action.We are currently involved in a wide range of work to alleviate teacher shortages and help recruit and retain teachers.”