Solitary pupil gets the one-to-one treatment

When Britain's most exclusive school opens tomorrow for the first time in nine months, there won't be any of the chaos usually associated with first-day registration.

The only pupil at the primary school on the Shetland isle of Papa Stour is a shy six-year-old girl, who will benefit from a teacher-student ratio unrivalled by even the most expensive fee-paying schools.

And although only 24 people live in the former Viking settlement, its school is remarkably well equipped. Along with the school secretary and three computers, the new teacher, Jane Puckey, has at her disposal a television, video recorder, modern office, numerous storerooms, a separate art room and a school house with three bedrooms.

"It has everything a teacher could want," said the 59-year-old who landed the job after just two people responded to a UK-wide recruitment campaign.

"The ability to provide individual one-to-one attention all day, every day, is a major benefit for the child and satisfying for me as a teacher. Hopefully we will have some more pupils soon as there are a couple of children on the island reaching school age and they will be joining us soon," said Ms Puckey.

The school shut last summer when the last teachers, a couple who had taught there for years, retired and the only other pupil moved on to secondary school.