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 | | Wednesday, 3 April, 2002, 16:10 GMT 17:10 UK Head takes helm of islands' schools  Open boats are Scilly's main public transport A headteacher will have to travel between his classrooms in a boat after taking charge of schools on the Isles of Scilly. Paul Mulligan will be placed in control of all five schools on the isles - one of which has just five pupils on the register. Along with four primary schools, Mr Mulligan will also be head of Scilly's secondary school as part of a unique confederation. The primary school on St Agnes - the most southerly in the British Isles - has six pupils, and only five attend lessons on St Martins. Sharing skills Younger children from the island of Bryher travel by open boat to Tresco across a narrow sound each day. Thirty secondary-age children from the smaller communities have to stay in a hostel to attend school on the main island of St Mary's - where there is also a small primary school. The heads of the primary schools on St Agnes, St Martins and Tresco will remain in post as assistant heads. They will be able to drop most of their administrative work to concentrate on teaching.
The number of governors for the five schools is also being trimmed from 61 to 17. Mr Mulligan was acting head of both St Mary's schools until taking on his new role, which came into effect on 1 April. He was previously head of a large primary school in Bristol. Ofsted praise January's Ofsted report praised the achievements of the Isles of Scilly education authority - the second smallest in England - but said it was too small to cope with necessary improvements. Inspectors conceded the islands, which lie 28 miles off Land's End and have a population of 2,000, presented unique challenges. It praised some aspects of schooling. Criticisms included inadequate performance on computer technology. The islands' council now hopes to establish a computer network between the schools. | |   See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
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