Perth Grammar School pupils and staff have given their PE teacher Eilidh Child a hero’s welcome after she returned from the Commonwealth Games with a silver medal.
Eilidh, who combines her athletics training with two days of teaching a week, brought her prize from Delhi into the secondary school.
Headteacher John Low spoke on behalf of the school when he paid tribute to the 23-year-old from Kinross, who finished second in the 400 metre hurdles.
He said, “Eilidh’s achievement has been a massive boost to the school. It’s created real excitement.
“She has been an inspiration to pupils. Eilidh’s a great teacher who goes the extra mile for her pupils and gives a lot in her spare time. We’re already seeing the huge spin-off interest in athletics that she has created.
“Her dedication and commitment always shines through in her work and her athletics. We’re all really proud of her.”
Mr Low added, “Perth and Kinross Council’s children’s services has been superb in supporting us by letting us have Eilidh here.
“At the moment the balance between her work and training is right for her but I suspect that to go to the next stage she may need to go full-time with her athletics training, though of course we’d be very sad to lose her.”
Perth Grammar now gets a regular name check from BBC athletics commentators and by Eilidh herself in her trackside interviews, and Mr Low joked, “I think there’s only been one occasion when she’s missed a chance to mention us!”