New Gaelic Medium Primary Unit for the Glen Urquhart area

[castledangerous]

That's good news.

Here in Wales there is an official bilingual policy and the teaching of Welsh is compulsory in schools. Many schools even teach through the medium of Welsh.

I don't believe that there is actually a policy like that in Scotland. Much of that may be because Gallic was not univerally spoken there whereas in Wales, Welsh once was.

Well, that depends on how far back you are considering. If you went back before the Anglo-Saxon invasions, then there certainly would have been a time when Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) was the chief language. For example, "Scottish Gaelic was spoken throughout Scotland (apart from small areas in the extreme south-east and north-east) between the 9th and 11th centuries...." from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/gaelic.htm

[piperdbh]

Make sure to let the teachers know that you appreciate their willingness to adapt their methods and materials to Gaelic. Are they using English, too, or is the school Gaelic-only?

[Rab Gordon]

It's just a small unit of a few kids so far within the main school, hopefully it will grow as more choose it. There's one Gaelic speaking teacher for the unit and we're expecting a new teaching assistant tomorrow and the idea is that the teaching will be done in Gaelic or mainly so.

Rab

Make sure to let the teachers know that you appreciate their willingness to adapt their methods and materials to Gaelic. Are they using English, too, or is the school Gaelic-only?

[BobsYourUncle]

It's just a small unit of a few kids so far within the main school, hopefully it will grow as more choose it. There's one Gaelic speaking teacher for the unit and we're expecting a new teaching assistant tomorrow and the idea is that the teaching will be done in Gaelic or mainly so.

Rab

This is an intriguing development. Could you keep us posted about your son's experiences there? And how widespread are Gaelic medium programs? Are they running all over Scotland? Thanks, BYU

[Rab Gordon]

This is an intriguing development. Could you keep us posted about your son's experiences there? And how widespread are Gaelic medium programs? Are they running all over Scotland? Thanks, BYU

We went to our first parent / teacher meeting the other night which was our first chance to really talk about how the unit works in practice and our son was proud to show us round his school. We were very impressed with the teaching and how his small Gaelic unit fitted in with the rest of the school as well as how efforts were being made to make a bit of Gaelic accessible to the other pupils at the school.
I don't know how many Gaelic Medium Education units there are throughout Scotland but they're not uncommon and the numbers are growing.

Rab

[McClef]

Well, that depends on how far back you are considering. If you went back before the Anglo-Saxon invasions, then there certainly would have been a time when Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) was the chief language. For example, "Scottish Gaelic was spoken throughout Scotland (apart from small areas in the extreme south-east and north-east) between the 9th and 11th centuries...." from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/gaelic.htm

Well indeed. I guess I was thinking back only four or five centuries of where the Gallic was spoken in Scotland.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Well, that depends on how far back you are considering. If you went back before the Anglo-Saxon invasions, then there certainly would have been a time when Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) was the chief language. For example, "Scottish Gaelic was spoken throughout Scotland (apart from small areas in the extreme south-east and north-east) between the 9th and 11th centuries...." from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/gaelic.htm

The Anglian kingdom of Bernicia was established in the southeast of what is now Scotland in the mid-6th century. At that time the kingdom of the Scots (Dalriada) was a pocket on the west coast. Scottish Gaelic became the chief language of what is now Scotland between the 9th and 11th centuries, when the kingdom of the Scots absorbed the Picts and then began to project its influence south of the Forth. Both English and Gaelic are relative newcomers that displaced the older languages of what is now Scotland: Pictish, north of the Forth, and Cumbric (related to Old Welsh) to the south.

Scottish Gaelic, along with Norman French (!), was the courtly language of Scotland during the High Middle Ages. At this same time the courtly language of England was Norman French. These courtly languages died out in England and the Scottish Lowlands simply because the nobility and their retinues were surrounded by large numbers of English-speaking commoners, including the increasingly influential townspeople and traders. This process took place centuries after the initial Anglo-Saxon invasions.

[Mike_Oettle]

While teaching in Gaelic might not be practical for the entire school curriculum, I am thrilled to learn that Rab’s son is learning in Gaelic at school.
Scottish Gaelic has been at risk of dying out completely, and its use in schools will hopefully turn the tide.
I would not argue that it should be taught in all of Scotland, since the country was never entirely Gaelic-speaking, but it would be most appropriate in the Highlands and the Western Isles, perhaps also at certain schools in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and in Galloway, too.
It is to be hoped that the Isle of Man will also offer teaching in its own brand of Gaelic.
The situation MacMillan of Rathdown mentions is much like that in South Africa with regard to the indigenous Bantu languages.
There simply are not enough texts for teaching in these languages.
Sad to say, the parents of Bantu-speaking children largely prefer to have their offspring educated in English only, which deprives them of their own culture.
But it would be worthwhile to encourage the extension of education in any indigenous mother tongue.
(The question of teaching immigrant children in the languages of their ancestral countries is an entirely different matter.)
Regards,
Mike