Aberdeen City Council has embarked on a new initiative to attract teachers to its Gaelic Medium Education (GME) unit at Gilcomstoun School with early success.
The city’s Gaelic provision is based at the school and has had difficulties in attracting teachers of the language. The new initiative has, however, already attracted a new student placement member of staff to teach the language and will continue to work closely with both Bòrd na Gàidhlig - the principal public body in Scotland responsible for promoting Gaelic development - and parents organisation Comann nam Pàrant to ensure adverts are circulated as widely as possible to attract staff to the city.
The council is also working in partnership the University of the Highlands and Islands which offers a Gaelic Medium teaching qualification as part of is undergraduate programme, to offer up placements at Gilcomstoun School to any student teacher with connections in Aberdeen.
This has resulted in the initial placement and it is hoped that the partnership will raise the profile of the school with undergraduate students with a view to encouraging them to apply to Aberdeen for their probationary year.
Councillor Martin Greig, Education and Family Services Convener, said: “There have been some notable difficulties in recruiting and retaining Gaelic language teachers in the city. The help from UHI in providing training and qualifications is already making a difference. This has been a good example of increasing educational opportunity through partnership working and he university’s support is greatly appreciated.
“The work to attract teaching staff needs to continue so that we can address the local challenges and enable access to the Gaelic option in schools. It is especially valuable to have a process for listening to views from pupils and parents.”
Council officers met with the parents of GME pupils last week and as a result regular monthly meetings have been arranged to discuss support in place and any issues parents wish to raise.
An action plan is being developed in consultation with Gilcomstoun School to ensure, where possible, that each class receives a consistent teacher and any Gaelic speaking staff are deployed to ensure maximum impact.