A DVD designed to help Gaelic early years staff make the most of Curriculum for Excellence has been launched.
The resource shares practical examples of the new curriculum in action and highlights the many different ways that children can learn and develop Gaelic language skills. It includes film clips of real examples in a variety of contexts and suggestions for using meaningful Gaelic play-based and active learning across the eight areas of the curriculum.
Education Secretary Michael Russell said:
"Curriculum for Excellence is designed to bring learning to life and offer a joined up approach from 3 - 18. It offers a fantastic opportunity for staff working with children in the vital early years of their lives to develop creative and innovative approaches to helping pupils learn.
"Children learning Gaelic in the earliest years of their education have the best opportunity to be able to use the language in every day life. That's why this is a key part of our drive to increase the number of young Gaelic speakers and ensure the language thrives.
"This DVD will help staff use the new curriculum to boost pupils learning by offering ideas on how to teach Gaelic in nurseries. There are many good ideas from involving pupils in relevant activities in the local community so that they get used to hearing Gaelic spoken to using traditional Gaelic songs and poems to build literacy skills.
"I hope this will provide inspiration for staff working in Gaelic Medium nurseries and primary schools and make sure pupils beginning to learn through Gaelic benefit from the play based approach to learning that's so successful in the early years."
Examples of good emerging practice were captured in five settings from across Scotland. The section of Language Learning and Developments features children learning Gaelic in a range of activities. These include engaging with the wider Gaelic community, using ICT and active learning activities. Gaelic practitioners will be provided with information on how children acquire language and how they then progress to be bilingual and bi-literate. The DVD has been produced by Learning and Teaching Scotland. Copies have been sent to all pre-school and primary settings which provide Gaelic Medium education.
The Scottish Government's innovative Engage for Education site allows users to read blogs from Ministers, post comments and get involved in workshops on issues relating to education.