Executive summary of inspection findings
Strategic planning
The status of Gàidhlig is becoming stronger and more firmly established as distinct and important part of Scotland’s education system. HM Inspection findings for Gàidhlig Medium Education are largely evidencing important strengths that are impacting positively on most children’s and young people’s quality experiences. This is not consistent across all education authorities. HM Inspectors’ findings also show that educators should continue taking action to address areas for improvement, such as the secondary curriculum. Gàidhlig Medium Education commenced in 1985. Its continued growth requires clear and specific national planning and resourcing separate to education through the medium of English. Challenges in staffing and recruitment persist; creative solutions and national support are needed to sustain immersion.
HM Inspectors’ findings for Gaelic Learner Education are a cause for concern, with prompt and planned action required. In almost all inspections, HM Inspectors recommend that sgoiltean increase the numbers of children and young people learning Gàidhlig as an additional language in English Medium. HM Inspectors also recommend that children’s and young people’s progress is accelerated in Gaelic (Learners). Teachers should ensure that more children achieve Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) second level by the end of P7. Young people should continue with and commence Gaelic (Learners) at the secondary stages. The pace of national strategic and curriculum planning for Gaelic (Learners) is far too slow and fragmented. An overview and analysis of national attainment data for Gaelic (Learners) is lacking. This is an important action needed to increase ambition and track progress in raising the number of speakers of Gàidhlig and sustaining the language. Senior leaders and teachers need systematic processes and professional learning to deliver the curriculum.
Sustainable curriculum
Almost all teachers of Gàidhlig are passionate and effective leaders in creating a sustainable future for the Gàidhlig language. Senior leaders’ leadership of change for Gàidhlig Medium Education in bun-sgoiltean has important strengths, particularly when bespoke approaches are adopted to improving Gàidhlig. At sgoil-àraich and àrd-sgoiltean, while there are strengths, the curriculum lacks continuity and consistency across the country. As children and young people move from stage to stage, they perform well in Gàidhlig Medium Education. Senior leaders should ensure more young people benefit from having a qualification and/or award in oral and written literacy in Gàidhlig, and in curricular contexts. Personal achievements through partnerships, for example, cultural events and competitions are strong but learners’ participation could be recognised with formal accreditation.
Central teams in local authorities who have a higher number of speakers and learners of Gàidhlig provide more substantial bespoke support for schools who offer Gàidhlig Medium Education. Local authorities do not consistently recognise that they have distinctive duties in supporting schools to improve their Gàidhlig provision, separate to that provided for English Medium Education.
In the majority of cases, educators in sgoiltean design a vision, values and aims that directs Gàidhlig well. This needs to be a stronger feature of sgoiltean-àraich and àrd-sgoiltean practice for improvement. Most sgoiltean use a range of effective approaches for improvement to ensure all educators, partners, learners, and other stakeholders are actively involved in ongoing self-evaluation activities. Parents need to have their views heard more in strategic planning.
Planning for continuous improvement
There is much potential for the different stakeholder layers of planning that support school education and associated partners to connect more effectively. This is to show more impact towards meeting national and local organisations’ objectives for Gàidhlig, and that of local authorities.
Bòrd na Gàidhlig published the National Gaelic Language Plan 2023-2028 detailing the actions needed to strengthen the Gàidhlig language in Scotland. The Plan underpins the Scottish Government’s ambition to see an increase in the number of people speaking, learning, using and supporting Gàidhlig in Scotland and some of the support required to achieve this. School and local authority-based senior leaders’ planning for improvement should be articulated further with this national policy and aims. Senior leaders require professional learning and support that consistently considers implications for Gàidhlig of policy. HM Inspectors should extend further their support to the local authority and sgoil sectors with more self-evaluation and quality frameworks that are bespoke to Gàidhlig Education.
How Gàidhlig is governed, resourced and funded varies significantly between local authorities and supporting national organisations. Gàidhlig and culture partners should continue to connect and contribute more effectively to developing learners’ fluency and increasing the motivating contexts in which learning takes place. Their uncertainty on funding restricts sustaining longer-term support for sgoiltean. Sgoiltean do not have equitable access to the benefits that Gàidhlig organisations add to the curriculum. Teachers need more direct access and influence on the resources that local and national organisations do and can create for learners of Gàidhlig.
In local authorities who have a higher number of speakers and learners of Gàidhlig, teachers have opportunities to meet, discuss and plan for Gàidhlig. Teachers in smaller local authorities collaborate and network with teachers of Gàidhlig in local authorities beyond their own. This enables teachers to meet, moderate standards and share experiences. Headteachers of Gàidhlig provisions and central teams would benefit from more networks and professional learning on Gàidhlig. This should help to increase knowledge of statutory duties.
In the most effective practice, central teams in local authorities give sgoiltean feedback on the distinctive features and pedagogy of Gàidhlig Medium Education. Senior leaders and teachers use a range of evaluative strategies, such as visiting classes, analysing learners’ work and assessing their progress through focus groups. Teachers of Gàidhlig do not consistently get feedback on the specialist knowledge and skills of learning and teaching. Going forward, there is potential for local authorities and schools to collaborate, share and reciprocate expertise in Gàidhlig.
Senior leaders need better access to quality national and local data on performance and standards in Gàidhlig. They need more support in using this data to effect well-paced change that reduces barriers and plans for positive destinations.
Associate Assessors for the Gàidhlig sector who work with HM Inspectors use what they have learned from inspection well to support improvements in their own schools and local authorities. They share what they learn from being on inspection teams, within the terms of confidentiality, and from attending professional learning led by HM Inspectors. Associate Assessors deepen their knowledge on Gàidhlig and improve their skills in evaluating practice and identifying improvements from inspection. More of this type of quality professional learning should be made available to other teachers of Gàidhlig.
Learning and teaching
Teachers and partners plan a range of stimulating contexts within and beyond sgoil to develop children’s and young people’s fluency. This has been particularly important in reducing gaps in children’s and young people’s learning. In the best practice, children and young people use the language confidently, and enhance their vocabulary and grammar. Only a few children and young people use Gàidhlig unprompted for socialising in the sgoil and the community. Partners need to plan their work more as part of family and community-based learning.
At the àrd-sgoiltean, young people who do not experience strong immersion are less fluent. Their totality of the curriculum through Gàidhlig is not strong or consistent enough to impact enough on young people’s fluency.
Most teachers are aware of the best strategies to use to support children and young people with their learning and development needs. These are captured well in additional support plans for children and young people. Additional adults in the classroom support children and young people learn Gàidhlig and meet additional support needs more effectively. An additional adult with the teacher extends the range of pedagogy and richness of immersion that teachers use. Teachers of Gàidhlig need more professional advice on supporting learning needs in such areas as dyslexia and neurodiversity. They also need to be more aware of existing resources for supporting children’s additional needs when learning through immersion.
Most sgoiltean have the support of partners in taking forward the totality of the curriculum across the four contexts of learning. HM Inspectors evaluated highly effective practice when senior leaders, teachers and partners worked together to get solutions to challenges. Partners, in supporting sgoiltean, need to plan with teachers to be taking forward progressive language learning. They should consider their impact in supporting children and young people speak Gàidhlig in the playground and other social areas of schools. This maximises their role in raising attainment in fluency. A few post-16 providers provide opportunities to learn through the medium of Gàidhlig and to develop further fluency in the language. A few provide foundation apprenticeships through the medium of Gàidhlig. More post-school further and higher education learning, including foundation and modern apprenticeships for Gàidhlig, should be developed to impact on bespoke education workforce planning and local community industries.