I am Mylene. I am a secondary language teacher but currently teaching in primary. I also develop L2 and L3 resources for Midlothian.

Aye, aye, folks. Graham here in weet and blustery Kirkwall.

Ah'm an English teacher here, in the Higher Grade, whar ah'm towt for the last coman-oan-fur six 'ear. Afore that, I wis based oot on the island o Westray, whar the bairns really spick wae a real Orcadian accent, that seems tae be dyan' oot here on the Mainland.

Ah'm luckan' forward tae tryan oot a bit more Scots - mibbe focusan' on Orcadian, primarily - in me BGE classes ower the next peedie while, bit wae the sam mix o local bairns who undervalue thir accents and more recent arrivals who don't share wir wirds, hid might be a bit o a hit-an'-miss.

All the best fur noo,

Graham

Hello All,

I'm James and I teach Geography and Support for Learning at Lenzie Academy. I'm keen to extend my own knowledge of Scots and regain some of the lost words and phrases from my childhood. My big unknown at the moment is how this will apply to my own context. How can I integrate it into my Geography and Support lessons. I think there will be great benefits for some pupils who speak Scots (knowingly or not) and there engagement with learning in general.

All the best,

James.

Hi Seonag

I had never actually thought of your questions about exam contexts as I am in primary but it will be interesting to find out.

I am Emma I teach 2nd level in a primary school, just now.  I am really interested in the course and how I can make more use of the Scots Langauge in class.  I do use it already for writing descriptions of characters but want to do more.  

It is hugely interesting to me how when I was a child when I spoke Scots I was told to speak properly stop speaking slang at school and so it dwindled for myself to just the odd phrase that I remember my dad saying.  I am glad this has changed and that more is being done to encourage this beautiful language.  The fact that books are being written in different scots dialects is also braw!

cheerio the nou

Emma

Hi Seonag and all,

thank you for being so proactive and starting with your lovely introductions! Great to see the depth and breadth of backgrounds and expertise here in the group!

And here's my introduction for you :-)

Hi all,

I'm Verena and I teach English at Arbroath High School.  I have a keen interest in Literacy and working with pupils that have additional needs.  I have had an interest in Scots Language for a number of years and although I taught Scottish Studies at level 4 a couple of years ago, I found I was not at all confident teaching the language unit.  I am keen to develop my skills and confidence and hopefully help get Scots embedded across the school at all levels.

Hello everyone, 

I'm Eilish and currently teaching primary in West Dunbartonshire. I am in the only rural school in WD so we are quite a unique wee setting. 

For myself, I'm from Stranraer originally so brought up with Scots/Galloway Irish but had a lot of that knocked out of me when we moved to Glasgow. I miss a lot of the Scots ways of talking that was so ingrained in me and it's quite an eye opener when teaching little ones who have very little connection to their Scots culture and language (I am trying to get used to skibbidi and Ohio's at the moment too!) 

I am really looking forward to embracing Scots in the classroom in a way that supports learners to use the language confidently and effectively in the wider world. As others have said, so many of us get told to 'speak proper' but I think that takes away what makes us unique. 

Eilish 

Hi abody.  I'm Catriona, I'm a quine fae Aiberdeenshire (actually I'm mair o a wifie these days!) and I teach History at Inverurie Academy.  I hiv been at the skweel for aboot 12 years noo.

I have joined the course mainly because I want to hear more Scots language being used across the school, not just for "special occasions" but in different subjects and contexts on a regular basis.  I hope encouraging this ethos will give Scots speakers a sense of pride in their voice and culture and new Scots speakers the opportunity to learn a varied and descriptive Scots vocabulary and an appreciation for the language.  

My main concerns at the moment are the workload and also using my Scots voice at school which is outwith my comfort zone but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Catriona

Afternoon All,

I'm David (Dov or Dave). A Primary Schuil teacher fae deep dark Fife but teaching up in Brechin in Angus.

I've had a keen interest in my native tongue since I was a wee laddie and I've found it awfie sad how little it's promoted particularly in my ane schuil.

I've been working closely wi Matthew Fitt for a guid few years since COVID to change this a wee bit and been helping a wee bit WI his website anaw. 

Noo am wantin to dae this course Tae just broaden my ane understanin o Scots further and embed it in my Schuil and train up ithers too.

Hi! I'm Liz. I teach at Lomond View Academy in Greenock. I'm a qualified English teacher but the nature of my current role has expanded to include numeracy. I'm interested to find out if using Scots in the classroom will increase engagement levels and improve literacy outcomes. 

Lomond View Academy

Hi everyone, I'm Angela, originally from the South of England, been living in the Scottish Borders for 14 years now. I teach with e-Sgoil on the interrupted learners programme which caters for pupils across Scotland with a range of backgrounds and Scots knowledge. I took Gaelic Nat 5 last year I'm always keen to learn more about Scottish culture whenever I can and apply it to my setting and make learning more relevant.

I'm also a Mental Health Officer, working with young adults in the Borders and had to learn to understand Borders Scots pretty quickly! I'm late to this introductory party as I'm just back from a week in Orkney and Shetland where I've been noticing Scots everywhere now I know what I'm looking for, mostly on tea towels in gift shops....

Hi, I'm Amanda Conn, a teacher at Banff Primary in Aberdeenshire.  I hope to regain my confidence with teaching and even speaking Scots, as I did in my childhood.  I have had an interest in teaching Doric throughout my teaching career but my main aim at the moment is to expand this further and also to support colleagues with this also.  Looking forward to meeting some more of you as the course develops. 

Hello Everyone,

I'm Sarah, I'm originally from the south of Northumberland but I've lived in the Scottish Borders for 32 years. Many words I used as a child in Northumberland are close to the Scots words I've heard in the Borders. I took part in a Hawick Scots language input last academic year with my P5 class which was organised by Borders Youth Theatre. The children loved the sessions and were really proud of the words they knew and could share with others.

I love learning about language and culture, I'm also studying Gaelic. Anything that makes learning more interesting and more engaging for the children is great!

Hello everyone

It’s great to get started and read all your introductions, I’m Kerry, a languages teacher at Bucksburn Academy in Aberdeen. I’m keen to learn about teaching Scots as it is a language I love and I think the pupils will really enjoy it, particularly those who struggle with or don’t want to engage with French and Spanish.

I’m looking forward to getting to know you all and learning loads more about Scots throughout the course.

Hello!  My name's Greta and I'm PT Modern Languages at Kelso High School.  We have recently introduced the SQA Scots Language Award, which ran for the first time last year.  The students enjoyed it and engaged well with it, and teachers enjoyed teaching it, so we're expanding our Scots offering - and I thought I better expand my knowledge with it!  It is actually the third school I have introduced the course to and I always find it goes down well, but until now I've had the feeling I've been flying by the seat of my pants a wee bit... could definitely do with a bit more solid knowledge to lend the course and my teaching some real academic integrity.  Looking forward to getting stuck in.

Hi everyone,

My name is Sandra, I'm a ML teacher based in Edinburgh. In the ML classroom I want my students to learn the importance and benefits of multilinguism as well as to raise awareness of the different languages in Scotland. I'm also a Catalan native speaker, therefore I know how important is to look after all languages and leave this legacy to future generations.

My school has started to introduce Scots in the English department and they are trying to get the whole school involved, so the seed is planted.

I'm looking to learning this language.

Regards,

Sandra Fernandez

Hi,  apologies for being late to the party, I have been battling an extended flair up of back pain, but I'm here at last. My name is Kate and I am a primary teacher in Fife, teaching mostly at 2nd level. I was brought up speaking Scots with my mother's family, and what was considered proper English everywhere else, especially at school. I do try to provide opportunities to engage with Scots in my classroom as regularly as I can, through stories, songs, poems, and other activities, but would like to expand this across the curriculum and all across the school.