Apologies for my late submission of this!

As my setting is online, and our learners (and staff) come to us from all over Scotland, I feel that we have quite a unique perspective to offer in relation to how our school views Scots. I surveyed both staff and pupils and received over 30 returns.

My first observation comes from the attitude of our S1-2 learners when I began to speak to them abouts Scots. Some of them were instantly enthusiastic and began to respond in the chat with Scots phrases (“Ken fit like?” “lang mae yar lums rik”), others were noticeably quieter and even apologised for only knowing “slang words” in Scots. This was reflected in the survey where many of our learners stated that their knowledge of Scots comes from speaking it to their friends and families, rather than having learned about it in school. It was heart warming to read from one learner “I love this, it makes me feel really Scottish lol”.

Given the nature of our interrupted learners, finding a topic that resonates with them can be game changing. I’m hopefully that Scots might be that “hook” for some of them. However, I am aware of the need to tread carefully and ensure that other less confident Scots speakers don’t feel isolated or somehow inadequate if they aren’t comfortable using Scots.

In terms of returns from staff, again a common theme was the knowledge of Scots being based in informal conversations with friends and family, with the second most common usage coming from teaching Scots poetry. There was call from several staff to see Scots being embedded across the curriculum and being taught weekly at i-Sgoil in a meaningful way, although there is not currently a dedicated Scots policy at e-Sgoil at the moment.

Both learners and staff highlighted a concern for the language of Scots “disappearing” and many drew similarities between the need to protect Gaelic, Welsh and regional dialects.

Finally, we asked if the survey participants had a favourite Scots word and received some great suggestions; crabbit, drookit, scunnered, sleekitlodge, wheest and bahookie to name a few!

I hope the house move went well!

We are in the same about with Scottish studies focusing mainly on topics within social subjects. I'm hoping to encourage more of a focus on Scots Language if it runs again next year. 

I teach in Further Education. This year I am teaching the Scots Language Award in two contexts. At National 4 I am teaching it in the Start Here for Qualifications Course which is for mainstream students who did not get any qualifications at School. The main reasons for this are high levels of Neurodiversity (the majority of the class) and/or poor attendance at school and/or mental health issues. There are also a high number of care experienced students (about one fifth to one quarter). The Scots Language Award is super for these kids as it is something a bit different from traditional school and we can incorporate 'fun' things that the students know from home e.g. Watching 'Chewing the Fat', playing Scots Language Bingo, Singing folk songs that their parents like. In this way we are 'kenning oor kin'. It is also an excellent way of consolidating literacy in the curriculum as the students also do English with another lecturer. We also do the History of the Scots Language which is a great way of teaching the  broader history of Scotland and increasing the students feelings of citizenship which poor school attenders need. We consoldiate the history and language aspects of Scots by going out and visiting spots associated with the Scots Language e.g. Dunfermline Abbey the burial place of Robert the Bruce the first Scots speaking king of Scotland and where Robert Henryson translated Aesop's fables into Scots in the fifteenth century. This again makes the language and history come alive, increases citizenship and gets the students out and about visiting new places and going for walks as poor school attenders can be risk adverse when it comes to new experiences. 

At the National 5 level we just do the language unit of the Scots Language Award. This is the first year I have taught level 5.  Again there is a high level of Neurodiversity in the group.  These kids are gaining qualifications before moving on to do Care Courses so Scots is great for preparing future nursery workers for teaching Scots to young children or Care home workers who may work with older folk who are more likely to speak some Scots. The Language unit at level 5 requires detailed Scots texts but we also do Scottish Studies and I hope to do the primary and early years unit in this course and encourage the students to prepare materials to use with young children or older people as part of their assessment for Scottish Studies. 

There is a positive attitude to Scots in my teaching establishment. We do not have any truly Scots speakers but most of us know some phrases and see the value of the language in encouraging literacy, creativity and citizenship in our students.

I agree with Verena. I think it will be very hard to establish whole school/college Scots Leid policies because people are so overworked it will be hard to create communal head space to get it done. 

In my context there are constant redundancies and course changes as a result which then leads to staff stress, increased sick leave and even more pressure on remaining staff. 

I think at the moment it is about individuals keeping going championing the leid and introducing Scottish texts, topics and the leid where they can. 

Maybe there will be that wonderful day when there is enough time and space in teaching for their to be whole school/college initiatives and at that point we will have the groundwork in place to help that happen.