(English below)
Air Diluain 26 Lùnastal thug Comhairle Dhùn Èideann aithris do phàrantan agus luchd-cùraim cloinne ann an FTG mun adhartas a thaobh leasachadh FTG ann an Dùn Èideann, a’ toirt a-steach fios às ùr mu na h-àiteachan a chaidh a mholadh airson àrd-sgoil. Rinneadh obair mhòr aig ìre bun-sgoile agus àrd-sgoile gus taic a thoirt do leasachadh luchd-obrach agus an clàr-obrach. Bu chòir na leanas a chomharrachadh gu sònraichte:
- Tha a-nis 11 tidsear aig Àrd-sgoil Sheumais Ghilleasbuig (JGHS) a tha comasach air cuspairean a lìbhrigeadh sa Ghàidhlig
- Tha aon den luchd-obrach aig JGHS air trèanadh Taic a Bharrachd airson Ionnsachadh fhaighinn, agus uime sin a’ lìonadh beàrn mòr.
- Bha fòcas làidir air eadar-ghluasad oileanaich C7 an-uiridh gu JGHS agus dh’obraich na tidsearan bhon àrd-sgoil leis na C7s againn an-uiridh gus seo a chuideachadh.
- Thathar an dùil dà latha de thrèanadh airson luchd-obrach FTG ann an Dùn Èideann san t-Sultain agus obraichidh iad air dearbh-aithne agus feallsanachd FTG a thogail thar gach sgoil.
Tha e na chùis misneachd an obair seo fhaicinn, a tha riatanach gus bunait a stèidheachadh airson àrd-sgoil Ghàidhlig nuair a ghluaiseas i bho JGHS. Ach, bha barrachd ùidh aig mòran de na pàrantan anns an adhartas ann a bhith a’ lorg àite airson na sgoile ùire agus bha an t-adhartas a thaobh seo na bhriseadh dùil.
Gus dèiligeadh ri mar a tha rollaichean ag èirigh aig JGHS tha sia seòmraichean a bharrachd air an toirt a-steach. Thathas ag ùrachadh Darroch (togalach leis a’ Chomhairle faisg air Gilmore Place a chaidh a chleachdadh roimhe mar leas-thogalach airson JGHS) agus thèid a chleachdadh mar leas-phàipear ro 2021. Thèid Darroch a chleachdadh airson cuspairean neo-theicnigeach, le teagasg cuspairean saidheans fhathast ann am prìomh thogalach JGHS.
Dhaingnich Comhairle Dhùn Èideann a-rithist gu robh iad a’ coimhead air dà làrach airson sgoil leatha fhèin, aig Craigmillar agus aig Granton, agus a dhà airson campas co-roinnte a bhiodh a’ toirt a-steach dà sgoil air aon làrach, le cuid de na goireasan air an co-roinn. Chan eil suidheachaidhean an dà sgoile mu dheireadh fhathast air an leigeil mu sgaoil gu poballach fhathast agus cha bhi gus am bi barrachd soilleireachd ann am biodh iad nan roghainnean freagarrach. Gus àrd-sgoil Ghàidhlig ùr a bhith deiseil ron Lùnastal 2024, feumar am pròiseas co-chomhairleachaidh a thoirt gu buil ron fhoghar 2020. Tha seo a’ ciallachadh gum feumar co-chomhairleachadh foirmeil a thòiseachadh tràth ann an 2020 a bheir a-steach an t-àite as fheàrr le Comhairle Dhùn Èideann. Feumaidh sinn a bhith ag obair le Comhairle Dhùn Èideann gus buaidh gach àite air a’ choimhearsnachd againn a thuigsinn agus a tha a rèir ar rùintean airson foghlam ar cloinne roimhe sin.
Na bu tràithe air a’ bhliadhna chuir Chomann nam Pàrant Dhùn Èideann (CnPDE) pàipear gu Comhairle Dhùn Èideann a’ mìneachadh prìomhachasan nam pàrant airson àite ùr. Tha am pàipear seo a’ cur an cèill miann nam pàrant airson foghlam bogaidh àrd-sgoile airson an cuid cloinne a leigeadh leotha Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn gu misneachail nuair a bhios iad nan inbhich. Tha e cuideachd seo a’ cur an cèill dòchasan a thaobh com-pàirteachadh coimhearsnachd, farsaingeachd cothroman air gnìomhachdan taobh a-muigh na sgoile, togalach a bheir taic do eòlas foghlaim ann an àite a tha so-ruigsinneach bho air feadh a’ bhaile, le ceanglaichean còmhdhail math.
Leis an fhiosrachadh a thaisbean Comhairle Dhùn Èideann aig a’ choinneimh cha b’ urrainn do phàrantan tuigsinn ciamar a bhiodh seo ag obaair agus cha robh iad soilleir mu dè cho practaigeach ’s a bhiodh na campasan co-roinnte – mar eisimpleir dè na goireasan a bhiodh air an roinn agus dè bha roinneadh làrach a’ ciallachadh airson àireamhan. Tha an roghainn air sgoil air leth mòran nas soilleire agus follaiseach ciamar a bhiodh e a’ freagairt air prìomhachasan phàrantan, ach thuirt Comhairle Dhùn Èideann gum biodh e na bu dhaoire agus gun toireadh e na b’ fhaide agus nach biodh e cho dualtach tighinn gu buil. Air sgàth na dìth soilleireachd seo thàinig grunn cheistean dùbhlanach bho phàrantan agus mì-thoileachas leis an dìth adhartais a dh’ionnsaigh fuasgladh.
Às deidh na coinneimh seo, tha CnPDE air innse do Chomhairle Dhùn Èideann gu bheil feum againn air fiosrachadh nas soilleire gus a dhol an sàs sa phròiseas seo gu cuideachail.
Dealbh soilleir, sgrìobhte air mar a bhiodh co-àrainn ag obair, a tha a’ toirt a-steach fiosrachadh practaigeach a thaobh a bhith a’ roinn àrainn, a’ toirt a-steach mìneachadh air na goireasan a bhiodh air an roinn agus dè bhiodh air leth.
Lèirmheas air gach àite mu choinneimh nam prìomh raointean a bheireadh cothrom beachdachaidh do theaghlaichean FTG agus Comhairle Dhùn Èideann.
English version
On Monday 26th August Edinburgh Council reported back to parents and carers of children in GME on the progress of the development of GME in Edinburgh, including an update on proposed locations for a secondary school.
Across both primary and secondary considerable work has gone into supporting the development of staff and the syllabus. Of particular note are:
- There are now 11 teachers at James Gillespie’s High School (JGHS) who can deliver subjects in Gaelic
- One of these members of staff at JGHS has received Additional Support for Learning training, thus plugging a significant gap.
- There has been a strong focus on the transition of last year’s C7 students into JGHS and the teachers from the secondary worked with our C7s last year to help this.
- Two days of training for all GME staff in Edinburgh is planned in September and will work on building the identity and ethos of GME across both schools
This work is encouraging to see and necessary to lay the foundation for a Gaelic secondary school when it moves from JGHS. However, of more interest to many of the parents there was the progress on finding a location for the new school and the progress on this was disappointing.
To cope with rising rolls at JGHS six extra classroom are being established. Darroch (a Council owned building on Gilmore Place that has previously been used as an annex for JGHS) is being refurbished and will be used as an annex by 2021. Darroch will be used for non technical subjects, with the teaching of science subjects remaining in the main JGHS building.
Edinburgh Council confirmed again that they were looking at two sites for a stand alone school, at Craigmillar and at Granton, and two for a shared campus which would involve two schools on one site, with some shared facilities. The locations of the latter two are not yet in the public domain and won’t be until there’s greater clarity over whether they would be potentially acceptable options.
For a new Gaelic secondary school to be up and running by August 2024, the consultation process needs to be completed by autumn 2020. This means that formal consultation will need to begin in early 2020 which will include Edinburgh Council’s preferred location. We will need to work with Edinburgh Council to understand the implications of each location on our community and which is in line with our ambitions for our children’s education in advance of that.
Earlier in the year Comann nam Pàrant Dun Eideann (CnPDE) had submitted to Edinburgh Council a paper outlining parents’ priorities for a new location. This paper covers parents’ desire for an immersive secondary education for their children that would enable them to be confident adult speakers of Gaelic. It also covers hopes for community involvement, rich extra curricular opportunities, a building that can support an educational experience in a location that can support a city wide catchment with good transport links.
With the information Edinburgh Council presented at the meeting parents were unable to understand how this would progress and were unclear about the practicalities of the joint campus options – for example what facilities would be shared and what did sharing a site mean for numbers. A standalone option is much clearer and obvious how it would fit parents’ priorities, but Edinburgh Council intimated that it would be more expensive and potentially take longer and be less likely. This lack of clarity led to several testing questions from parents and expressions of dissatisfaction with the lack of progress towards a solution.
Following this meeting, CnPDE has expressed to Edinburgh Council that we need clearer information to engage constructively in this process.
- A clear, written outline of how a joint campus would work that includes information on the practicalities of sharing a campus, including what facilities would be shared and what would be separate.
- A review of each location against key areas for consideration for GME families and Edinburgh Council.
To inform this process CnPDE are seeking funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig for research into best practice internationally to help evaluate potential locations for secondary GME.
CNPDE and Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pairce Parent Council representatives will meet with Edinburgh Council this week at the Gaelic Implementation Group to progress all of this. We will keep you informed of any progress on this issue.
