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Author: Karen Faulds, SCILT

In January we hosted our first ‘Show and Tell’, focusing on language learning in the Early Years. We welcomed three guest presenters to share their experiences and resources with the audience: Nickie Davidson, Gaelic Development Officer, South Ayrshire; Carole Howie, class teacher, Midlothian; and Gwen McCrossan, 1+2 Development Officer, Argyll and Bute.

Carole was first up and shared the work she has been doing teaching French through interdisciplinary learning (IDL). She commented on how this approach has been successful in engaging learners with language learning. Carole noticed an increased level of learner confidence in using French in different situations and felt an IDL approach made language learning more accessible for all children and all levels of ability. It was great to see how Carole has integrated language learning into other areas such as science. She commented, “I enjoyed sharing some of the things I have done. I would be really keen to see examples of practice from other teachers as well as they are always a rich source of ideas!”

Following on from Carole, Nickie shared her Gaelic resource, Leabhar Mòr Gàidhlig Brochan Beag (Wee Brochan’s Big Book of Gaelic) that she devised then developed in partnership with Richard Hill. This comprehensive resource offers a series of lessons to support the delivery, learning and teaching of Gaelic for children within early level and is taught through activities, songs and games. This project has been successful throughout South Ayrshire and if you are keen to see the resources and try them out, you can access them on Teams by using the Brochan team code: q756cjn.

Our final presenter Gwen shared a series of digital resources to support the teaching of French and Gaelic at early level. These included the Early Years French toolkit, an interactive platform with planners and resources to introduce simple French language in nursery or at the start of P1. The colourful and interactive Gaelic Failte resource also featured as did French play ideas for families. Attendees also received the link to Languages Family Learning, resources created by the Northern Alliance to support languages and family learning.

Feedback from attendees indicated they found this type of event useful, with one practitioner commenting that it was good to hear other teachers’ ideas and explore their resources. Another practitioner thought it was highly informative and enjoyed listening to the issues and challenges faced by fellow colleagues. Following on from the success of this event, we would be keen to organise another one in the future that spotlights languages in the Early Years. Do you have an example of practice that you would like to share? If you would like to get involved, please drop an email to SCILT.