Parents

The resources in this section will help parents and pupils understand better the importance of languages and enable parents to better support their chidren in their language learning

Languages for all

We need Scottish education to deliver both excellence in terms of ensuring children and young people acquire a broad range of skills and capacities at the highest levels, whilst also delivering equity so that every child and young person should thrive and have the best opportunity to succeed regardless of their social circumstances or additional needs.

- The right help at the right time in the right place: strategy for the learning provision for children and young people with complex additional support needs 2017-2026 (Scottish Government, 2019)

Applicable to learning languages as much as any other area of the curriculum, SCILT wholeheartedly endorses the vision outlined by the Scottish Government in the National Improvement Framework.

The 'Languages for all webpages' will provide parents, teachers and learners with information and guidance that is underpinned by the inclusive principles enshrined in Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and The Interventions for Equity.
 

Professional learning opportunities related to inclusive practice:

Inclusion in Practice: The CIRCLE Framework - Secondary information published by Education Scotland about a badged professional learning module which has been designed to support equitable professional learning on inclusive practice for education practitioners in secondary schools and local authorities in Scotland.​ It is based on The CIRCLE Framework, a collaboration between practitioners in Edinburgh City, Queen Margaret University and NHS Lothian, that has been adapted for modular learning by Education Scotland.​​

A guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education published by UNESCO in 2017 and linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 for education.

How to include children with special education needs and disabilities post published June 2017 on the British Council website discusses the benefits of an inclusive approach and the teaching methods used in one particular school.

#IncludED in the Main?!: Report published in 2016 by Enable Scotland which outlines 22 steps on the journey to inclusion for every person with a learning disability.

Communication Access Literacy and Learning (CALL) Scotland: Comprising a Research and Development centre as well as a working Service unit, CALL helps children and young people across Scotland to overcome disability and barriers to learning. Service includes workshops, webinars and resources.

Right to Education: Breaking down the barriers: A massive open online course (MOOC) on Futurelearn by University of Glasgow. Exploring how we can support those who are marginalised and excluded from education. Does education for all, mean all? Follow @UofGInclusiveEd and #FLrighttoeducation on social media.

Scottish Network for Able Pupils: Based at University of Glasgow, this network raises awareness about highly able pupils and works with teachers and schools to disseminate teaching and learning developments within the research field.

Specific to languages

Critical Connections. Moving Forward with Multilingual Digital Storytelling: An international project which involves students, teachers and parents where film making is used as a means to encourage students to engage with language learning and embrace intercultural literacy as well as digital literacy. A handbook for teachers is available to download for free.

Multilingual learning for a globalised world: A massive open online course (MOOC) on Futurelearn by University of Glasgow. This free online course will explore multilingual education and how it can impact and improve education and even wider society. Follow @UoGMultilingua and #FLMultilingua on social media.

PRO-sign is a set of descriptors and approaches to assessment for signed languages.  It aligns with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) that is used to assess other non-signed languages. PRO-Sign has been developed by the European Centre for Modern Languages/Le Centre Européen pour les Langues Vivantes (ECML/CELV) based in Graz, Austria.

Moorfoot Primary and Garvel Deaf Centre in Gourock support parents of deaf and hearing children with learning BSL. In conjunction with Education Scotland, SCILT produced a case study which highlights how BSL features greatly within the school, in addition to the other languages taught and engages parents with their children's learning. Parents, pupils and staff share their experience of using and learning BSL and emphasise the value, significance and importance of all language learning and the impact it can have locally and beyond.

Capability Scotland's Corseford school in Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire supports children and young people with complex health, education, movement and communication needs aged 5-18 to achieve their potential. Children in the primary and secondary classes have the opportunity to learn Spanish. In 2015, Corseford won the ‘Making Languages Come Alive (Primary) category at the Scottish Education Awards. For additional information, see the SCILT case study of Corseford’s language provision.

Lingo Flamingo: inspired by recent research which shows that speaking a foreign language can postpone the effects of dementia by up to 5 years, this social enterprise works alongside Bilingualism Matters in various communities in Scotland.  The organisation’s mission is to engage with local communities and care providers to offer tailored outreach language workshops to older adults with the aim of delaying the effects of dementia by keeping older adult’s brains’ fit and active. 

Into Film puts film at the heart of the educational and personal development of children and young people across the UK. They have produced teaching resources with SEN focus to accompany films in a variety of languages:

LEANS Project - Working together with educators, community members and schools, the Learning About Neurodiversity at School project has developed a free classroom activity pack for mainstream pupils and their teachers to learn about neurodiversity. The pack aims to teach neurodiversity concepts in real classrooms and support inclusive attitudes. It will be freely available from June 2022.

Autism and bilingualism - fact sheets for parents about autism and language learning. These are available online and to download in 10 different languages.

British Dyslexia Association: Is it possible for someone who is dyslexic to learn a foreign language?

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