‘The Big Ones’
We are very fortunate to have such strong ties to Bun-sgoil Bhaile a’ Ghobhainn, which is just across the road from our Nursery – Sgoil-àraich Bhaile a’ Ghobhainn.
We like to encourage interaction between the children who attend the nursery and school children, so that they have the opportunity to get to know each other before school, beginning their transition into that social world as early as possible.
Therefore, we like to invite ‘an fheadhainn mhòra’, (the big ones) over to meet the nursery children and to read to them in Gaelic.
We have consistently seen how helpful this has been to children transitioning to the Gaelic school, both familiarising themselves with the school children’s faces, allowing them to feel more at ease with them on arrival at school, and hearing other children reading and speaking Gaelic.
These trips help the older children as well.
They come into an immersive Gaelic setting outwith their school (which contributes to its normalisation for those who don’t have Gaelic at home) are allowed to use a lanyard, sign in like the rest of the teachers and become the ones with all the information.
They are encouraged to be thoughtful and responsible in their interactions with younger children.
These trips, through Gaelic, establish a precedent for those who take part. We know that younger children look up to older children and imitate them.
Through hearing and seeing the ‘big ones’ reading and speaking Gaelic, they are shown that there is worth in their reading and language acquisition without being told to think so by their parents and teachers alone, and that is worth a lot to small children.