GLPS is coming to you

Jan Kersel, one of the tutors for the national GLPS course will provide GLPS training in Inveraray.

2 days beginners’ training-  18th Sept 2019 & 2nd Oct 2019

2 days follow-on training- 15th and 29th January 2020

This is a fantastic opportunity to access GLPS without traveling to Stirling for 18 days training. This training provides an accessible alternative. This condensed version will provide an introduction to Gaelic in the primary. Contact Gwen McCrossan- gwen.mccrossan2@argyll-bute.gov.uk  to enrol on this course.

Oban High School- Wednesday 28^th August, 1600-1730

Lochgilphead Joint Campus- Thursday 29^th August, 1600-1730

Education Scotland will deliver sessions which focus on progression from first to second level in languages with reference to the recently published guidance on the National Improvement Hub:       https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/modern-languages-progression-framework This resource brings together all the national documentation practitioners need to plan and deliver language learning. Please contact Gwen McCrossan gwen.mccrossan2@argyll-bute.gov.uk to register for these events.

6 week block of beginners’ and follow-on French training being delivered by a language specialist in your area. Courses starting in August 2019. Click HERE for more details.

Well done to Melody Elizabeth Clark-Want from Port Charlotte Primary School. Melody’s poem was highly recommended in the ‘Other Tongue’ category of this national multi-lingual poetry competition.

For this poem I used Gaelic and English. I used English because it is the first language I ever learned and is what I use to write in all the time and feel most easy writing in. The reason I wrote in Gaelic is because it is one of the the languages people use on the place I live in and love.  I also wrote in Gaelic because it was the first language of my grandfather who used to teach me Gaelic, I wrote in Gaelic to thank him for teaching me. Click here to read Melody’s poem. Click here to read the full Anthology.

We are all super proud of all our children at our Science InExpo which was held on Friday 15th March. Thanks to all our wonderful parents and community for coming along to share 0ur learning ideas. Lots of inventions on show for our entries into the Young Engineer Award 2019.  Tonnes of creativity and innovation from our wee school.

Click HERE to see Strachur Primary School’s fantastic performance.

Every year, the French Institute of Scotland organises ‘le concours de la francophonie’: a national French drama competition for learners across Scotland. This competition is designed to value creativity in French and allow a large participation of all primary and secondary schools. Learners are invited to film a short piece, dialogue, song, or play in French. The competition is organised in two phases: local authorities choose their local champions and then a national jury selects the winners.

A group of 15 pupils from Kirn Primary School have recently returned from a successful exchange trip to Germany.

Kirn was paired with Hardenberg Gymnasium in Fürth as a result of a long standing exchange programme that’s been in place between the German school and Dunoon Grammar, for more than 30 years.

The exchange was an opportunity to strengthen the link between the two areas, and the Kirn youngsters were partnered with German students the same age as them.

Continue reading Kirn pupils help to strengthen German links →

To discover the latest edition of the Argyll & Bute 1+2 Languages Newsletter click  HERE.

This contains all the most recent updates on resources, training and innovative language projects.

The pupils of Kilmodan Primary School singing in Spanish and Gaelic at their community tearoom.

Click HERE to hear them singing.

Nursery focused on Italy, with a real chef making pizzas, P1 Germany with saurkraut and frankfurters, P3/2 Switzerland with cheese and chocolate, P5/4 Portugal with custard tarts and of course P7/6 France – we had pétanque with positional language, a cafe with croissants, pain chocolat, cheese and sausage, home made French World Cup football swap cards and Lotto!

Each class had food to taste, games and activities and a song or some target language phrases. The children learned about the host country in their own classes in the morning and in the afternoon took turns to be Ambassadors and show children ‘around Europe’. Click HERE to see more photographs.

 Click HERE to discover a resource pack for the European Day of Languages which is taking place on the 26th September. These resources are easy to use and will help to raise awareness of the importance of learning languages.

The comic, “Na Gaisgich” was written by primary seven pupils from Islay, Jura, Mull and Tiree as part of a transition project for going into secondary school. The pupils were all learning Gaelic as a second language at school and were able to create the comic as a result of funding from the Scottish Government. The book is based on folklore and fables from the islands, and all ideas were collaborated to form the final product. Social Enterprise Company, Magic Torch Comics, travelled to each of the islands involved to deliver workshops to enable the children to adapt the stories, characters, illustrations and plots into comic strips. The comic is accessible to all as it is written in Gaelic and English. Click HERE to discover the comic.

Click HERE to find out about all the languages training opportunities available within Argyll and Bute this session. Short courses for beginners in French and Gaelic starting in September.

To discover the latest edition of the Argyll & Bute 1+2 Languages Newsletter click  HERE.  This contains all the most recent updates on resources, training and innovative language projects.

Update: the deadline for the Open University course designed for primary practitioners to learn French, Spanish or German has been extended to the 24th August 2018.

The Argyll and Bute Sumdog Competition begins on Friday 16th March and will run until Thursday 22nd March so make sure all of your pupils are signed up and ready to go.  A trophy is up for grabs – and a lot of glory of course – so we cannot wait to see all of our schools taking part.  Tweet about your progress using #A&BSumdog or email Maria.Mcarthur2@argyll-bute.gov.uk.

The Pencil Point blog (formerly known as the Cowal Schools Literacy Blog) has moved from its original site on Edublogs to a new Glow blog.  The new blog still has all the great articles that have been posted so far, with more exciting posts to come!  You can find our new blog at: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/pencilpoint

Welcome to our exciting pupil led blog!

In November 2017 pupils from each of the 13 establishments in Cowal met together to discuss how we could share news about some of the brilliant things that are happening for pupils aged 3 to 18 across Cowal. The result is this new blog which is written entirely by pupils writing about their own schools. Many thanks to all of our pupil journalists and photographers. Well done to Macy Law from Toward Primary School, who won the competition to design the name and logo for our blog, now named “Pencil Point”. View this blog via the below link:

[Update 06/03/2018: The blog is now located at: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/pencilpoint/]