An exciting new initiative for P1 pupils and their families in Rockfield Primary School, Oban has got everyone talking!
Talk Bags – a series of themed bags full of fun resources – are now going home weekly to be played with by P1 pupils and family members. Talk Bags are designed to encourage children to develop their verbal literacy skills in order to support them as they learn to read and write. The need for children to be able to ‘say it before they read it or write it’ is a fundamental element of language development. The project is based on the concept of ‘talk homework’ as developed by educator Ros Wilson who also created the ‘Big Writing’ programme being used in Rockfield.
So far 15 bags covering a diverse range of themes including Fairyland, Music and Shopping have been created, and are suitable for children learning through the medium of English or Gaelic.

The project has been a very positive opportunity for staff to collaborate with parents, who helped choose topics, make and gather resources, as well as fill the bags. The school is particularly grateful to one parent who secured funding from ‘Awards for All’ for the purchase of durable bags and special microphones, which are being used by families to record their conversations during play.
Mrs Catriona Garvin, co-ordinator of the Talk Bag project, said,
“We are delighted at the positive feedback we have had to our Talk Bags from families and pupils alike. The children are very excited to be able to take their special bag home, and we enjoy hearing from them on their return about the fun they and their families had with the resources.”

Rockfield P1 pupils Daniel MacInnes, Juliette Main, Mirren MacCorquodale and Scott McPhee with their Talk Bags!