The growth of Gaelic education in Edinburgh | Fàs foghlam Gàidhlig ann an Dùn Èideann

Join us for a special in-conversation event as we bring together current and former Gaelic teachers in Edinburgh to reflect on their experiences and offer their thoughts about the future development of Gaelic education.

This event will explore the success story of the growth of Gaelic education in Edinburgh. Gaelic began to be taught in secondary education in 1956. Then in 1988, a Gaelic Medium Education (GME) unit was opened at Tollcross Primary School. This was followed by a secondary unit at James Gillespie’s High School from 1994. As the Tollcross Gaelic unit grew, parents campaigned for a dedicated Gaelic primary school. Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce opened in 2013 in Leith. Taobh na Pàirce now has more than 400 pupils, and James Gillespie’s has 300 Gaelic-medium pupils.

Speakers

Donna MacIver
Donna MacIver is a Depute Head Teacher at James Gillespie’s High School.

Mona Wilson
Mona Wilson is the acting Programme Director of Primary Education with Gaelic at the Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. She was also was the first teacher at the Gaelic unit at Tollcross Primary School.

Karen Reid
Karen Reid is a Depute Head Teacher at Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce.

Chairing the session will be Professor Matthew MacIver, former Chair of Bòrd na Gàidhlig and former Chief Executive of the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

This is the third event in the series ‘Gaelic in Edinburgh: Past, present and future’ organised by Ionad Gàidhlig Dhùn Èideann.