1.1 Overview of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 and the preparation of Gaelic Language Plans
The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005
The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 was passed by the Scottish Parliament with a view to securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding respect equal to that of English language.
One of the key features of the 2005 Act is the provision enabling Bòrd na Gàidhlig (the Scottish Government’s principal Gaelic development body) to require public bodies, such as HMIE, to prepare Gaelic Language Plans. This provision was designed to ensure that the public sector in Scotland plays its part in creating a sustainable future for Gaelic by raising its status and profile and creating practical opportunities for its use.
The requirement to prepare a Gaelic Language Plan
The requirement for HMIE to prepare a Gaelic Language Plan was initiated by Bòrd na Gàidhlig issuing a formal notice to that effect under section 3 of the 2005 Act. HMIE was issued with a notice in June 2008 and was asked to submit its Gaelic Language Plan to the Bòrd for approval during 2009.
Key considerations when preparing a Gaelic Language Plan
The 2005 Act sets out a number of specific criteria which must be taken into account by bodies preparing Gaelic Language Plans. These are designed to ensure that Gaelic Language Plans which are prepared are comprehensive, consistent and appropriate to the particular circumstances of the body preparing it.
(i) the extent to which the persons in relation to whom the authority’s functions are exercisable use the Gaelic language, and the potential for developing the use of the Gaelic language in connection with the exercise of those functions
This consideration is designed to ensure that the Gaelic Language Plans prepared by public bodies take account both of the existing number of speakers within their area of operation, and their potential to develop the use of the language. Generally speaking, the expectation is that public bodies with significant numbers of Gaelic speakers within their area of operation will develop stronger Gaelic Language Plans.
(ii) statutory guidance on the preparation of Gaelic Language Plans published by Bòrd na Gàidhlig under section 8 of the 2005 Act
Bòrd na Gàidhlig has published statutory guidance under section 8 of the 2005 Act, which provides advice on how Gaelic Language Plans should be structured, and on the content which public authorities should consider including in their plans.
(iii) the National Plan for Gaelic
The National Plan for Gaelic is a statutory document produced by Bòrd na Gàidhlig under section 2 of the 2005 Act. The National Plan offers a holistic overview of Gaelic development needs, covering language acquisition, language usage, language status and language corpus issues. It sets out priorities for Gaelic development, and identifies bodies which can contribute to achieving them.
(iv) any representations made to the public body preparing its plan about how it uses Gaelic
This provision is designed to ensure that public bodies take into account the views of interested parties in the preparation of their Gaelic Language Plans. The principal means used by HMIE of obtaining these views will be consultation with an appropriate range of its partners and stakeholders using well-established liaison procedures.
(v) the principle of equal respect
The principle of equal respect was incorporated into the 2005 Act by the Scottish Parliament as a positive statement about the value and worth of Gaelic, in recognition of the fact that users of Gaelic aspire to use Gaelic as normally as possible in their lives, that there should be a generosity of spirit towards Gaelic across Scotland, and that the language should not suffer from any lack of respect either at an individual or corporate level. The Bòrd’s guidance states that giving Gaelic equal respect does not automatically mean identical treatment for Gaelic and English, or that a particular level of Gaelic provision must be made available in all circumstances. Instead, it encourages public bodies to endeavour, whatever the particular linguistic landscape they face, to be supportive and generous to Gaelic development and to prepare their Gaelic Language Plans with a view to facilitating the use of Gaelic to the greatest extent that is appropriate to their individual circumstances.
Consultation on a draft Gaelic plan
The 2005 Act requires public bodies to bring the preparation of its Gaelic Language Plan to the attention of those with an interest in it.
Approval of the HMIE Gaelic Language Plan
HMIE’s plan will be submitted to the Bòrd for approval.
1.2 Organisational overview and area of operation
WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE DO?
As an executive agency of the Scottish Government, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) works independently and impartially whilst remaining directly accountable to Scottish Ministers for the standards of its work. This status safeguards the independence of inspection, review and reporting within the overall context of Scottish Ministers’ strategic objectives for the Scottish education system. The work of HMIE is central to Ministers’ ability to realise key policy objectives and to meet their statutory obligation to endeavour to secure improvement in education.
The supporting briefing to a ‘Statement on Scrutiny Improvement’ to the Scottish Parliament on 6 November 2008 provided the following description of the work we do:
"HMIE’s vital role in maintaining the quality of Scottish education will continue. They will maintain their focus on raising educational standards, stimulating improvement and promoting self-evaluation to support the delivery of national and local outcomes. They will continue to work closely with the health and social services bodies to support the development and wellbeing of all children in Scotland."
By achieving these broad purposes, we will contribute to the success of the Scottish Government’s overarching purpose and to the achievement of the Scottish Government’s strategic priorities, its related national outcomes and indicators, and its commitments including support for Skills for Scotland and the adoption of Curriculum for Excellence.
Our work supports the delivery of national outcomes in relation to people in Scotland:
The HMIE directorate with responsibility for services for children has been providing strong support to safeguard and improve the life chances of young people and families at risk.
Through inspections, reviews and professional engagement, we provide independent assurance to service users, Scottish Ministers, service managers and to wider society about standards and quality in education and other services for children.
Our work is about much more than bringing weak establishments and services up to an acceptable standard, vital though that is. We help to improve the education system in a number of ways. We constantly seek out good practice. We work closely with a wide range of partner organisations to disseminate that good practice through our inspection reports, publications and website, and through mounting our own events and making contributions to those of other key bodies both nationally and locally. We build capacity to ensure that all users have the highest quality education and services for children. We provide independent, professional advice drawn directly from first-hand evaluation evidence and knowledge of the education system as a whole. We actively develop and manage HMIE as a self-evaluative, flexible and innovative organisation which is committed to its own improvement.
HMIE works in partnership with others to support the achievement of national outcomes, including close working with Learning and Teaching Scotland, the Scottish Qualifications Authority, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC). HMIE will continue to work with health and social services bodies to support the development and wellbeing of all children and adult learners in Scotland.
HMIE has a broad staffing structure. This breadth, encompassing permanent, temporary and associated staff, reflects expertise from across Scottish education and is an important strength of the organisation. The staffing profile in HMIE includes:
Our framework document sets out our roles and relationships in more detail.
HMIE has inspected Gaelic in 52 centres, including nursery, primary and secondary schools between April 2003 and March 2009. HMIE inspects Gaelic medium schools as part of its sample of schools across Scotland. When inspecting schools with Gaelic medium classes, the inspection team ensures that the Gaelic class is inspected at the same time and reported upon within the published report. Where there is a Gaelic medium school or class, the report will be published in Gaelic on HMIE’s website. In order to ensure that we have the requisite expertise to inspect Gaelic language in any setting - pre-school, primary, secondary or college (where we use the term ‘review’) - HMIE deploys assistant inspectors (AIs) and associate assessors (AAs) in addition to HM Inspectors (HMIs). AAs and AIs are retired or practising teachers, deputes or headteachers who become full members of inspection teams. They undergo rigorous training for their inspection role and individually and together form a significant pool of expertise within their own schools and authorities. From time to time, HMIE will undertake specific tasks in relation to Gaelic-medium settings such as that which led to its most recent report –Improving Achievement in Gaelic, HMIE, 2005.
Across Scotland, fourteen local authorities make provision for Gaelic medium education. Provision comprises seventeen secondary schools, sixty-two primary schools and sixty nurseries/croileagan. Six colleges provide Gaelic teaching or Gaelic-medium education and again HMIE reviews these as part of its inspection sample of colleges across Scotland.
Nationally, there are around 2,600 primary and secondary schoolchildren in Gaelic-medium education (GME) at present, with a further some 850 children in Gaelic-medium nurseries. Within English-medium education, between 2,500 and 3,000 learners study Gaelic as a secondary subject each year between S1 and S61. Many children in English-medium primary schools take part in the Gaelic Language in the Primary School scheme each year: around 6,000 children in the 2008/2009 session2.
1.3 Overview of HMIE’s support for Gaelic development
HMIE will work to carry out the targets of its Gaelic Language Plan with rigour.
HMIE has recently appointed an additional Gaelic-speaking inspector to inspect schools and to carry out Gaelic-related tasks.
HMIE makes good use of a Gaelic-speaking team of two HMIs, an Assistant Inspector and Associate Assessors who are trained to inspect in educational centres including pre-school.
Currently school reports are published in English and Gaelic in pre-school establishments, primary and secondary schools where Gaelic is taught as a subject and in colleges as appropriate where Gaelic provision exists.
HMIE has organised conferences for Gaelic-medium teachers and published reports such as Improving Achievement in Gaelic, 2005.
With key education partners, HMIE will jointly host a conference every two years or so to provide a platform for discussion of Gaelic educational developments.
With funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, HMIE published a range of documentation related to The Journey to Excellence (JTE) including: leaflets; posters; How good is our school? Third Edition; Child at the Centre, Second edition; and The Journey to Excellence Parts 1, 2 and 4. Further documentation relating to Curriculum for Excellence will be translated into Gaelic.
HMIE is currently producing a series of short film clips of good classroom practice in Gaelic to be added to the JTE website.