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Original poster

Gaelic nursery

17 replies

alicewasahorse · 21/06/2020 14:36

DS (3) has been offered a place (in the Gaelic room) and we are torn.

He's happy in his current private nursery but I've heard so many good things about the Gaelic nursery and school. I know he's not guaranteed a place at the school but we would hope he'd get a place.

Lots of friends and family have gone through the system but we had DS later in life so their kids are all nearing the end of their education and they all had each other and their kids were already friends. We don't know anyone considering this route.

Is it fair to send him outside his area when the neighbours will be going to the local school?

Anyone with any recent experience that can help. I just feel it's a great opportunity that we shouldn't pass up due to the excellent reputation but DH is less keen.

OP posts:
cdtaylornats · 21/06/2020 14:45

If he speaks Gaelic all the time at nursery and goes to a normal school he will b at a disadvantage.

Mrsjayy · 21/06/2020 14:51

My friend s son went to the Gaelic medium class from P1 , 20 odd years ago they are now bilingual I think it's a lovely opportunity if you want to send him do it.

Mrsjayy · 21/06/2020 14:52

Friends son went to an ordinary secondary he wasn't disadvantaged

SqidgeBum · 21/06/2020 14:57

I come from ireland where there are Gaelic nurseries and schools, and kids who go to them do incredibly well educationally. Gaelic uses a different part of the brain to english so if you speak english at home and gaelic is spoken at nursery it is very beneficial to your kids cognition. They are also less likely to have issues with a third language later on. Being bilingual only has benefits. If I lived in Ireland still i would jump at the chance of sending my kid to a gaelic nursery.

I wouldnt worry about the friends situation. Many kids enter school without friends as they dont go to a nursery or childcare. Kids make friends fast.

IHaveBrilloHair · 21/06/2020 14:57

Why not?
Dd had a bf for a while who was at The Gaelic school, him and his sister are both bilingual at 20 and 24.
I can't think of any disadvantages.
When I was looking to move my Dd schools for S5, the league tables were sitting at- Jordanhill, The Gaelic School and Hyndland.
The first two were out of the question, so Hyndland it was.

IHaveBrilloHair · 21/06/2020 14:58

This is Glasgow obviously.

Mrsjayy · 21/06/2020 15:07

He can have at home and at school friends where I lived when DDS were at school we had a 2, school catchment so they did have out of school friends.

IHaveBrilloHair · 21/06/2020 15:10

Same here.
Dd moved Primary school and then High school, a year after leaving school completely and moving into our nearest city she still has friends from all four schools

Sodor1266 · 21/06/2020 15:33

My son is in GME and my only question would be: do you have any Gaelic or are you willing to learn some? Whilst in theory you don't need to learn, your DS will benefit more if there is Gaelic at home too. The current school closures are demonstrating the importance of knowing some Gaelic (I'm a learner). As he learns at nursery, you can learn with him!

Original poster
alicewasahorse · 21/06/2020 15:59

sodor1266 my husband has limited Gaelic but I don't have any. I'd definitely be willing to learn.

Sorry if it wasn't clear earlier what I meant was that a lot of our friends went thru the Gaelic system and it was great but it was a while ago and most of them have finished their education which is why I wanted more current opinions

OP posts:
Sodor1266 · 21/06/2020 16:07

In that case I'd go for it. Your son will have a great start with Gaelic in the nursery. There are so many resources available now too.

user1487194234 · 21/06/2020 16:14

To me it would depend on what your catchment school is
If it's not good I would try the Gaelic route

Glendaruel · 21/06/2020 16:22

When I looked at use of garlic in education system for my degree a number of years ago, there was evidence that children who were using two languages found learning new languages easier. There is part of your brain that assimulates languag e. It was found that where children learned only one language it switched off at an earlier age, but when they were processing two languages it stays on for much longer.

Sodor1266 · 21/06/2020 16:52

Our own experience has been very positive (apart from the school closure). Our son started P1 last autumn with a little Gaelic from nursery (not a proper Croileagan) and from home. He is now pretty settled with Gaelic; reading simple Gaelic and plays in Gaelic at home. He's also now very conscious of people speaking different languages and regards it as completely normal. He switches happily between English and Gaelic. So far we're very happy with our decision.

Original poster
alicewasahorse · 21/06/2020 19:42

Thanks everyone who has replied. Seems positive.

I've also checked the care inspectorate reports for both nurseries and Gaelic nursery scores 5 versus 3 for the private nursery.

On school ratings the Gaelic school comes 10th in Scotland and 2nd in Glasgow versus 270ish (out of about 330) for our local secondary.

All seems a no brainer

OP posts:
user1487194234 · 21/06/2020 21:10

Indeed that is a no brainier

IHaveBrilloHair · 21/06/2020 23:06

Jordanhill still 1st?Grin

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