INVERCLYDE education bosses are proposing to provide Gaelic medium secondary education at a local high school.
Classes would be provided at Inverclyde Academy from August 2022 under a plan being put to councillors for approval.
Inverclyde provides primary and nursery Gaelic education at Whinhill Primary school, Greenock, but pupils wishing to continue Gaelic into secondary education currently make a placing request to attend Glasgow Gaelic school.
For the academic year 2020/21, Glasgow Gaelic School turned down the placing requests from Inverclyde, although later accepted them.
A report by officials states: “As Glasgow Gaelic school continues to expand, it is highly likely that the school will not be able to accommodate placing requests in the future.
“Whilst there is no statutory requirement for a local authority to provide secondary Gaelic, education services are extremely keen for the pupils to continue in Gaelic medium.
“Work to date and research undertaken by the education department has identified that the preferred option is to set up Gaelic provision in an Inverclyde secondary school (Inverclyde Academy) from August 2022/23.
“This means that certainty over continuity of secondary Gaelic provision can be guaranteed and avoids the ongoing uncertainty linked to placing requests.”
An application for funding has been made.
The report continues: “Inverclyde Academy is the secondary school linked to Whinhill Primary so provides the most obvious transition for pupils to progress on with their primary school peers.
“A further advantage of Inverclyde Academy is that it has the space to offer a wider Gaelic curriculum as numbers increase. The senior leadership team in the school are also committed to working with their feeder primary school of Whinhill to promote Gaelic culture and provide opportunities for joint working promoting Gaelic arts and culture.”
It’s also proposed that an advisory group is set up to consider options for medium and longer term Gaelic provision in Inverclyde.
