Care and Learning Alliance’s Gaelic provision, Cròileagan Inbhir Narainn, offer high quality Early Learning and Childcare through Gaelic, funded by the Scottish Government, in partnership with Highland Council, for up to 30hrs a week for children aged 3 years to school age.
Gaelic Medium education
IS FOR EVERYONE
‘I never intended for my children to go to gme. We were stuck on what nursery to send our daughter to and we didn’t feel like the other nurseries were quite right. My health visitor mentioned croileagan and after having a walk through we knew that was the right nursery for her. Seeing my daughter learn a second language at such a young age was absolutely amazing! So we looked more into gme and we really liked the smaller classroom aspect, and the pros of having a second language feel limitless. I have no understanding of Gaelic and while it is a daunting thought at first when they start getting home work, there is so much support out there that its never actually held me back from helping the kids.’
Neither parents nor children need any prior knowledge of Gaelic to join us. We try to offer relevant support to families and use technology to share regularly with parents/carers, eg by posting videos of a new song or skill they have learned – sometimes sharing Gaelic word sheets around a topic with soundfile attached, or links to other organisations, as well as to our own Cròileagan blog [Cròileagan Inbhir Narainn – Care and Learning Alliance]
We have direct access to our own outside area, and look after 2 raised beds at Nairn Allotments, where we hold full or part-day sessions through the year, depending on current children’s needs, and are out of doors in all weathers all year round. Through children’s experiences, we strongly encourage independence skills such as dressing themselves and for children to learn to assess risk for themselves, with appropriate levels of support.
All children are encouraged to develop Social skills, supported by our Golden Rules:
Làmhan coibhneil – Kind hands
Faclan coibhneil – Kind words
Cluasan èisteachd – Listening ears
We aim to create a happy and secure atmosphere, where all children have space to learn and develop at their own pace.
‘I have had 3 children go through croileagan and even though each of my children are extremely different their needs have always been met. Two of my children were in croileagan when we went into lockdown and I will never forget the support I was given through that. My children’s key worker gave my kids weekly video calls, which were a huge help to myself and my kids at such a strange part of our lives. I have two children in gme primary school and I personally can ‘t fault our experience. My kids absolutely love going to school, and have such close friendships within their class but they are not isolated to just playing with gme kids, sometimes I feel they know the whole school! I would highly recommend gme to anyone, or at least to look at all the benefits it can bring.’
‘I never intended for my children to go to gme. We were stuck on what nursery to send our daughter to and we didn’t feel like the other nurseries were quite right. My health visitor mentioned croileagan and after having a walk through we knew that was the right nursery for her. Seeing my daughter learn a second language at such a young age was absolutely amazing! So we looked more into gme and we really liked the smaller classroom aspect, and the pros of having a second language feel limitless. I have no understanding of Gaelic and while it is a daunting thought at first when they start getting home work, there is so much support out there that its never actually held me back from helping the kids.’
