Minutes of Meeting of the Gaelic Committee held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday 13 November 2008 at 3.40 pm
Present:
Mr H Fraser, Mrs I Campbell, Mr G Farlow, Mr G M Smith, Mr J McGillivray, Dr A Sinclair, Ms M Smith, Mrs M E Paterson, Mr C Fraser, Mr A M Millar, Mr E Hunter, Mr A Graham, Mr J Finnie, Mr F Parr, Mr R Pedersen, Ms J Douglas, Mr D Cameron
Non-Members also present:
Mr W Fernie
Officials in attendance:
Mr H Fraser, Director of Education, Culture and Sport
Mr D MacDonald, Head of Education Services, Education, Culture and Sport
Ms J Menabney, Principal Cultural Officer, Education, Culture and Sport
Mr D MacNeill, Gaelic Development Manager, Education, Culture and Sport
Ms F Hampton, Director, Highland 2007
Mr J Allison, Principal Administrator, Chief Executive’s Office
Miss M Murray, Administrative Assistant, Chief Executive’s Office
Representatives of Gaelic Cultural or Development Organisations:
Mr M Morrison, MG Alba
Also in attendance:
Mr C Thornton, Craigforth HACS Ltd
An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council. All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to the Committee.
Mr H Fraser in the Chair
Business
Preliminaries
Members commented on the late running of the previous Committee and asked that consideration be given to the timing of the Gaelic Committee.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr J MacDonald, Miss J Campbell, Mr R Balfour and Mr J Holden.
2. Revenue Budget Monitoring – 1 April to 30 September 2008
There was circulated Report No G-26-08 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport setting out the revenue budget monitoring position for the period 1 April to 30 September 2008 and the projected year end position.
Members commented that parents should be encouraged to register their interest in Gaelic medium education, particularly in remote rural communities, so that there was an identified demand to justify the appointment of Gaelic medium education teachers.
The Committee:-
i. NOTED the report and monitoring statements which showed the revenue
budget monitoring position for the period 1 April to 30 September 2008;
and
ii. AGREED that Head Teachers encourage parents to register their interest in
Gaelic medium education to justify the appointment of Gaelic medium
education teachers.
3. Launch of BBC Alba
There was circulated Report No G-27-08 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport providing details on the development of and access to the new Gaelic channel, BBC Alba.
The Chairman welcomed Mr M Morrison of MG Alba who gave a presentation in amplification of the report. Mr Morrison advised that MG Alba was the new name for the Gaelic Media Service which had originated in 1991 as the Gaelic Television Committee. Its remit was to ensure that a diverse range of high quality Gaelic programmes was available to people in Scotland. BBC Alba was launched on 19 September 2008 and was viewed by over 600,000 people in its first week. It was broadcast daily for seven hours, the range of programmes including sport, news, weather, drama, documentaries and children's programmes. As a digital channel, it could currently be accessed on Sky and Freesat, however, the aim was to make it available on all digital platforms, including cable and freeview. Mr Morrison concluded by asking the Committee to support MG Alba in its campaign to make BBC Alba as widely accessible as possible.
In response to questions, Mr Morrison advised that MG Alba had been in discussions with Comunn na Camanachd and there were plans to broadcast a number of shinty matches in 2009, including a Champion of Champions match in the Spring. Discussions would also be entered into with An Comunn Gàidhealach regarding coverage of local Mods. The coverage of Blas had been well received and it was hoped to provide coverage of fèisean in the future.
The Committee:-
i. NOTED the report and accompanying presentation;
ii. AGREED to support MG Alba in its campaign to have BBC Alba transmitted
on Freeview, thereby making it more widely accessible; and
iii. AGREED to support MG Alba in expanding the range of programmes
broadcast on BBC Alba to include coverage of shinty, local Mods and fèisean.
4. Staff Survey on Gaelic Use and Abilities
There was circulated Report No G-28-08 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport providing a summary and analysis of the findings of the recent survey commissioned by the Council on Gaelic language use and abilities among Council staff.
The Chairman welcomed Mr C Thornton of Craigforth HACS Ltd, the company which carried out the survey. Mr Thornton gave a presentation in amplification of the report and advised that the aims of the survey were to gauge the current level of Gaelic ability among Council staff, identify those who wished to learn Gaelic and provide a benchmark against which to measure future progress. Questionnaires were issued to all Council staff and 4,360 responses were received representing a 35% return rate which compared favourably with staff surveys undertaken in other authorities and allowed accurate analysis to be carried out. He highlighted the key findings of the survey with regard to spoken and written Gaelic ability, use of Gaelic in the workplace and interest in learning Gaelic or improving existing ability. With regard to the promotion of Gaelic, while 10% of respondents indicated that they felt the Council should not further support or promote Gaelic, the majority offered positive comments with the most common theme being the provision of better and more accessible Gaelic tuition.
Members welcomed the positive responses regarding the promotion of Gaelic. The percentage of respondents who had expressed an interest in learning Gaelic or improving their abilities was encouraging and it was suggested that the possibility of providing Gaelic classes within work time, both at Council Headquarters and in Area offices, be investigated.
The Committee:-
i. NOTED the report and accompanying presentation;
ii. APPROVED the principle of Council support for Gaelic learning opportunities;
and
iii. AGREED that the possibility of providing Gaelic courses within work time be
investigated.
5. Blas 2008
There was circulated Report No G-29-08 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport providing details of the performance of Blas, the festival celebrating the Highlands, which took place between 5 and 13 September 2008. The report included statistical analysis of events, attendance and finances, qualitative feedback collated from audience questionnaires and information about new elements added to the Blas programme.
Members expressed their appreciation for the hard work of all those involved in organising the Blas festival which, now in its fourth year, continued to grow successfully.
The following suggestions were made for Blas 2009:-
- the funding allocated to food related events in 2008 should be replicated;
- buffets using local produce could be provided prior to events;
- events could be recorded and broadcast on local radio or television at a later time, subject to the consent of the performers involved;
- audience participation at events, whereby members of the audience were asked to learn one or two Gaelic words, had been very successful and should be developed further.
The Committee NOTED the performance of the fourth Blas festival and AGREED that the Blas Board be advised of Members’ suggestions for Blas 2009.
6. Gaelic Teacher Recruitment and Support
There was circulated Report No G-30-08 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport outlining the current position in terms of recruitment to Gaelic medium posts in primary and secondary schools and providing information on the number of vacant posts and efforts made to fill them. The report also highlighted initial draft proposals to encourage new recruits to enter Gaelic Medium Education (GME), whether as newly qualified graduates or as “crossover” teachers, who were those with a teaching qualification and experience who were sufficiently fluent in Gaelic to work within GME.
In discussion, the following comments were made:-
- consideration should be given to offering financial assistance to encourage teachers to enter the Charter Teacher programme;
- support was expressed for the principle of offering financial incentives to newly qualified Gaelic medium teachers on completion of their probationary year and their first year of Gaelic medium tuition and it was suggested that extending this to the second and third years of Gaelic medium tuition would assist in establishing Gaelic medium teaching posts, particularly in remote rural communities;
- the lack of housing in some areas was an issue and consideration should be given to how the Council could assist teachers to secure suitable accommodation;
- some probationary teachers were not aware of the Gaelic courses available to them and the publicity campaign to highlight the crossover opportunities presented by the Streap course was welcomed;
- cash incentives could attract teachers who had left the Highlands back to the area and encourage teachers in other countries to relocate to the Highlands.
The Committee NOTED the issues in relation to Gaelic medium teacher recruitment and AGREED that:-
i. Officers should progress further discussions with Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the
Scottish Government, University Faculties and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the
measures outlined in the report, including Members’ comments; and
ii. a further report on the matter be submitted to a future meeting of the
Committee.
7. Highland 2007 Legacy Programme – Guidelines for the Promotion
of Gaelic
There was circulated Report No G-31-08 by the Director of Education, Culture and Sport presenting proposed guidelines for the recipients of awards through the Highland 2007 Legacy Programme on the minimum requirements to promote Gaelic as a condition of award.
Members welcomed the introduction of the guidelines and stressed that the minimum requirements should be exceeded wherever possible.
The Committee:-
i. APPROVED the draft Guidelines for the Promotion of Gaelic contained in
Appendix 1 to the report; and
ii. AGREED that Officials should work with event organisers to ensure that the
minimum requirements for the promotion of Gaelic were exceeded
wherever possible by highlighting opportunities to increase significantly the
exposure of Gaelic language and culture to new audiences and suggesting
methods by which such opportunities could be realised.
8. Gaelic School Consultations
The Director reported that the Education, Culture and Sport Committee had approved the principle of stand alone Gaelic Primary Schools for Greater Fort William and Portree and communities currently served by the Gaelic medium provision in Portree Primary School, Isle of Skye.
The Committee NOTED the positive development and expressed their appreciation to all those involved.
9. Gaelic Development Manager’s Update
The Gaelic Development Manager gave an update on issues of interest to the Gaelic Committee and advised that a Seminar, organised by the Council and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, had been held at Council Headquarters on 4 November 2008. The event, aimed at bodies which had prepared or were preparing Gaelic Language Plans, had been very successful. One particularly positive outcome was the interest shown in an informal network or forum of Gaelic development staff across Scotland’s public bodies which it was hoped could identify areas where co-operation could lead to efficiencies.
With regard to recruitment, he advised that the post of Senior Translator had been advertised with a closing date of 5 December 2008. Interviews for the post of Education Development Officer had been held and it was hoped that an appointment would be made in the next few days. This was a key post as approximately 50% of actions in the Council’s Gaelic Language Plan related to education. The closing date had passed for the post of Childcare and Family Resources Officer and a number of applications had been received. All three posts were important in establishing a strong and effective Gaelic team.
The Committee NOTED the position.
10. Valedictory
The Chairman advised that Mr D MacDonald, Head of Education Services, was retiring in early January 2009 and this would be his final Gaelic Committee.
Mr MacDonald had made a significant contribution to the development of education services in general and Gaelic medium education in particular, both in the Highlands and nationally.
On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman wished Mr MacDonald well for his retirement. He also expressed personal thanks to Mr MacDonald for the advice and information he had given him over the years.
Mr MacDonald thanked the Chairman for his tribute.
The meeting concluded at 5.25 pm.