Bunscoill Ghaelgagh

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Bunscoill Ghaelgagh
Bunscoill Ghaelgagh.jpg
Location
Bunscoill Ghaelgagh
,
Information
Type Manx language primary school
Established2001
Local authority Isle of Man
HeadteacherJulie Matthews
Staffc. 4
Gender Mixed
Enrollment69
Language Manx
Website https://bunscoillghaelgagh.sch.im/

Bunscoill Ghaelgagh is a government-run [1] Manx-language primary school in St John's, Isle of Man that has enabled 170 children to learn fluent Manx. [1] As of 2011 it is the only school in the world where children are taught their lessons solely in Manx and which allows children to learn the language fluently. [2] Pupils may then go on to Queen Elizabeth II High School in Peel where they can study a GCSE equivalent qualification (Teisht Chadjin Ghaelgagh) in Manx as well as up to two subjects in the language to maintain their fluency, [3] or to the high school in their catchment area.

Contents

History

In 1999 a parents' society, Sheshaght ny Paarantyn, was formed with an interest in establishing a Manx-language school. That year they approached the Isle of Man's Department of Education with their request. The school opened in September 2001. At the time it had one class and shared premises at Ballacottier School in Douglas. In January 2003 it moved to its own building in the old St John's School. [4]

The school won the annual Reih Bleeaney Vanannan award in January 2006 for its efforts in preserving and promoting Manx language, culture and heritage. It was presented by the then Speaker of the House of Keys, James "Tony" Brown, chairman of the Manx Heritage Foundation. [5]

Enrolment

Numbers continued to increase, from nine in 2001 when the school moved to its current premises [6] to 47 in 2006, [6] then to 65 in 2009 [7] and 69 in 2012. [8]

Manx language

First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond visiting the school in 2013 First Minister visits Manx language school Bunscoill Ghaelgagh,.jpg
First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond visiting the school in 2013

The school is considered successful and is part of the Manx language revival. [9] [10] After UNESCO listed the language as extinct in 2009, pupils wrote letters asking "If our language is extinct then what language are we writing in?", and the classification was later changed to "critically endangered". [11] Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (Ealish ayns Çheer ny Yindyssyn) is read in translation after 30 copies were presented to the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh by the Manx Gaelic Society when the book was officially launched. [12]

The school itself refers to studies that have been made in Finland that demonstrate advantages from bilingual education. Researcher Aini-Kristiina Jäppinen examined the achievement of 334 pupils in 12 schools on "content and language-integrated learning" programmes and compared them with 334 pupils studying only in Finnish. She concluded that a foreign language adds to the learning process and seems to improve results. [13] According to Jäppinen, "When pupils have to conceptualise and grasp issues in a foreign language as well as their mother tongue, it will help develop an ability to understand complex and multifaceted relationships between various themes." [13] The Finnish research used pupils who were studying three different languages (French, Swedish and English) and found that "the choice of (Second) language did not seem to have a major impact on performance" in a number of subjects including maths and geography.[ citation needed ] As the school notes, this conclusion is not universal to other previous studies. Studies at Luton University have shown that there can be a "trivial" delay in language development but the overall benefits in the long run outweigh this temporary disadvantage. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Goidelic or Gaelic languages form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manx language</span> Goidelic Celtic language of the Isle of Man

Manx, also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people.

A medium of instruction is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the official language, it may be used as the medium of instruction for part or all of schooling. Bilingual education or multilingual education may involve the use of more than one language of instruction. UNESCO considers that "providing education in a child's mother tongue is indeed a critical issue". In post-secondary, university and special education settings, content may often be taught in a language that is not spoken in the students' homes. This is referred to as content based learning or content and language integrated learning (CLIL). In situations where the medium of instruction of academic disciplines is English when it is not the students' first language, the phenomenon is referred to as English-medium instruction (EMI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of the Isle of Man</span> Overview of the culture of the Isle of Man

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St John's is a small village in the sheading of Glenfaba in the Isle of Man, in the island's central valley. It is in the House of Keys constituency of Glenfaba & Peel, which elects two MHKs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manx people</span> Ethnic group originating in the Isle of Man

The Manx are a minority ethnic group originating on the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea in Northern Europe. They belong to the diaspora of the Gaelic ethnolinguistic group, which now populate the parts of the British Isles and Ireland which once were the Kingdom of the Isles and Dál Riata. The Manx are governed through the Tynwald, the legislature of the island, which was introduced by Viking settlers over a thousand years ago. The native mythology and folklores of the Manx belong to the overall Celtic Mythology group, with Manannán mac Lir, the Mooinjer veggey, Buggane, Lhiannan-Shee, Ben-Varrey and the Moddey Dhoo being prominent mythological figures on the island. Their language, Manx Gaelic is derived from Middle Irish, which was introduced by settlers that colonised the island from Gaelic Ireland. However, Manx gaelic later developed in isolation and belongs as a separate Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic languages.

Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the Gaels, a sub-branch of celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread from Ireland to Scotland and the Isle of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Gawne</span> Manx politician and language activist

Philip Anderson Gawne, better known as Phil Gawne, is a former Member of the House of Keys for Rushen, a constituency in the Isle of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooish</span> Manx language festival

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Queen Elizabeth II High School is a mixed comprehensive school in Peel, Isle of Man.

Mooinjer veggey is the Manx for little people, a term used for fairies in Gaelic lore. The equivalent Irish and Scottish Gaelic are Muintir Bheaga and Muinntir Bheaga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Stowell</span> Manx writer

Thomas Brian Stowell, also known as Brian Mac Stoyll, was a Manx radio personality, linguist, physicist, and author. He was formerly Yn Lhaihder to the Parliament of the Isle of Man, Tynwald. He is considered one of the primary people behind the revival of the Manx language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Gaelic-medium education</span> Education delivered in Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic-medium education, also known as Gaelic-medium education (GME), is a form of education in Scotland that allows pupils to be taught primarily through the medium of Scottish Gaelic, with English being taught as the secondary language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish language</span> Language native to Ireland

Irish, also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language group, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century. Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in areas of Ireland collectively known as the Gaeltacht, in which only 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Corteen Carswell</span> Manx writer

Robert Corteen Carswell RBV is a Manx language and culture activist, writer and radio presenter. In 2013 he received the Manx Heritage Foundation's Reih Bleeaney Vanannan award for outstanding contributions to Manx culture.

John Gell, also known as Jack Gell or Juan y Geill was a Manx speaker, teacher, and author who was involved with the revival of the Manx Language on the Isle of Man in the 20th century. His book Conversational Manx, A Series of Graded Lessons in Manx and English, with Phonetic Pronunciation has been used by learners of the Manx language since it was published in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pobble</span> Manx language advocacy group

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References

  1. 1 2 "Isle of Man Gaelic school comes under government control". BBC News. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  2. "A Miscellany on the History, Culture and Language of the Isle of Man" Archived 18 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine , Skeealyn Vannin, Journal of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, Vol. 7, No. 2 (2006)
  3. Government of the Isle of Man. "Manx language in schools" . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  4. "History of The Bunscoill Ghaelgagh" Archived 25 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine , Isle of Man Schools, August 2007. Accessed 4 January 2006
  5. "Honour for History-Making School" Archived 2012-08-04 at archive.today , Isle of Man Today, 26 January 2006
  6. 1 2 Ogmios 46 Foundation for Endangered Languages (Dec 2001) ISSN   1471-0382
  7. "It's a good time to learn Manx Gaelic" Eoin Ó Conchúir, Learn Irish Gaelic, 17 November 2009
  8. Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Manx School celebrates
  9. "Isle's Gaelic heritage celebrated", BBC News, 4 November 2005
  10. "Islanders celebrate Manx language", BBC News, 31 October 2005
  11. Sarah Whitehead, "How the Manx language came back from the dead", The Guardian, 2 April 2015
  12. "Manx Translation Is Wonder To Behold" Archived 2012-09-05 at archive.today , Isle of Man Today, 22 December 2006
  13. 1 2 Results look better in English, Times Education Supplement, 9 January 2004
  14. Monica Porter. "Two languages are better than one", The Guardian, 3 March 2004.

54°12′10″N4°38′28″W / 54.2029°N 4.6411°W / 54.2029; -4.6411