Iomairt Ghàidhlig Loch Abair
Lochaber Gaelic Initiative

Gaelic Education at primary school level is available in Acharacle, Mallaig and Fort William.  Children benefit from being educated in two languages and attainment is usually higher in subjects in addition to Gaelic and English. The Iomairt is committed to work towards a new, standalone, Gaelic Medium Primary School in Fort William. 

Gaelic medium education is one of the main ways of achieving or maintaining fluency in Gaelic. This is especially true of children from a non-Gaelic speaking background. Gaelic medium education is open to everyone, those who speak Gaelic and those who do not.

Pupils who are not Gaelic speakers to start with, indeed who come from non-Gaelic speaking homes and communities, can be brought to fluency in the language through what is referred to as immersion. Immersion means that pupils are taught only in Gaelic, while they are doing the usual things that children do in the early years of their education - in playgroup, nursery and primary school. Their teachers utilise all available opportunities to develop pupils' Gaelic skills - through songs, stories, games and especially through structured play.

Gaelic medium education reinforces the language of fluent speakers and also enables them to become fully literate in the language.