PARENTS whose children have been turned down for Glasgow’s Gaelic schools this year are being offered places at a new temporary annexe.
Ladywell school in Whiteinch, in the west of the city, is being brought into use to cope with soaring demand for Gaelic Medium Education (GME) and to ease overcrowding at the main Gaelic primary, Glasgow Gaelic School, in Berkeley Street.
Children from the south-west of the city who are currently in primary one to five at Glasgow Gaelic School will also be transferred to the new annexe.
Plans for a third Gaelic medium primary in the city, at the former Gowanbank primary, have been taken off the table but discussions are ongoing about the long-term plan.
Ladywell school has seven classrooms and has previously been an over-spill facility for Broomhill Primary.
The plan is only for the short-term – from next year, the annexe will operate from Cartvale School, Govan.
Glasgow City Council said the plan would cut travelling times for families who live in the south-west of the city.
The council said parents with children at the city’s other Gaelic school, Glendale Primary in Pollokshields can also ask to be considered for a transfer if places are available.
A meeting will take place next week for parents with children at Glasgow Gaelic School, the city’s first Gaelic medium school whose pupils are aged 3 to 18.
A working group has been set up to look at the long-term plans for Gaelic education, where pupils are taught most lessons in the language as well as studying English. More than 6,000 children were in GME education in 2016 across Scotland and Glasgow City Council says demand has grown each year for the past 10, while there is a shortage of Gaelic teachers.
A council spokeswoman said: “This short and medium term solution will afford everyone in the city who chooses GME for their child the chance of a place in our schools.”
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