Pupils from Orkney have recently been giving the Scots language a boost in a fun and practical way. During the past few months a Primary Six class from Glaitness Primary School in Orkney have received training from Historic Scotlands Junior Tour Guide scheme so that they could act as tour guides at the Bishops and Earls palaces, in Birsay and Kirkwall, for children visiting from all over Scotland.

Dressed in period costume, the children have learned much about the history of the sites and have, with the help of local teachers, and the Scots Language Co-ordinators at Education Scotland, learned over 50 words from the Orkney dialect of Scots which are now used during the tours. Indeed, whole sections of the tour script have been translated into Orkney Scots and learned by the pupils. The Junior Tour Guide scheme is part of a co-operative project which aims to support teachers in the Curriculum for Excellence by combining several subjects, including language. The Junior Tour Guides began their first tours on 17 April and will be delivering further tours during term times in 2015 and 2016.

If you or your school would like to find out more please visit the Learning Section at the Historic Scotland website www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/junior-guides or contact the Scots Language Co-ordinators at Education Scotland.