THE tither week ah wis asked tae gang up til the Glasgow Film Theatre fir a special screenin o the film director Wes Anderson’s byordnar film version o Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr Fox. This event wis a collaboration atween the organisation Into Film an Education Scotland. Into Film are a braw initiative set up tae uise film as a medium fir education an promotin aspects o diversity, identity, language an respect. Mind, the main ettle o the GFT ongauns wis tae gie a heize tae the Scots leid via the Into Film, Education Scotland, Scottish Book Trust and LGBT Youth Scotland language pairtnership; check this oot at https://www.intofilm.org/resources/1136 whaur ye’ll fin a breengin leet o Scots related material fir schuils.

This is a cuttin-edge resource fir teachers that provides an educational an fun packed resource fir weans tae keep thaim interestit in explorin the Scots language in historical an modren contexts. Whiles the sections oan identity cuivers a wheen o aspects o whit it can mean tae be Scots the day; frae maitters o personal identity, includin LGBT, tae rural an ceetie leevin. Ower the past twa years this pairtnership haes taen oan three tours o Scotland, stairtin wi Julia Donaldson’s kenspeckle weans classic The Gruffalo, then The Gruffalo’s Child an maist raicently the tour promotin Scots via the brent new owersettin o Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr Fox; nou Sleekit Mr Tod.

Scots Language co-ordinator Bruce Eunson wis there frae Education Scotland. Bruce is the last survivor o the fowr Scots Language Co-ordinators that wir oreeginally in post (ah still divnae ken why we loast these vital people an roles?) an as a native Shetlander he brings a souch o the faur north an its unique dialect wi him. Warkin alangside Bruce we hud Jo Spence an Katy Hamilton frae Into Film, wha’s enthusiasm fir film wis aigerly responded tae bi their young an aiger audience.

The GFT wis packed oan a Monday mornin wi 233 weans, wound up tae high doh, frae mair as hauf a dizzen Glesga primary schuils; whiles ane o the schuils hud cam aa the wey frae Dumfriesshire tae attend! The weans wir aa champin at the bit tae see the film an tak pairt in scrievin thair ain reviews (uisin braw Scots wirds) anent whit they thocht o the film an the new buik. As guest reader ah read the first three chapters o Sleekit Mr Tod til the weans. They aa kythed a braw unnerstaunin o a wheen o the Scots wirds in the buik. We then settled back tae watch the movie, a film that cuidnae be ony mair A List, wi the likes o George Clooney an Meryl Streep vycin pairts in it.

Voice an vocabulary hae aye bin key tae tyin these cinematic events thegaither an hou the organisers mercat thaim tae schuils. Giein weans access tae ither leids, be’t the leids we aa lairnt at schuil; French, German, Russian, etc or the new fremmit leids in oor modren Scotland; the likes o Urdu or Polish, the young yins soak up new wirds an language lik a sponge! An the lairnin o these new leids, wirds an vocabulary apens up the weans minds til the global natuir o oor warld; brekkin doun social/cultural barriers, encouragin thaim tae embrace diversity an ither cultures, whiles enrichin their minds.

The film telt its adventurous tale o the resourceful Mr Tod an his faimily, up agin the daurk capitalist forces o some richt nesty factory fairmers! An alang the wey thair wis a wheen o relationship issues an modren faimily kinches explored!

Eftirhint we hud a blether wi the weans aboot the film - an alsae aboot Scots language. A Power Point display wis uised tae heize up a wheen o wirds that they’d mibbes like tae uise in their reviews o the film. We talked aboot the Scots nems fir animals; Fox/Tod, Badger/Brock; Rat/Ratton, Dog/Dug, Crow/Craw — tho when ane o the weans asked me fir the Scots wird fir Possum ah’ll admit ah wis a bit ramfeezled! Then they aa set tae, scrievin reviews in their best Scots! It wis gey obvious that the weans hud aa hud a great time.

Sic an event as this is leevin pruif o the pouer o language tae encourage an enthuse young anes wi readin an writin. Bruce Eunson’s ettle, sib wi that o the oreeginal Scots Language Co-ordinator team, wis an is tae promote Scots in a gleg, modren an vieve wey, whilst ayewis respeckin an empouerin dialect diversity.

The Into Film/ES tours hae aareadies bin tae Embra, Glesga, Dundee, Ayrshire, Aiberdeen, Orkney an Shetland. Featuring readers an writers sic as Chrsitine de Luca, Laureen Johnson, Simon Hall, Alison Miller, James Robertson, Matthew Fitt, Sheena Blackhall, Shane Strachan – an yours truly.

Oan the back o these ongauns the Scots leid publishin company Itchy Coo hae went oan tae prent a wheen new versions o the canty Julia Donaldson Scots owersettins, includin Elaine C Smith and The Glasgow Gruffalo. When ye conseider the size an population o Orkney, Simon Hall’s video oan YouTube, whaur he reads the Gruffalo in Orcadian haes hud a muckle nummer o views wi ower six an a hauf thoosand hits oanline!

Film an education in pairtnership, warkin tae heize the staundarts o education, leeteracy an leid fir oor kintra’s weans. Into Film are pitten film at the hairt o the educational an personal development o young fowk, here in Scotland, an athort the rest o the UK. Whit’s no tae like!?