Scots signs 

We hear Scots spoken up and down the country. We can read it in poems and stories. It appears in place-names like Burnside, School Brae, Kirk Wynd, Brig o’ Turk, Windy Knowe, Lang Stracht in Aberdeen and Gallowgate in Glasgow. But outside of books, we don’t often see the Scots we speak actually written down.

Seeing our language printed on official signs gives it status. And putting up signs throughout the school with information and directions in Scots really gets staff and pupils talking about the language.

WHEESHT!

BE GUID TAE ITHERS

WEY OOT

HEID TEACHER’S OFFICE

Everyone wants to suggest a Scots sign to go up on the classroom wall or out in the corridor. Some schools have done this using Scots and English or even Scots and French or German signs. Usually these are signs made by the children themselves but one secondary in Fife is considering incorporating Scots into the official signage of their new school building.

The staff and pupils of Nethermains Primary School in Denny value Scots as an integral part of the life of the school.

Here is P5 pupil Cameron Fleming to take us on a tour of his school’s Scots signs.