YOUNGSTERS at a Clydebank primary school have been taking part in a range of fun-filled lessons all about Scotland’s bard, Robert Burns, in the lead-up to Burns Night.
Pupils in P5 at St Stephen’s Primary in Dalmuir were treated to a visit from Scottish author and playwright Alan Bissett as well as BBC Scotland's L.A.B. team on Wednesday as part of their Burns Night celebrations.
Pupils were hard at work writing their own poems based on Robert Burns’ famous poem ‘To a Mouse’, and with the help of Mr Bissett they translated it from English to Scots – learning lots of new words along the way.
Bankies may also spot some familiar faces on The L.A.B website as many brave primary five pupils volunteered to film clips of them speaking Scots for the site.
The Post visited St Stephen’s to find out more about what the youngsters have been getting up to ahead of the national holiday on January 25.
So what have pupils at St Stephen’s been learning about?
Roman Honeyman, nine, said: “We have been learning about Scots language and we also drew a Highland cow.
“We’ve been doing some camera rolls, saying some Scottish words in front of the camera. I didn’t know any Scots words before today. My favourite word is tod.
“I have enjoyed today as I didn’t even know Robert Burns was a person but I find poems quite boring.”
Luke Miller, nine, said: “We wrote our own poems and I picked to do mine on a dug. We did them on dogs because we did a vote and that’s what got the most votes.
“I have a Lhasa Poodle named Cherry. Tod is also my favourite Scots word.”
Ruaridh Cusick, nine, said: “We’ve been learning about Rabbie Burns and I know that he was Scotland’s most famous poet.
“It was fun to film for the BBC, we were doing interviews and Scots words. Today I learned the word ‘maw’ and that’s my favourite Scots word.
“I wrote my poem about pandas. We wrote ‘I am as colourful as an old television’ I enjoyed writing the poem.”
Sophie Toland, nine, said: “We’ve been learning Scottish words, I didn’t know any before today so I’ve learned a lot today.
“My poem described an animal and I picked a crocodile. I learned the words ‘coo’ and ‘dug’. My favourite word is ‘dug’.”
Annabella Keogh, nine, said: “We’ve been learning about the Scottish language and I didn’t really know much about it before today.
“I enjoyed it, it was really fun. My poem was about a dug, the other word for a dog which I didn’t know.
“I have two dogs called Peggy and Bonnie.”
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