Since October last year, Drummond Community High School has been running a Cultural Peer Project which both participants and independent observers are rating very highly.
Spurtle contacted Birgit Harris – adult eduction programme organiser at Drummond – for the low-down, since the Peer Project emerged from an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) conversation class which she has been teaching there since 2007.
Birgit's students come from all over the world, and their experiences and reasons for arriving in Scotland vary tremendously. Some are here for work, some come for a limited period to improve their English, some are students, and some have been living here for years already.
The Peer Project aims to bring native English and ESOL speakers together through joint outings on a Sunday morning, usually 11:00am– 2:00pm, once a month. 'In the last year, we've visited Edinburgh Castle, the Botanic Garden, the Museum of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland, Craiglockhart Nature Reserve, and Portobello Beach. Sometimes, local guides such as a Drummond adult education student or tutor, or a guide from the museum, give information about exhibitions.
'These outings are always followed by long, leisurely chats in cafés which all the participants really enjoy. As a result, some project participants have formed friendships and now meet independently for trips to the pictures, to go to a café or off on an outing. Also very popular are those gatherings where we all bring food from different home countries. In all cases the project is very informal and open to all.'
Any readers who might be interested in becoming involved as either a student or native English-speaking cultural peer, can contact: Birgit Harris at Drummond Community High School on 556 2651 or by email: birgit.harris@drummond.edin.sch.uk.