IT is gey clear gettin (aboot as plenn as the neb on ma plookie pus) that we as a nation or region or whitever we hope tae be cannae agree aboot the Scots language or even on whit it is or whit it’s supposed tae look like.

Fine that. Let some ae us say it’s takkin us back tae the times o Calgacus, Auntie Beenie and ootside cludgies. And let ithers deave the Scots language tae extinction by wheeberin, ‘But that’s no hoo ye spell it’.

And aye ithers spleet stanehairs ower whither it’s a leid, a lingo, an argot, a slango, keechie dialect o blae-bluid English or muckle bing o hauf-biled Scottish. We can gang roon and roon the merry-ma-tanzie o umbrage and ootrage until the black affrontit kye come howderin hame.

But it means fewer bairns dae Scots at schule. Simple as yon. And a lot o thae weans that could benefit fae learnin aboot their ain language never get that chance because opposition tae the leid is vocal and soor-faced enough tae keep adequate Scots language provision and the bairns that need it forever apairt.

Nicola Sturgeon wants tae raise the attainment o weans fae oor puirer communities. I support this. Wha but the maist ersit widnae?

The Scottish Attainment Challenge is bauld, shaws great foresicht and no sma amoont o smeddum. Its aim is tae brig the education gap atween the rich and puir in this country and tae mak sure nae bairn cannae get whaur they want tae go juist because o whaur they come fae.

But it’s no the initiative that convinces me o its warth. It is the shairp-set determination o the First Meenister that gies this scheme a chance o makkin a difference for oor young folk when similar government ploys didnae. There micht be doot and drama ower the richt scenario for a second referendum on independence but fae the FM there is nae equivocation that the Scottish Attainment Challenge is the richt thing tae dae.

(Tae onybody gaun their dinger I’m usin the word “attainment” insteid o pouin the Scots language inside oot scartin aboot for a mair Scoats version o it, if ye think o wan, gonnae pit yer answer on a postcaird then gonnae post it tae yersel please.)

But it’s exactly whit it says on the tin – a challenge. As whiles a supply dominie masel, I, like ither dominies and parents, weel ken that ower mony bairns strauchle their wey through the system and never rax onythin like their haill potential fae their time at the schule.

Pairt o the ettle o the Scottish Attainment Challenge is try oot awthin and onythin and tak the best o whit warks.

But a year efter its launch, I see nae evidence the eident Attainment Advisors hae tried oot Scots, though there’s routh o evidence tae shaw it warks.

Hunners o teachers hae seen pupils fae Scots speakin faimlies, no engagin wi learnin in English, transformed as learners when offered meaningfu opportunities tae learn in Scots. Positive inclusion o their mither tongue in the life o the schule can gie bairns the confidence tae learn that whiles for some reason is missin or mair dauntit than it should be.

And whit’s this got tae dae wi the attainment o weans fae oor puirest communities? Weel, that’s whaur Scotland’s Scots speakers are. The Scottish Index o Multiple Deprivation (a dreidfu metric that nebs oot areas o poverty) could easy be a linguistic map o Scotland. If a bairn’s fae a puir community, mair than likely he or she speaks Scots.

Mair than likely they’re telt aff for speakin Scots occasionally or aw the time. Mibbe it doesnae affect them adversely but mibbe gettin telt tae speak properly and tae no speak slang maks them decide it’s safer tae no say onythin, especially in class. It can be the case for mony bairns that English sterts tae equal guid or Posh and their ain Scots voice bad or Slang. And if they’re no as confident and performin as weel at the schule as they could be, ane o the reasons micht be their confidence tae learn, develop and go on and dae great things has been cowped because o the wey they talk.

But introduce Scots, even jist a wee bit o it, intae a wean’s learnin and mair aften than no, a licht goes on. Bairns that hadnae opened a buik afore want tae ken whaur the library is. Students aye in trouble can become model pupils. Thrawn attitudes chynge. English skills improve. Positives aw roon, and there’s plenty reports oot there tae prove it.

Enter the Scottish Attainment Challenge, a Scottish initiative airtit at weans fae puirer backgroonds led by a Scottish Nationalist government that fechts for Scotland and Scottish culture. Brammer. Belter. Giein the Scots language a priority in the attainment strategy? A nae-brainer surely but naw. The Scottish Attainment Challenge is yet tae tap intae the transformative pouer o Scots.

Houanever, the Scottish Government has pit the bare banes o better provision in place. Fower Scots Language Coordinators (there’s currently ainly yin) warked for twa year tae raise the leid’s profile in education. A gowpenfu o secondaries present pupils for the Scots Language Award. And Scots has a neuk aw tae itsel in the Curriculum for Excellence.

But actual provision for the leid is aye ower shilpit and sma tae hae ony real impact on the learnin o the tens o thoosands o Scots speakin weans that bide in poverty.

If the Scottish Government is serious aboot the Scottish Attainment Challenge (and I ken it is), it has tae get serious aboot provision for the Scots language in education. And tae dae that, the First Meenister has look ayont the soor faces that cry doon ony progress for the Scots leid and staun up for workin class bairns that speak Scots the same wey her government does for middle class bairns that speak Gaelic.