Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams
To consider a
report on the above.
Additional documents:
Decision:
To accept the report and ask
the Education Department and Cabinet Member for Education to consider the
observations of the committee, and that the scrutiny committee receives a
further report on this when more details are available.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Education and
officers from the Education Department were welcomed to the meeting.
Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member
for Education inviting the scrutinisers to give observations on the proposed
vision for the immersion education system towards 2032 and beyond.
The Cabinet Member set out the context,
noting that the new vision was intended to build on the good work achieved by
the language centres over the last few decades, acknowledge the hard work of
the staff, and update and modernise the provision.
The Head of Education noted:
·
That he believed that this was an exciting vision,
which laid the foundation for a celebrated service to do more good work, thus
updating the service to be part of the 21st century schools programme.
·
That the Department and the staff of the language
centres were anxious not to lose sight of the lessons learned as a result of
re-purposing the service and reaching more children in a different way during
the pandemic, and that there was a desire to build further on those strengths
and approaches.
·
That members had already received a copy of Estyn's
letter to the Chief Executive which highlighted the Authority's work in
supporting schools and children during the pandemic period, and in particular
commending the work of the language centres in re-purposing the service.
Members were given an opportunity to ask
questions and make observations. During
the discussion, the following observations were noted:
·
The success of the language centres over the years was
recognised in ensuring that learners acquire the Welsh language.
·
There was agreement with the intention to strengthen
accountability as part of the new vision.
·
The proposal to equip schools' workforce to support
learners to make further progress in building confidence and acquiring the
Welsh language was supported.
·
The proposal to establish an immersion education
provision in Bangor was supported.
·
The Education Department was asked to provide more
detail on the immersion education system when it becomes available.
·
Opinion was divided on the funding source for the
immersion education system, with some members supportive of the intention that
schools would contribute, thus increasing accountability and shared ownership
of the system between the Education Department and the schools, but the wish
was also expressed for the Council corporately to be funding the budgetary gap
due to the fact that the Welsh language was one of the Council's main
priorities.
In response to the observations and
questions from members, it was noted:
· In terms of the schools' input and contribution to the revised vision and service, it was proposed to engage informally with schools' headteachers on the new vision. Also, if the new system came into force, it was likely that a management board would be established for the new system which would include representation from the school system. This meant that the schools could contribute and jointly own and shape the provision, to ensure that the system responds to the needs of the schools, while simultaneously keeping up to date with ... view the full minutes text for item 7