Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
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ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN To elect a
Chairman for 2019/20. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Paul Rowlinson was
elected Chair of this Committee for 2019/20. |
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ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN To elect a
Vice-chairman for 2019/20. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Elwyn Jones was
elected Vice-chair of this Committee for 2019/20. |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies
for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillors:- Huw Wyn Jones, Mair Rowlands, Gareth
Williams; David Healey (ATL); Councillor Cemlyn Rees Williams (Cabinet
Member for Education). |
|
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any
declarations of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from any members
present. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To note any items
that are a mater of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration. Additional documents: Minutes: None to note. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 21st March, 2019 be signed as
a true record
(attached). Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous
meeting of this committee held on 21 March, 2019 as a true record, subject to
adding a reference to looking at the possibility of cooperating with counties
in the West under item 8 - Twf Scheme Application for North Wales. |
|
SECONDARY SECTOR LANGUAGE STRATEGY PDF 116 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams To consider a report on the above (attached). *10.30am – 11.30am Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member
for Education detailing the implementation and impact of the Secondary Sector
Language Strategy. The Head of Education and officers
elaborated on the contents of the report, and also responded to questions /
observations from members. Because of the evident intertwining between
the Secondary Sector Language Strategy and the Gwynedd Primary Schools Welsh
Language Charter, the Primary Schools Language Charter was also scrutinised
before summarising the main conclusions of the discussions on both items at the
end. |
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GWYNEDD PRIMARY SCHOOLS WELSH LANGUAGE CHARTER PDF 68 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams To consider a report on the above (attached). *11.30am – 12.30pm *estimated times An informal session will be held for
members at the close of the
meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member
for Education detailing the implementation and impact of the Gwynedd Primary
Schools Welsh Language Charter. The Head of Education and officers
elaborated on the contents of the report, and also responded to questions /
observations from members. The main conclusions and
recommendations that arose from the discussion on the Secondary Sector Language
Strategy and the Primary Schools Welsh Language Charter were summarised as
follows:- ·
There was a clear message from members to keep a foot
on the pedal and continue with the flurry of activity etc, providing support to
ensure that this is undertaken. This is
specifically to ensure that the Language Charter has status, as part of the new
curriculum (although there is some concern that it will run alongside, rather
than being integral to it) and also to ensure that the Language Charter has
status as part of every school's plans. ·
There was also a message regarding sharing good practice,
ensuring that this happens in primary and secondary schools in general, and
also that good practice needs to be identified in new interest areas, where we
perhaps need to focus more on the social website side, the web, television
programmes etc. ·
There
was also a message regarding the work that is dependent on all staff in our
schools and strong encouragement to try and spread the message beyond school
boundaries, with parents and society in general. ·
In
terms of data, there was better understanding amongst members of the data
submitted to this meeting, but perhaps there was room to consider revisiting
the original baseline and update committee members in due course when the
Government's study of the field is mature. ·
Specifically,
in terms of the Secondary Sector Language Strategy, there was room to consider
extending the questionnaire for older young people (16-18 age group) to see if
there were any lessons to be learnt, and having learnt lessons, adapting the
help and support and intervention offered.
·
There
was also room to press for working with pupils to encourage more bilingualism
and for that to happen continuously within our schools, encouraging pupils to
follow courses specifically through the medium of Welsh. Also, support for teachers should be
ensured, for youth workers and all who are involved in promoting the Language
Charter to assist with the Strategy in secondary and the primary Language
Charter. ·
It
will be necessary to look outside the committee on how members can get a taste
of the psychology of language training. ·
It will be necessary at an informal meeting of the
committee to give attention to a few other matters that arose during the
discussion, but were not directly associated with the two areas in question,
namely the need to keep an eye on what is happening in terms of developments
with school language categories, lack of Welsh language textbooks/materials for
school pupils and a shortage of students leading to redundancies at Bangor
University's School of Education. |