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Agenda item

To consider the report of the Education Corporate Services Officer  (attached).

Minutes:

Submitted - the report of the Education Corporate Services Manager inviting the committee to consider the content of the annual review report and offer observations.

 

Further to the content of the report and to the Welsh Language Commissioner's presentation (item 5 above), the Head of Education noted:

 

·         That he agreed in full that the provision in schools in relation to category 2A had been a weakness in the past, but since the advent of the Secondary Sector Language Strategy in Gwynedd, the Authority now had a clear indication of the situation in every school.  This information was vital in order to draw up a purposeful plan for all the different linguistic situations in each school in order to strengthen not only the social use element but also to influence the language curriculum.

·         He could not overemphasise the extent to which the Department took pride in the fact that it could provide the entire range of services to the most vulnerable learners through the medium of Welsh (outcome 6) and that this was a credit to the staff and to the Council's vision and the investment made in this field.

·         That the Minister for Education had congratulated Gwynedd on the way the Council had established a different education system in Dolgellau, which meant that the Welshness of the primary schools permeated Ysgol Bro Idris.  He also noted that he wished to congratulate the Headteacher and staff and governors on their work in promoting, insisting and ensuring that the Welsh language holds its ground at the school.

·         That the Headteacher of Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn also had a strong vision.  As with Bro Idris, Tywyn again was an uphill struggle in terms of having a positive influence in relation to the Welsh language, but the way in which the school had adopted the plan for the Secondary Sector Language Strategy had received national attention and provided a way forward for any other institution.

·         That significant green shoots of change had also been witnessed at Ysgol Friars, with the number sitting Welsh First Language on the increase.

·         That the percentage of children coming into the foundation phase from non-Welsh-speaking homes was on the increase.  A decline in children's social skills was also a factor, with children starting the foundation phase without communication skills in any language, and the fact that almost all of them were assessed through the medium of Welsh at the end of year 2 was testament to the success of the foundation phase in Gwynedd. 

·         That it was believed that major steps forward were also being taken in the secondary sector as a result of the fact that Gwynedd had the first Secondary Sector Language Strategy in terms of promoting the Welsh language in Wales.

·         That the success of the Primary Schools Welsh Language Charter had now spread throughout Wales as a result of Gwynedd primary schools' vision in adopting it in 2011.

·         That Estyn was now, for the first time, measuring to what extent schools gauged children's informal use of Welsh, and that this stemmed directly from a meeting held in Carmarthen in 2013 where a copy of the Gwynedd Welsh Language Charter was presented to the then Chief Inspector of Schools.

·         That he agreed with the Commissioner about the need to challenge a school's context in terms of bilingualism and that there was some way to go too in being able to face up to and report on the reality in our schools, but the fact that this was being acknowledged was an important step forward.

 

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations.  During the discussion the following matters were raised:

 

·         The fact that excellent work was taking place at Ysgol Bro Idris and also at Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn was reiterated.

·         It was noted that because of the perception that Ysgol Friars is an English school, children travelled there from areas such as Porthmadog, and more information was requested about the pilot scheme to develop the language skills of the workforce.

·         It was noted, despite a number of children sitting Welsh first language GCSE, that much fewer followed other subjects through the medium of Welsh, and it was asked whether data was available on how well this group of children speak Welsh.

 

In response to some of the above observations and questions, the following was noted:

 

·         That the pilot scheme to develop the language skills of the workforce at Ysgol Friars was funded through a grant awarded to the region and which was then allocated.  This grant funding has been used over a period of time to employ a language tutor to work with some of the school's teachers, in order to develop their skills and confidence to use the Welsh language in class, and developing an element of Welsh within their educational resources too.  Acquiring those skills would not be an overnight process and no specific target was set for that.  However, the Department collaborated closely with the school and influenced where possible. 

·         That this was a very exciting time in Gwynedd within the context of the Welsh language, with the Welsh Language Charter having long been established, and the Secondary Sector Language Strategy having a greater influence on a cohort of children, both formally and informally, within the context of informal Welsh than ever before.

·         That the Service also planned for the new curriculum as a consequence of Professor Donaldson's work, which would become increasingly important in the life of our schools.

·         That a piece of work was commissioned to look at the post-16 provision in Gwynedd, focusing specifically on the sixth form element in Arfon, in order to discover whether there was a case for changing the current system.  The Welsh-medium provision lay at the core of the brief for this work and the perception that post-16 education through the medium of Welsh was a hindrance to young people had to be done away with.

·         As so much was happening in this field at present, it was decided to establish a Project Board around the Welsh language, and it was noted that the Department would be pleased to provide the committee with summary and timely reports on the work as a means of showing what the Department was doing in the field of Welsh in its entirety.

·         That it was slightly premature to present data on the use of more informal language by those pupils sitting GCSEs, but it was hoped to see in due course that there was a link between those following a number of subjects through the medium of Welsh and the use they made of Welsh.  This was one reason why specific attention had to be given to the medium across the curriculum as this is what would provide learners with the skills and confidence to be able to use Welsh in a range of different situations, rather than Welsh solely as a subject.

 

The Chair suggested, as there were still quite a few questions and discussions, that the committee should scrutinise the report further.  She thanked the Head of Education for suggesting that regular reports come back to the committee and suggested that a representative of the committee should sit on the Project Board around the Welsh language to scrutinise the plan because it was so comprehensive, and also to meet the need to support the Head of Education with the plan.

 

RESOLVED to propose the Chair, Vice-chair and Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd for consideration by the Department to act as members of the Project Board in order to scrutinise the plan further.

 

 

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