Agenda item

Cabinet Member – Councillor Beca Brown

 

To consider a report on the above.

 

To accept the report and to note the observations.

 

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, at the committee's request, presenting background information about the vision of the immersion education system, along with providing answers to the questions of the scrutinisers received in advance about the arrangements for the immersion education provision in Gwynedd.

 

The Cabinet Member set out the context by noting that the two schemes in the Bangor area, namely the Bangor Catchment Area Foundation Phase Immersion Project and the Years 5 and 6 Learners' Support Pack to encourage them to choose a Welsh-medium Education route as they transfer to secondary school in the Bangor catchment area, were important and far-reaching pieces of work for the children of that area.  She expressed her admiration of the work in the language centres and officially thanked the staff for the work.

 

A short video was shown to the members, giving a taster of the ABERWLA Scheme.

 

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. 

 

It was enquired on what basis the conclusion was reached that it was beneficial not to immerse children early, and it was suggested that bringing the children who were being immersed back to the mother school for one day per week undid the immersion that took place in the language centre for the other four days.

 

In response, it was noted:-

·         That the headteacher in the ABERWLA video mentioned the clear advantages of having children returning to the mother school for one day per week.

·         The pandemic had highlighted the importance of well-being as children had gone through long periods of not being able to mix with their peers.  It was concluded that it would be a good idea for the children being immersed to have an opportunity to catch up with their peers at the schools for one day per week, and the immersion occurred in a different context to an extent in the mother school, and increasingly thereafter as the child went through the system.

·         Secondary school headteachers now reported that it was easier to persuade parents to send their children to immersion centres as those children maintained some contact with their peers.

·         The fifth day at the mother school was a new project and, as well as advantages in the context of well-being, there were also educational advantages.

·         The relationship between school staff and staff of the centres who visited the mother school on a weekly basis had strengthened further as a result of sharing immersion practices, sharing resources and discussing how to overcome any challenges the children faced back at school.

·         Visits to the mother school varied with some teachers requesting staff of the centre to remain in class to support the activity.  This encouraged a discussion on gathering effective immersion methods and there were also situations where children received one-to-one attention, or in a small group, and that other children also benefited from the experience.

·         Despite the advantages, it was acknowledged that there were also challenges, and by nearing the end of the first term of the new system, it was intended to gather the opinions of stakeholders, by weighing up and evaluating the new system, and reviewing the arrangements if required.

·         Two parents who have had children participating in the former immersion system, as well as the new system, praised the new system in the context of well-being, with one mother mentioning that her child developed confidence when returning to his peers once a week.

·         The children had the scaffolding and support in the unit but, as this was not as prominent at the school, returning to school gave them an opportunity to practise what they had learnt in the unit without the scaffolding, and it was also an opportunity for the children to develop confidence and independence when becoming new speakers.

·         The Service measured the progress of children at the centres and it was also intended to compare progress under the new four-day arrangement against the previous progress under the former five-day arrangement.

·         In terms of the question regarding nursery-aged children, research showed that once an individual has established a pattern of communicating in one language, it was very difficult to change it afterwards. The foundation phase classes immersed children who came from multilingual, non-Welsh backgrounds, and very often non-verbal children.  Therefore, immersion techniques were gathered and the system had held training for all clusters within Gwynedd based on an individual cluster with staff of the centres.

·         Focus was placed on effective immersion principles in the foundation phase specifically and a follow-up to this training was being prepared as more and more traditional Welsh classes with more complexity in a linguistic context became apparent.

·         The training had been held in September at the beginning of the academic year and it was intended to revisit the situation and see how things have been after that training, to see what the needs are and to tailor courses, in the hope of also extending to year 3 classes as part of that.

 

It was suggested that moving children back to the mother school for one day a week created challenges for the school, creating streams in the class, which could then affect the practice of Welsh within the class.  It was enquired what were the criteria in terms of the ability of foundation phase teachers to immerse children, and what training was available to them.

 

In response, it was noted:-

·         It was not accepted that moving children back to the mother school for one day created a stream within classes, and that teachers and schools praised the system.

·         Immersion occurred naturally in all of the schools, except one school, throughout the foundation phase, and that children completed their education through the medium of Welsh at the end of their period in Year 2. The outcomes of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan indicated this, and it must be borne in mind that immersing in the Welsh language was not the only task of a teacher in the early years, and that they also dealt with the Curriculum for Wales across the expanse of all subjects.

·         Immersion in the mainstream occurred continuously throughout the foundation phase, and this called for an investment of time and investment of enriching cross-curricular experiences so that children acquired the Welsh language naturally.

·         The ten weeks at the language centre did not fully equip children to cope with all aspects of the curriculum through the medium of Welsh. This was the beginning of the journey and the mother school had a responsibility to develop and extend the child's ability and grasp of the language.

·         Every teacher at the school was a language teacher as all teachers regularly modelled language and, therefore, there was an emphasis on teachers in primary schools to do so, as the language of children developed by listening and practising the language at the school.

·         It was believed that the new system excelled the former system of sending a child to the language unit for a full 10 weeks, as there was now working in partnership, developing a relationship and collaboration as everyone had an input to the children's linguistic development.

·         This grading facilitated the journey and equipped the child to develop independence and confidence, and also helped the teachers to forward plan and ensure that the child remained on the journey to acquire a language.

·         The training provided to foundation phase teachers on immersion methods was effective and successful, and was based on a series of principles included in a report by Estyn based on evidence throughout the whole of Wales. A specific presentation on those principles was created, illustrating each one of them, e.g. how to do it, what is the best practice to reinforce a pattern etc.

·         The Head of Gwynedd's Immersion Education System was a member of a national immersion network that had recently been established by the Welsh Government, which was an opportunity for everyone involved with immersion on a national level to get together on a termly basis to share good practices.

·         It was not alleged that the situation was perfect and it was noted that much could be done to empower and improve by listening and sharing good practices, holding staff meetings and planning strategically.

 

Support was expressed to the system of returning to the mother school on the fifth day on the grounds that the class teacher could assess the child's development over the period, and that losing contact with the class teacher for ten weeks was difficult for the children.  It was also believed that the fact that staff of the immersion centre came to the school with the child on the fifth day was an opportunity for teachers at the school to share ideas and good practice. As nearly all primary schools in Gwynedd were entirely Welsh, it was also noted that immersion in the foundation phase occurred completely naturally.

 

In response to a question regarding the situation of Our Lady's School in Bangor, it was explained that this school was in the transitional category.  An additional resource had been invested there to enhance and develop the language further and it was noted that there had been a transformation at the school as a result of this.

 

On a point of clarity regarding the reference to the 'non-statutory schools' term in the second paragraph of clause 4.2 of the report, it was confirmed that this referred to the Government's guide, and not to Our Lady's School.

 

In response to an observation regarding the reference to changing the image and culture of Our Lady's School, it was noted that it was fully accepted that this would be the responsibility of the Governors and the Diocesan Trustees.

 

Although it had to be accepted that image and culture would be different in a Catholic school, it was noted that this did not mean that the school could not move towards a more Welsh direction. Ysgol Santes Helen, Caernarfon had a Catholic image and culture, and also used Welsh as a medium, but it was emphasised that sensitivity was needed when using these types of terms.

 

It was noted that the observation was fully accepted and that the Service would act on this in future.

 

It was noted that ABERLWA was an excellent and very exciting scheme, and it was enquired whether there was an opportunity to extend the virtual reality technology to the rest of the curriculum, working with the animation company to attract more investment.

 

In response, it was noted that this could be excellent in an ideal world.  It was believed that latecomers in Gwynedd were the first children in the world to use this type of technology to acquire a language, and the Welsh Government praised what had taken place in Gwynedd.

 

A suggestion was made that the best way of encouraging parents to choose Welsh education for their children was by asking other parents, who had already chosen that path for their children, to share in a video why the decision had been a good one, instead of having teachers or Council staff encouraging Welsh education. 

 

In response, it was noted:-

·         It was agreed that insistence and setting limitless monitoring standards was not the way to attract people, and that persuasion and highlighting the economic advantages of being multilingual in Wales worked best with children and their parents.

·         It was a struggle to convince parents that their children were confident in Welsh and that the Service worked with Nyth and Cwmni’r Fran Wen in Bangor on developing a two-year project, which was based on research by Schools Without Walls, where one cohort of children during their period in years 5 and 6, acquired a language by means of enriching creative experiences.

·         The Service would share information with parents about the development and the experiences children receive through the medium of Welsh, and attempt to show parents how confident their children are to be working through the medium of Welsh.

·         As part of the scheme, there would also be an opportunity for parents to see their children putting on performances and presentations confidently through the medium of Welsh.

·         Advantage could be taken of those opportunities to persuade parents and having other parents sharing their experiences in a video would be worthwhile and certainly persuade and influence.

 

It was noted that:-

·         There was concern in relation to confirming linguistic practices early, and that clause 4.2 of the report referred to an exceptional scheme in the foundation phase. As demographic changes continued over a period of decades, the immersion system would clearly have to adapt to deal with this, and it was believed that the type of scheme in question was relevant, or would be relevant, in a number of schools throughout the authority at present, and in due course.

·         It was believed that the report focused too much on those who went through the immersion system and their parents, and that there was no consideration to the rest of the children and their parents.

·         Clause 3.2 mentioned the blended education provision, which was recognised as an excellent practice by Estyn, but there was concern that there was a risk of creating an unintentional divide between the Welsh virtual digital world and the real-life English world, i.e. that Welsh would be the language of the computer, but English would be the language of the schoolyard, contrary to the real world where Welsh was the normal face-to-face language in society and English was the language related to electronic and digital media.

 

In response to the observations, it was noted:-

·         That the Bangor Catchment Area Foundation Phase Immersion Project (clause 4.2 of the report) was a scheme to develop the language of the workforce in a unique situation, and that it would not be needed in other situations as our teachers spoke Welsh.

·         It was not believed that the report placed the well-being of one cohort ahead of another cohort at all, and that it was all based on everyone's well-being. 

·         The concern about creating a division between the Welsh virtual world and the real world was not shared, and it was required to ensure an education and system that was appealing to children of the twenty first century.

·         It was essentially important to ensure the goodwill of non-Welsh speaking parents as this changed lives.

·         Giving children the opportunity to practise their Welsh in a safe, virtual space before stepping into the real world, was very valuable. 

·         In terms of the situation in Bangor, maybe more schools needed the support and provision, and the Welsh Language Team examined and analysed data in terms of the confidence of children's language regularly, and identified schools that, maybe, needed additional support.

·         With the exception of Our Lady's School, three other schools in the Bangor area also received support, which was on the basis of data analysis in terms of the children's confidence in discussions with the schools.

·         An attempt was made to immerse years 2 to 9, to offer after-care support to the children on bridging days and teacher training.  The Service did not have the capacity to do much more than this, and although nursery-aged children could be immersed, it was not believed that anyone would recommend bringing young, foundation phase children to an immersion centre, as they were safe at their schools and being immersed in the foundation phase in every primary school.

 

The opinion was expressed that the new scheme excelled the former scheme in many ways, i.e. immersed more children, a more enriching and interesting provision, more locations, better governance arrangement, creating consistency and more considerations to the broader needs of the child being taught. However, the former system was effective in releasing children who could return to the mainstream and be taught through the medium of Welsh. In the report, nothing could be seen in the new provision that would make it less likely for the new system to be a success, but it was enquired whether we had a way of measuring that the new system was, at least, as good as the former system.

 

In response, it was noted:-

·       That there were specific measures in the internal performance challenging system with regards to the success of the system.  In due course, it would be possible to compare the outcome with the outcomes under the former system but it was agreed that the new system was more modern and relevant to children's lives today.

·         Children's progress was currently being measured based on National Curriculum levels, but of course they would transfer to become a measure in terms of progression step 1 and progression step 2.

·         Interpersonal linguistic development was examined such as the confidence of children when using the language socially in terms of communicating, and a curricular assessment was also undertaken, i.e. in terms of how children cope with the curriculum in terms of subject terminology in secondary school etc.

 

In response to a question regarding the flexibility of the new system in terms of accepting children, it was noted:-

·         That flexibility still existed although the system was clearly more formal.  Course dates and a referral form were shared with primary and secondary headteachers on a termly basis, before the admission forum considered and prioritised children.  It was emphasised that no child had been refused.

·         There was more demand in the Autumn term as more latecomers arrived during the summer, but at less busy times a place was offered to children who were not latecomers, but who wished to improve and regain confidence in the language. 

·         Consideration was also given to establishing short courses to improve and regain confidence during the last fortnight of the summer term (as the usual ten-week course was finished by then) and during September (before the ten-week course started in October) along with five-week courses for children who needed additional support.

 

Although every teacher was a language teacher, it was noted that whatever subject they taught, not every teacher was an immersion teacher and that special skills were needed to teach a language to a child. It was enquired whether the opinions of innovative immersion teachers had been sought about updating and modernising the provision.  It was also enquired how the Service marketed and sold the scheme to parents.  It was further noted that it appeared that support for the learner back at the mother school on the fifth day was inconsistent, and that there was no support scaffolding at school in terms of immersion and acquiring a language.  Rather than spending four days at the language centre and one day back at school over a ten-week period, it was enquired whether it would be better for the children to be immersed less but more intensively at the language centre, say for five days over a seven-week period, as this would be less confusing for the pupil.

 

In response, it was noted:-

·         That the new system had only been operational for a term and that the Service was still examining the provision. However, it was believed that there was no evidence at all that anything was unsatisfactory.

·         Although accepting that there was a difference of opinion among members, stakeholders, whether as children, parents and teachers, praised the new four-day system.  It was essentially important for children to have contact with the mother school and their peers, and it was believed that this defeated any argument about keeping them in a centre for five days.

·         Gwenan Ellis Jones (Gwynedd and Anglesey Primary Schools Welsh Language Charter Coordinator) collaborated with the Service on immersion principles, and the Service would appreciate a conversation with other similar experts, and receive their input.

·         In terms of marketing, pamphlets, a letter and presentation had been provided to the schools to share with parents, and it was intended to extend the provision by producing a video that conveyed the new-look system.

·         In terms of the observation regarding the inconsistency of support at the schools on the fifth day, the situation varied from school to school according to what those schools would consider as the best support for the child.  This did not happen at random - it had been forward planned intentionally and it occurred in consultation with staff of the language centres.

 

A request was made for more information on how the Service persuaded parents to choose a Welsh education route for their children when transferring to a secondary school in the Bangor catchment area (clause 4.3 of the report) and the objective of the short courses that bridged between primary and secondary (clause 5.1).

 

In response, it was noted:-

·         In terms of persuading parents, as well as collaborating with Nyth and Cwmni'r Fran Wen, a relationship had been established with the Hunaniaith Team, which already worked in the area, and meetings had been held, e.g. at the centre in Ysgol Tryfan for parents of children who attended the centre. 

·         It was hoped to extend this and create a strong link with primary schools in the catchment area by collaborating with staff and Cwmni'r Fran Wen.

·         The Service also worked with Sbarduno, and developed scientific opportunities for the children. Workshops had already been held for every child in years 5 and 6 in Bangor to develop the children's confidence in the Welsh language on a cross-curricular basis, especially in the sciences, and very positive feedback had been received about this.

·         A Chwarae yn Gymraeg workshop had been held with the Urdd, using the Welsh Government's Late Immersion Grant to train children in years 5 and 6 in Bangor and Tywyn to develop a play project with the younger children at the schools.

·         By collaborating closely with the schools and by promoting the projects, it was hoped to be able to show parents that their children had the ability and confidence to follow a Welsh education route.  It was also hoped to show parents that further immersion support was available for their children if they chose a Welsh-medium route, and the language centre at Ysgol Tryfan would be a valuable resource for this.

 

It was noted that the statistics of the number of children who went to improve language (clause 3.6 of the report) were in percentages, and it was enquired what were the exact figures. In response, it was noted that 73 learners had attended the language units in the 2022 Summer Term, 65 in the 2022 Autumn Term and 53 in the 2023 Spring Term.

 

It was suggested that there was no consistency in the staffing structure of the different language centres, and that fewer specialist teachers were in the centres than in the past. There was a concern that staffing decisions were financial cuts rather than something of benefit, not only for the children being immersed but for the other children as well. It was added that clear evidence could not be seen from reports that the system was a success, and there was concern that the quality of the service was at risk of slipping.

 

In response, it was explained:-

·         That staffing decisions were not financial decisions, and the argument that there must be two teachers in one centre was not accepted.

·         The workforce and the system were flexible to go to the location where the demand was greater.

·         In terms of the workforce, the new structure provided a head and deputy for the system, along with a teacher and level 4 assistant at every centre, and that the assistants had also been immersed in the principles.

·         Under the former system, staff were very isolated, but under the new system there was one structure, clear guidance, a work programme, an opportunity to share good practice and to undertake continuous professional development.

·         Staff at the centres now operated as a school with a strategic plan and improvement plan in place, and there were specific actions to ensure that we presented the most effective immersion methods in the system.

·         The service had not been downsized and we now had more centres, which served more children. Also, as a result of reviewing the system, it was now possible to run the immersion system during three terms a year, where it had not been possible in the third term in the past.

 

It was noted that one looked forward to seeing the centre in Tywyn opening soon.

 

RESOLVED to accept the report and to note the observations.