Agenda item

To consider the report.

To accept the report, noting the observations received during the discussion.

 

The report was submitted by the Head of the Gwynedd Immersion Education System and the Assistant Head of Education Services. They referred briefly to the following main points:

 

It was explained that this report was a summary of the Gwynedd Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) that had been submitted to Welsh Government in July 2025, with further updates.

 

⁠Attention was drawn to the Gwynedd Education Language Policy, confirming that the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Act 2025 placed a statutory duty on the Government, Local Authorities and schools to plan to increase the Welsh-medium education provision. It was explained that the act did not come fully into force until around 2030. It was noted that the intention of the Education Department and the Council was to be proactive to ensure that the requirements of the legislation were met.

 

It was explained that a public consultation was being undertaken on a draft of the Gwynedd Education Language Policy, following a comprehensive consultation by Meirion Prys Jones during 2024/25. It was detailed that engagement sessions had been carried out with school Headteachers, pupils, parents, language forums, language organisations, representatives of the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee and representatives from the Welsh Language Commissioner, to steer the Policy development. It was confirmed that a draft of that Policy had been submitted to the Cabinet at its meeting on 16 December 2025. It was noted that this draft Policy had been approved as an exemplar Policy and the public consultation was applauded. Attention was drawn to the fact that the period of public consultation had commenced since January 2026, and it was noted that it would conclude on 25 February 2026. Furthermore, it was noted that a further report would be submitted to the Cabinet to present feedback from the public consultation and ask for a decision on whether the new-look Gwynedd Education Language Policy should be adopted before it was shared to Governing Bodies, before September 2026.

 

Pride was expressed that approximately 99% of primary school teachers and approximately 89% of secondary school teachers felt confident to teach through the medium of Welsh. However, it was noted that the Council had been collaborating with Learn Welsh North West to ensure that staff at transitional schools (Ysgol Friars - Bangor, Our Lady's School - Bangor, and Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn), received additional support to assist teachers to feel confident to teach through the medium of Welsh by receiving support from a tutor, once a fortnight.  Pride was expressed that 17 staff and pupils from Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn had already taken advantage of this provision, confirming that work was being done to establish the post of Welsh Language Tutor for the site in future.

 

It was reported that work was being done to look at the social use of Welsh amongst young people. It was noted that the Council received a Welsh Language Grant every year from the Government and that it was used to promote Welsh-medium activities beyond the classroom and outside school hours. The work of the Youth Service was elaborated upon, emphasising that it was key in this area. Attention was drawn to events that were taking place in collaboration with the Language Charter and Welsh Language Grant. It was noted that focus was being placed on practical and social events such as parades, transition sessions and gigs. It was explained that locations such as Pontio and Nant Gwrtheyrn were used to facilitate the activities. Pride was expressed that there was much more interest in the Book Contest than had been seen over recent years. It was elaborated that teams from schools across Gwynedd were participating in it this year.

 

It was confirmed that the Department was collaborating with other entities such as Menter Iaith Gwynedd to ensure that projects such as the 'Language Heroes' continued. It was noted that it was being held at Ysgol Abererch and Ysgol Ffridd y Llyn this year.

 

Attention was drawn to the fact that the Department was also working with theatre companies such as Arad Goch, who were preparing performances of 'Natur' by Morgan Elwy in the coming weeks. It was also noted that the Department continued to work with Cwmni'r Frân Wen.

 

During the discussion, the following observations were made: 

 

The Department was thanked for their work at Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn, noting that difficulties had been experienced to appoint teachers who were able to speak Welsh. It was explained that only around 4% of the pupils came from Welsh-speaking homes, but the community was positive about what was going on at the school. In response, the Head of the Immersion Education System gave thanks and said that it was encouraging to see the confidence of the teachers and pupils growing and noted that this was the main need; it was not learning the language from scratch. It was also noted that there was a good relationship with the Immersion Centre in the area.

 

Attention was drawn to the Gwynedd Yfory project, which extended play and socialising opportunities for children and young people in Gwynedd, and it was suggested whether it should be considered that more than one Youth Officer needed to be appointed. It was also noted that there were gaps in the provision in the Llŷn and south Meirionnydd areas, emphasising the need to ensure that the provision was in the County's rural areas, and not just in the areas with the highest population density. In response to the observations, the Head of Immersion Education System confirmed that there was an intention to expand this service's staffing structure. It was explained that it was hoped that this would be done by assessing the number of contributions and using this as evidence to submit to the Welsh Government to highlight the need for further investment in Gwynedd. It was noted that £20,000 was provided by the Welsh Government annually for this provision and it was hoped that this would increase in the future to attract new Welsh speakers and nurture what already existed in Gwynedd's Welsh communities. In response to a further enquiry, it was confirmed that 21,305 participations were associated with the project's activities over the last year, confirming that this figure included individuals who had attended more than one event. Furthermore, the Assistant Head of Education Services emphasised that this report was a partial picture of the services available, as it detailed the work of the Education Department. ⁠Attention was drawn to third sector organisations that provided valuable opportunities for children and young people such as Urdd Gobaith Cymru and Wales Young Farmers Clubs.

 

In response to an enquiry about how to measure the success of provisions which ensured that the Welsh language was used socially, the Head of the Gwynedd Immersion System confirmed that several forums shared young people's views about the Welsh language. Attention was drawn to the Youth Forum, which discussed the views and aspirations of young people and the Gwynedd Language Forum Young People Sub-group. Furthermore, it was confirmed that there was an expectation for the Council to report on the views of young people on the social use of Welsh within the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan. It was also noted that pupils completed a self-assessment within the schools which noted social use of the language, such as when using social media or listening to music. It was acknowledged that the Department could not contact the pupils' homes to ask them about the use of Welsh there without the schools' support. The Assistant Head of Education Services elaborated that modifying social customs was not a task that could be achieved in the short-term, and she welcomed any resource received to address the issue. The concept of conducting research occasionally to measure the success of these efforts was considered.

 

It was noted that 11% of Gwynedd secondary school teachers did not feel confident to teach through the medium of Welsh. It was reiterated that this figure was a high proportion of the County's secondary teachers, and it was asked whether these teachers worked in the transitional schools or across the county. Pride was expressed that several support sources were available for the teachers to feel confident to teach in Welsh, asking whether it was possible to measure their attainment with this provision as their confidence increased. In response to the observations, the Head of the Immersion Education System noted that it was not possible to confirm which schools the teachers in question came from, but the information would be circulated to Members when it was timely to do so. The type of courses being held to boost confidence with Welsh were detailed and that they were being offered in cooperation with Canolfan Bedwyr and Learn Welsh North West, and they responded to the individual needs and specific situations within the Transitional Schools. It was noted that future reports would include details on the development of this provision and definitive data on the development of teacher confidence to teach through the medium of Welsh.

 

In response to the enquiries and investigations being carried out on the social use of Welsh, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Advisor noted that the WISERD Language Network had recently been re-established by Welsh Universities. It was confirmed that the Universities were eager to collaborate with Local Authorities to provide input on the type of information they wanted to be collected and that there was contact with policy practitioners in local authorities.

 

In response, to see whether there was an intention to establish more Urdd community aelwydydd as a result of the news that the Urdd Eisteddfod would be coming to Eryri in 2028, the Assistant Head of Education Services confirmed that 5 community aelwydydd were currently operational. It was acknowledged that increasing this number was a substantial challenge due to the requirement for volunteers to sustain them. However, it was noted that it was not possible to elaborate on the proposal to extend the number of community aelwydydd, or the number attending them, as it was a provision that was supported by the Urdd.

 

The intention of the Council and Education Department to be proactive to comply with the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Act 2025, was supported. Attention was drawn to the fact that the Department had plans to extend the Welsh language amongst native speakers, and details of those plans were sought. In response, the Head of the Education Immersion System confirmed that the Department was collaborating with Agored Cymru, which gave older children access to practical experiences in their communities, through the medium of Welsh. It was explained that this plan gave them the opportunity to speak Welsh naturally and socially with a Welsh workforce. It was noted that Agored Cymru was holding sessions that ran in parallel with practical GCSE courses, boosting confidence in the language and ensuring that it was spoken in the workplace. Reference was also made to an exciting plan in collaboration with the Adnodd company, who were looking to ensure language strength, access to comprehensible and quality standards, whilst also being ambitious when considering future possibilities.

 

A reminder was given that officers had reported that staffing levels within the educational psychology service were concerning in 2025, and it was asked whether the situation continued to be challenging. In response, the Head of the Immersion Education System confirmed that unfortunately this concern remained. However, it was noted that trainee psychologists had been appointed, in the hope that these concerns would be mitigated in the near future, once they qualified as registered psychologists. It was emphasised that this was a national concern, and the Welsh Government was aware of the gap in this provision. The hope was that more educational psychologists would be trained with support from Bangor University, as the qualification would be offered there, instead of at Cardiff University only.

 

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

 

RESOLVED

 

To accept the report, noting the observations received during the discussion.

 

 

The members expressed their thanks for the report.