Councillor T Thomas to the Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration

Neighbouring local authorities such as the Vale of Glamorgan have similar characteristics and challenges in terms of the Welsh language. Would the Cabinet Member agree that Welsh medium schools provision in this authority should, at the very least, match provision in the Vale of Glamorgan?

Councillor Tim Thomas to the Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration

Neighbouring local authorities such as the Vale of Glamorgan have similar characteristics and challenges in terms of the Welsh language. Would the Cabinet Member agree that Welsh medium schools provision in this authority should, at the very least, match provision in the Vale of Glamorgan?

Response

1.        Bridgend County Borough Council is keen to promote the Welsh language and is fully committed to working with Welsh Government to achieve its aim of one million Welsh speakers by 2050. Elected members and officers all fully support the Welsh language and what it means for Bridgend and our nation’s future. The local authority readily promotes the benefits of bilingualism at every opportunity and places significant emphasis on the importance of the Welsh language and Welsh-medium education.

2.          There is limited value in comparing Welsh-medium education provision in Bridgend with that of Vale of Glamorgan. Welsh Government’s proposed methodology (refer to the recent consultation on the draft Welsh in Education Strategic Plans Regulations (Wales) 2019 and Guidance) takes into account the range of Welsh-medium education provision across Wales by introducing a group system. The factors considered when grouping local authorities include: the percentage of learners taught in Welsh, the models of Welsh-medium education provision adopted by the local authority and the linguistic nature of a local authority.

3.          The proposed guidance identifies ‘Group 3’ local authorities as having between 13% and 19% of Year 1 children being taught through the medium of Welsh (in 2017-2018). It may be that Welsh-medium community education is the norm in one/a very small number of areas, but this is the exception not the rule. There is usually a choice between Welsh-medium education and English-medium education. ‘Group 4’ local authorities are identified as having 12% or fewer Year 1 being taught through the medium of Welsh (in 2017-2018). There is a choice between Welsh-medium education and English-medium education in these local authorities. On this basis, Bridgend is identified as a Group 4 local authority while Vale of Glamorgan falls into Group 3.

4.          As a local authority, we identify our Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) as the key strategic document which outlines our strategy to support the delivery and growth of Welsh-medium education.  I can confirm that Bridgend County Borough Council’s WESP has been approved by Welsh Government. The recent consultation on the draft Welsh in Education Strategic Plans Regulations (Wales) 2019 and Guidance recently closed (on 13 September 2019) and, therefore, we await the outcome of this consultation. The local authority will respond accordingly to the new regulations if approved as drafted.

5.          However, as noted in the local authority’s recent inspection, we need to strengthen the role of the Welsh Education Strategic Forum in delivering the priorities identified in our WESP. This priority will form a key part of our post-inspection action plan (PIAP) which will be shared with and monitored by the Welsh Education Strategic Forum.

6.          It is important to note that there remains a 13.9% surplus in the local authority’s four Welsh-medium primary schools and a 20.9% surplus in the Welsh-medium secondary school which must be taken into consideration. Officers have recently met with Welsh Government officials to explore ways in which the local authority can better promote the Welsh language, and the benefits of Welsh-medium education, with a view to filling the available places in our Welsh-medium schools. We will be working closely with Welsh Government officials over the next few months to address this issue.

7.          The local authority’s school modernisation plans, which have recently been submitted to Welsh Government, have identified the areas of Bridgend in greatest need of additional Welsh-medium provision, to meet both demand and anticipated demand from new housing projects. The dissemination of the detail associated with these proposals has been constrained by the process that needs to be worked through which is governed by a strict legislative framework. 

8.          The current recommendation from the local authority’s School Modernisation Board, is for increased provision in both the north east and west of Bridgend. Table A below identifies what the School Modernisation Board will be proposing to Cabinet in the coming months to ensure that the number of Welsh-medium places grows to meet both our desire and duty as a local authority as part of Band B.

Table A          Welsh-medium primary school places in Bridgend (current and   projected)

9.          By the end of Band B, in order to support the WESP and Cymraeg 2050 initiative, there will be a proposed 30% increase in the number of primary school places in Bridgend to support children entering Welsh-medium education. This is clearly significant.

10.        The local authority has been proactive in pursuing and securing significant additional funding for Welsh-medium provision within the county borough. For example, current and projected activity will see an investment of almost £3m in Welsh-medium provision across Bridgend.  The local authority will be using this funding to support the development of four new Welsh-medium childcare settings across Bridgend. The planned Welsh-medium childcare settings are designed to offer full-day care, wrap-around care, holiday care and sessional Cylch Meithrin provision. The local authority has also used this funding to facilitate the provision of a new all-weather facility for Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd.

11.        Areas identified for the new Welsh-medium childcare developments are Bettws, Ogmore Valley, Bridgend central area and Porthcawl. The intention is to increase the number of children who will enter Welsh-medium childcare and then progress into Welsh-medium education. The provisions will all offer an effective feeder for the Bridgend Welsh-medium schools and, as a consequence, hopefully address the current capacity issues within these schools. Alongside this, the local authority has recently developed an information booklet to promote the benefits of Welsh-medium provision for children and their families.

12.        The recently completed Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Calon y Cymoedd formed part of the Garw Valley South scheme.  This scheme involved the replacement and re-location of the existing Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Cwm Garw and replacement of Betws Primary School, to the existing Betws Primary School site.  The total investment for the scheme was £11.2m for the two new-build schools.

13.        The co-location of Welsh-medium and English-medium provision on a single site facilitates the sharing of good practice and equality of provision, together with increased educational opportunities.  The new Welsh-medium school provides suitable and sufficient learning spaces with the aim of resulting improvement in educational standards. It is encouraging to note that there has been an increase in the number of pupils attending Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Calon y Cymoedd since it opened in its new location.

14.        As part of the Cymraeg 2050 capital grant funding, a new Welsh-medium childcare building will be provided in Bettws to serve the Garw Valley.  This provision aims to promote the Welsh language and increase intake into Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Calon y Cymoedd.  The re-location of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Calon y Cymoedd to a more central location will help to address surplus places and meet the demand for Welsh-medium education.

15.        As far as standards are concerned, all five of our Welsh-medium schools are, currently, either in ‘green’ or ‘yellow’ support category. Estyn, in its recent inspection of Bridgend’s local government education services, noted that pupils’ attainment in Welsh compares favourably with that of pupils in other local authorities. We believe we have effective head teachers in our Welsh-medium schools and we are pleased to see that they work well with colleagues in other Welsh-medium schools across the region.

16.        In conclusion, Bridgend County Borough Council remains firmly committed to promoting the Welsh language and Welsh-medium education. In line with our WESP commitments, we will work closely with partners such as Welsh Government and the Welsh Education Strategic Forum to ensure Welsh-medium education in Bridgend provides the best possible opportunities for learners.

Supplementary question by Councillor Thomas

The Vale of Glamorgan have similar demographics to Bridgend in terms of welsh medium schools, however, they have 6 primary schools who practice in the medium of welsh while BCBC only have 4. Any additional schools within the Bridgend area that are earmarked as additional to this, are being planned through major Regeneration projects yet to be realised. He asked what conversation is the Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration and Corporate Director – Education and Family Support having with Planning colleagues to increase additional schools to practice in the medium of welsh.

Response

The Cabinet Member – Education and Regeneration advised that both he and the Corporate Director – Education and Family Support were proactive raising the profile of literacy in both Welsh and English language at schools throughout the County Borough. He also had also been proactive in encouraging discussion between Education and Planning within BCBC about school provision in the Local Development Plan, examining new sites allocated for housing and as a result of this, whether there was a necessity to build new schools to support. He reiterated that it was difficult to compare BCBC with the Vale of Glamorgan Council on the subject of educating children in the medium of welsh at schools, for the reasons alluded to in the response to the initial question. In order to reach Welsh Government targets for a given number of Welsh speakers, it is important not just to rely on Welsh medium schooling, it requires many changes throughout the education system, promoting interest in all modern international languages, including Welsh, and going beyond mere language learning to promote interest in languages and cultures in general. We should look at cost-effective immersive techniques for rapid language learning, also engage with Lifelong Learning and Adult education services, and encourage multi-lingual and multi-cultural  awareness in the media. He hoped that a re-configured WESP Forum would incorporate a wide-ranging approach that would ensure interest in Welsh language and culture in an outward-looking  European and global context.

The Leader added that the authority had invested £11.2million in the two new build schools in Bettws which reflected BCBC’s commitment to educating students in both the Welsh and English language, continuing the excellent work delivered to date under the Council’s flagship 21st Century School Modernisation Programme. The Council’s biggest capital investment in future years will be in the next phase, Band B of the School Modernisation programme a total of over £65 million. All members of the authority had committed 50% of the new primary provision in Band B of the programme to Welsh medium places. The authority had also committed to developing new Welsh medium childcare facilities in the Ogmore Valley, Bettws, Porthcawl and Bridgend. The authority would enthusiastically consider any opportunities arising from extra funding from Welsh Government funding to further increase Welsh medium provision.      

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support further added that that there had been a significant growth in the use of welsh medium in Band B, with schools having accommodated 300 additional places for pupils in our welsh medium schools.

Second supplementary question by Councillor Gareth Howells

Please could you share with Members the objectives contained in the Council’s Welsh Education Strategic Plan (WESP)?

Response

The Corporate Director – Education and Family Support advised that the Bridgend WESP’s aims are:

•       More seven-year-old children being taught through the medium of Welsh

•       More learners continuing to improve their language skills on transfer from primary to secondary school

•       More students aged 14-16 studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh

•       More students aged 14-19 in study subjects through the medium of Welsh, in schools, colleges and work-based learning

•       More students with advanced skills in Welsh

•       More Welsh-medium provision for learners with ALN

•       Workforce planning and continuing professional development

Bridgend’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) 2017 – 2020 was developed with stakeholders and approved by Welsh Government in September 2018. This means that Welsh Government considers our vision, objectives and outcomes in respect of Welsh education in Bridgend to be appropriate.

Third supplementary question raised by Councillor Nicole Burnett

In percentage terms, how many more pupils will have been taught at  schools in the medium of welsh by the end of Band B (ie 2024)?

Response

Approximately 30%.