“There are approximately 11 dual Stream Schools in Carmarthenshire which according to the Welsh Language Strategy, are being earmarked for Welsh Medium only. It must be recognised that not all these schools will be suitable based upon their logistics as they will be dual stream for a reason, so how and who is assessing the demand and suitability? Has an horizon scanning exercise been conducted for Llangennech community i.e to assess how the village/population of Llangennech will look in 5, 10, 15 years time? With an increased number of new builds, an influx in migration, being close to the M4 corridor, can we confidently say that Welsh Medium Only will meet these demands when 80% of the population is already English speaking. After all, 27% of pupils are coming from outside areas and village figures do not show an increase in demand for Welsh. The Welsh Language Strategy Impact has also not been assessed properly if at all. There is no reference to English speakers having less of an appreciation of the cultural heritage of Wales if they attend English Medium only, more people are likely to try the Welsh stream if they know they can fall back to English within the same school. This will have the adverse effect. The use of Welsh within the community is minimal and does not support the linguistic demographics or the stats from the 2011 consensus. Why aren’t these risks being factored in?”
Minutes:
“There are approximately 11 dual Stream Schools in Carmarthenshire which according to the Welsh Language Strategy, are being earmarked for Welsh Medium only. It must be recognised that not all these schools will be suitable based upon their logistics as they will be dual stream for a reason, so how and who is assessing the demand and suitability? Has an horizon scanning exercise been conducted for Llangennech community i.e to assess how the village/population of Llangennech will look in 5, 10, 15 years time? With an increased number of new builds, an influx in migration, being close to the M4 corridor, can we confidently say that Welsh Medium Only will meet these demands when 80% of the population is already English speaking. After all, 27% of pupils are coming from outside areas and village figures do not show an increase in demand for Welsh. The Welsh Language Strategy Impact has also not been assessed properly if at all. There is no reference to English speakers having less of an appreciation of the cultural heritage of Wales if they attend English Medium only, more people are likely to try the Welsh stream if they know they can fall back to English within the same school. This will have the adverse effect. The use of Welsh within the community is minimal and does not support the linguistic demographics or the stats from the 2011 consensus. Why aren’t these risks being factored in?”
Response by Councillor G.O. Jones, Executive Board Member for Education & Children:-
“There are currently 10 Dual Stream schools in Carmarthenshire, as categorised by their governing bodies, including the two Llangennech schools.
The proposals have been prepared in response to Carmarthenshire County Council’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) and the Welsh Medium Education Strategy (WMES). The local authority has a responsibility to “increase the provision of Welsh medium education in Carmarthenshire and ensure linguistic continuity from the nursery sector along the key stages to the secondary sector along the key stages to the secondary sector so that every pupil becomes fluent and confident in both Welsh and English languages.” In order to be able to increase the provision of Welsh medium education it has been resolved that “the County Council work closely with the staff and Governing Bodies of Carmarthenshire’s dual stream schools in order for them to become Welsh medium schools.”
All schools will be assessed at the appropriate time to determine their capacity to develop language provision.
In addition to proposals for Dual Stream schools the WESP expects every school, including schools that are currently designated as English medium to progress along the language continuum, to increase the proportion of education that is delivered through the Welsh language. Clearly the pace at which schools will be able to expand bilingualism and Welsh medium education will depend upon local circumstances but the expectation for progress applies to all schools. The schools in Llangennech have been identified as having the potential to move quickly to become Welsh medium due to the progressive increase in numbers in the Welsh stream over recent years, as evidenced by the data.
It is the belief of the County Council that all children benefit from a truly bilingual education, which provides wider skills development, such as cognitive ability, task understanding and flexibility, enhanced powers of concentration, etc, and that all children should receive these opportunities.
It is noted that some members of the community are unable to speak the Welsh language and that many children attending the school come from non-Welsh backgrounds. It is, therefore, important for the local authority to increase the provision of Welsh medium education in order to promote bilingualism in the area and to ensure that every pupil becomes fluent and confident in both Welsh and English languages.
There is a national priority in Wales, shared by Carmarthenshire County Council, to increase the number of people in our communities who are able to speak Welsh and use it in their everyday lives. Schools are regarded to be a critically important component in developing children so that they are fully bilingual by the time they leave primary school. International evidence, cited by the Welsh Government, confirms that the most effective way of developing bilingual children is to immerse them in the less common language whilst also developing their skills in the more common language. The Welsh Government also promotes that for children who are from non-Welsh speaking families that immersion in Welsh in school is particularly important in embedding the language.
The County Council acknowledges that the nature of communities changes over time and that social mobility continues to increase. The Council considers that this point reinforces the need to embed Welsh medium education in as many communities as possible in order to bolster the language and provide as many children as possible with the opportunity to develop as truly bilingual citizens and to benefit from the personal advantages that bilingualism brings.
Bilingualism will increasingly over time become an employment skill. For example, all public organisations in Wales are subject to new statutory Welsh language standards and progressively over time will need to recruit increasing numbers of Welsh speakers to deliver services. Possessing Welsh language skills will increasingly over time over give individuals a competitive advantage when seeking employment.
Rather than being an impediment, possessing skills in the Welsh language is seen by many universities, inside and outside Wales, as an additional skill, which can offer benefits when a young person is competing for a place to study.”