Cymraeg

‘Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers’ sets out our ambition of creating a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

1. Developing the Welsh language within your school

Overview

‘Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers’ sets out our ambition of creating a million Welsh speakers by 2050. It includes targets to increase the number of teachers competent to teach Welsh as a subject and other subjects through the medium of Welsh. It also outlines the vision for developing the Welsh language skills of all learners aged 3 to 16 as part of Curriculum for Wales to enable them to use the language in everyday contexts.

The information within this section will help schools to develop the teaching and use of the Welsh language by providing information on professional learning opportunities, and sign-posting to other key areas for schools to ensure that the Welsh language is considered at their heart.

2. Schools as learning organisations

The Schools as Learning Organisations model provides schools with a framework to enable professional learning for practitioners. As Learning Organisations, schools should nurture and develop all of their staff. The vision for Welsh and language acquisition should be clear to all and opportunities for professional learning and collaborative development of language should be encouraged. Creating Welsh Language staff development groups, buddying up of staff and promoting Welsh support groups will enable practitioners to develop confidence. Leadership should encourage these developments and model their expectations. The school should collaborate and share skills within their clusters and with partners further afield in order to create an ethos of Welsh language learning and support for all practitioners. They should be learning together and from each other and utilising the support and programmes available for the external environment such as Consortia, HEIs and the Welsh Government.

Practitioners should be discussing with their managers as part of their regular reviews how they could benefit from professional learning in this area, which should complement the school’s vision for Welsh Language provision and learning.

Schools can utilise funding allocated to them via the professional learning grant or the education improvement grant to support practitioners to develop their Welsh language skills.

3. Welsh language professional learning

There is a range of professional learning opportunities available for practitioners to develop their Welsh language skills.

Welsh language Sabbatical Scheme

Sabbatical Scheme: Elizabeth Lewis

Welsh language Sabbatical Scheme: what is the Sabbatical Scheme?

The Welsh language Sabbatical Scheme has a central role in developing practitioners’ Welsh-language skills and ability to teach through the medium of Welsh. The Scheme provides methodology and Welsh language training for teachers and classroom assistants from primary and secondary schools throughout Wales.

The Scheme provides an opportunity for practitioners to:

  • improve their Welsh-language skills

  • learn subject-specific terminology

  • ensure awareness and confidence to use Welsh-medium and bilingual methodologies

The Scheme is open to practitioners currently working in Wales and courses are available on various levels. Applications from supply staff may be considered subject to certain conditions.

All courses are offered free of charge. The Welsh Government will also pay a grant towards supply cover and will reimburse participants’ additional travel costs. The Scheme currently offers the following courses:

‘Cymraeg Mewn Blwyddyn’: Welsh in a year

This course has been designed for primary teachers who work in English-medium primary schools. It provides training over a period of a full academic year, which leads to fluency of expression and grammatical accuracy within the context of learning and teaching. It aims to nurture subject leaders who will plan the use of Welsh in their schools in line with the strategic requirements of the regional consortium using professionally recognised best-practice Welsh teaching methodologies.

The course develops practitioners' Welsh language skills and their ability to speak and write Welsh with confidence in various situations when delivering Welsh as a second language in the Foundation Stage and at Key Stage 2.

The course concentrates on developing the practitioners' language skills to enable them to develop the way the Welsh language is being used and taught in their schools. There is a focus on using Welsh across the curriculum and giving practitioners the opportunity to work strategically to develop bilingualism in their schools. Practitioners prepare resources and deliver cross-curricular lessons according to the new curriculum's areas of learning as well as developing skills to enable them to assess pupils and provide them with language feedback.

Advanced level

Advanced level courses are aimed at those who can speak Welsh fluently, either as first-language speakers or advanced learners, but who lack the confidence or specialist terminology in Welsh to use these skills in a professional context. The courses offer applicants the opportunity to:

  • develop their personal language skills

  • receive intensive language training combined with methodological training in Welsh-medium teaching or language teaching

  • develop specialist knowledge of terminology specific to their subject area or specialisation

Intermediate level

This 8 week course is the newest addition to the Sabbatical Scheme’s suite of provision.

It is aimed at teachers in English-medium/bilingual primary schools who already have some Welsh language skills, for example those who have already completed a Sylfaen (foundation) level course either through the Sabbatical Scheme or through other methods and wish to further develop their skills to progress towards fluency.

This course will:

  • create proficient teachers in preparation for the requirements of the new Curriculum for Welsh in the English-medium sector

  • offer progression from the Foundation course, reinforcing and extending teachers' linguistic ability alongside their pedagogical skills

  • enable teachers to plan the delivery of Welsh within the framework of the new Curriculum's Areas of Learning and Experience

This course develops practitioners’ Welsh language Skills and their ability to speak and write Welsh confidently in a variety of situations when introducing Welsh as a second Language in the Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2.

The course focuses on:

  • developing practitioners’ Language Skills to enable them to develop the use and Learning of Welsh in their Schools

  • the use of Welsh across the Curriculum and gives practitioners the opportunity to work strategically to develop bilingualism in their Schools

  • helping practitioners to prepare resources and to deliver cross-curricular lessons in line with Curriculum for Wales’ Areas of Learning and Experience

  • developing practitioners’ Skills to enable them to assess pupils and provide meaningful feedback

Foundation Level

Welsh language training for Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 teachers working in English-medium or bilingual primary schools who wish to:

  • develop their Welsh language skills to Foundation level

  • take the first steps on a recognized path to learning Welsh with the long-term aim of teaching Welsh or through the medium of Welsh

  • contribute to bilingualism in their schools and develop a Welsh language ethos

The course is aimed at those who have a basic knowledge of the Welsh language and who are motivated to commit to 11 weeks of intensive training.

Entry Level

This is a 5 week full-time intensive immersion course for classroom assistants in English-medium or bilingual primary schools.

The course will equip participants with the necessary vocabulary and linguistic skills to support their teaching colleagues in the delivery of the curriculum.