Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW)

Welsh-medium Education Strategy

ADEW Task and Finish Group meeting notes 02-03-09

Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW)

Task and Finish Group meeting

Caer Beris Manor Hotel, Builth Wells – 2 March 2009

Present: Richard Parry Jones – Anglesey (Education and Leisure Director) – Chair; Ann Jenkins – DCELLS (AJ); Dewi Williams – Conwy (deputising for Dafydd Thomas); Ruth Salisbury – Newport/Torfaen; Gillian Jones – Ceredigion; Euros Jones – Swansea (deputising for Kelly Small) ; Ceinwen Jones – DCELLS, note-taker.

Apologies: Ann Jones – Denbighshire; Hywyn Williams – Wrexham; Graham Dalton – Cardiff; Marian Phillips – Pembrokeshire; Kelly Small – Swansea (Euros Jones deputising); Dafydd Thomas– Conwy (Dewi Williams deputising).

1. Welcome and update on progress with the Strategy

The Chair (RPJ) welcomed everyone to the meeting and outlined some progress points since the first meeting held on 27 November 2008. The notes from the last meeting were approved. It was noted that the Welsh-medium Education Strategy (WMES) was timely because of the proposed Welsh Language Measure, and it was being prepared at a time when there was more support for the Welsh language than ever before. It was explained that there was wide representation on the Strategy Advisory Panel. The present meeting would allow local authorities (LAs) to discuss issues without commitment before the draft Strategy is launched. The purpose of the meeting therefore was to feed further commentsinto the preparation process of the Strategy, by looking at the WMES from a pragmatic perspective and how it would fit with the statutory duties of LAs.

AJ explained that it was still the intention to present the draft Strategy to the Cabinet by the end of March in order to publish the draft for the consultation period from May to September. In the first meeting of this group, only some of the recommendations had been presented; a fuller draft was being presented in this second meeting. The aim would be to include the Strategy, Implementation Programme and a Context and Considerations paper for the public consultation. The group was reminded that the draft Strategypresented remained a confidential document.

2. Discussion on the draft Strategy

The main objectives of the Strategy were discussed in depth. The main comments were:

Strategic Aim 1

The Welsh Assembly Government has no intention of undermining the planning role of the LAs. It is a complication that the Welsh Language Board currently monitors the performance of LAs through the Welsh Education Plans.
There is concern regarding the Children and Young People’s Plans (CYPPS) due to the high level of the plans and lack of detail. The system has not yet been tested, and so far the CYPPs have not safeguarded Welsh-medium education. Despite this, there is the potential to pull agencies together.
The proposed Welsh in Education Strategic Plans will not be statutory in the near future, and the strength and effectiveness of the Plans were questioned.
LAs are keen to reduce the number of grants (38 main education grants and possibly over 150 more, which create a huge bureaucracy), although accepting that outcomes need to be placed in a more strategic form. In this regard, it might be possible to have one strategic grant to facilitate Welsh-medium education.
It was suggested that the ‘Cynllun Rhagori’ model could be considered - a specific grant that is linked with outcomes at a regional, authority, school and pupil level.
The pre-statutory phase is important. The ‘Flying Start’ programme does not give much attention to Welsh.
A Welsh-medium forum within the individual LAsshould be established on the same lines as finance forums. Such Welsh-medium forums are already in existence in some LAs but they are not statutory.
Awareness of and information about Welsh-medium education needs to be mainstreamed within DCELLS. Obvious examples of linguistic needs are being completely ignored.
The Strategy will need to fit with tri-level reform.

Strategic Aim 2

With post-14 education issues, there is a need to be realistic and target the subjects and sectors which have the biggest impact in the workplace and on the language.
Creating progression paths is important in order to avoid the drift away from the language at the age of 14 or 16.
It was felt that Welsh-medium and bilingual education tends to drown in a tertiary college setting.
In order to create a critical mass it would be good to look at a national network rather than a local network, similar to the proposed Federal College for higher education.
Awareness and acknowledgement of the advantages of Welsh need to be developed to ensure employers and learners recognise the need to develop skills.
The use of the video conferencing network needs to be developed to communicate in a professional way, and also the use of peripatetic teachers in order to provide courses.
Further education colleges tend to provide bilingual courses rather than Welsh-medium courses, and this does not always facilitate collaboration with Welsh-medium schools.
Collecting data through PLASC and LLWR will be key.

Strategic Aim 3

The holistic overview in the draft Strategy was welcomed. It raised the question to what extent should LAs ensure education for adults. It was felt that the connection between Welsh for Adults and Welsh-medium education needs to be strengthened, especially through courses for parents with their children, which can be planned within the schools.
The lack of linguistic skills among staff especially in the secondary education sector and Key Stage 2 was noted (see under Strategic Aim 4).
Linguistic progression is an important matter and children need to have the opportunity to reach their full potential in both languages. Part of the problem stems from teachers themselves in terms of attitude and lack of skills. In addition, people need to be persuaded to use their Welsh.
The need to look at how to improve Welsh second language was agreed. It was felt that a move towards a skills continuum is required, providing an incentive for learners to improve their skills. The split between first language and second language is variable. It would be possible to begin developing the language as one set of skills from the Foundation Phase onwards.
It was noted that the Immersion Scheme (run by the Welsh Language Board and funded by DCELLS) shows potential to be developed further under LAs or ADEW consortia.

Strategic Aim 4

It is important that Strategic Aim 4 includes all practitioners, including classroom assistants.
Teachers require more support in developing language skills and attaining the confidence to use the language in the classroom, especiallyWelsh second language teachers.
Some barriers to professional development of teachers were noted:

-Difficulty releasing staff due to a lack of suitable supply teachers

-The Sabbatical Scheme courses are too long to release staff from the classroom, but on the other hand the density of immersion in Welsh provided on the courses is neededin order to develop confidence.

-The Better Schools Fund and GTCW are the main sources of funding. There is no regulation over the study choices of teachers for the GTCW fund.

Strategic Aim 5

It was noted that the Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for most of the work under Aim 5. Will there be sufficient capacity within DCELLS?
The work will be mainstreamed throughout the division but awareness of the needs of the Welsh language will need to be raised among many of DCELLS officials. This is a big challenge.
It was noted that the aim for marketing (Strategic Aim 6) will most likely be moved to Aim 3 or 5.

Strategic Aim 6

Mention of the youth service was welcomed, but expanding the language in areas where the use of Welsh is less prevalent will be difficult, although there are good examples of developments in the field in the south-east.
It was noted that the Welsh Baccalaureate provides informal opportunities, and they can be developed.
Thinking outside of the classroom and of the role of informal education in the community was welcomed as the right approach.

Outcomes and targets

It was noted that targets are required for the education workforce and also for Further Education.
It may be more valuable to provide a target for each ADEW consortium, e.g. Torfaen already collaborates in a consortium across 4 LAs.
National Performance Indicators will need to be coordinated with the Strategies targets.
Qualitative and quantitative targets will be required.
There may be a need to look at PLASC and LLWR data to consider if it is sufficient and sufficiently accurate. It is also possible to track first language learners through Fisher Family Trust data.
The context paper is useful for providing evidence.

3. Any other business

The Chair stressed that the papers were confidential. ADEW had been asked to respect the need of the sub-group to consider the draft Strategy.
The Chair strongly suggested that each LA should cooperate by responding with the public consultation on the Strategy.
The Chair would provide feedback to all Education Directors in a meeting the following week.
There would be no further meeting of this ADEW Task and Finish Group since the Strategy was about to be finalised and launched. The Group was thanked for its highly valuable input.