Appendix 1: The Action Plan – Tackling national targets at a LA level
Section 1: Your vision and aim for Welsh-medium education
Section 2: The Action Plan
A. Objective / B. Current performance / C. Timetable of future plans
1.1
Increase the number of seven-year-old children taught through the medium of Welsh / The percentage of year 2 pupils who attend designated Welsh Medium Schools as recorded by PLASC is:-
2009: 9%
2010: 8%
2011: 11%
However, the percentage of KS1 pupils receiving a teacher assessment in Welsh are:-
2009: 10%
2010: 9%
2011: 12%
There is one school which has a naturally Welsh character in Wrexham that PLASC officially records as an English medium school and one school with a Welsh mediun stream
There has been an increase in take up of Welsh medium places in Wrexham. Reception admissions to schools providing Welsh medium education over the last three years have been:-
2009 189
2010 192
2011 190
The Local Authority considers that these numbers are positive given the geography of the County Borough. Additional demand has been given serious consideration by the council and where necessary additional accommodation has been provided. A new single form entry Welsh Medium Primary is planned for Gwersyllt and should open in September 2013. / Consider the introduction of an annual survey of parents of new born babies toconfirm demand for English or Welsh medium education.
Ensure that Welsh medium education is given full consideration when undertaking area reviews of primary and secondary school provision.
1.2
Adopt systematic processes for measuring the demand for Welsh-medium childcare and Welsh-medium statutory educational provision. Act promptly on the findings of parental surveys. / The Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) was published in 2011, which outlines gaps in the childcare market and makes recommendations on how best to fill these gaps to ensure sufficient childcare in Wrexham to enable parents to work or train. A specific recommendation around Welsh-medium provision has been identified and will be taken forward in the Childcare Action Plan.
The authority conducted a survey in 2007. The survey took the form of a questionaire followed up by telephone interviews. The survey was used to provide data to inform school place planning, ultimately leading to a bid for funding for a new Welsh medium primary school. The responses of those surveyed suggested that there was unmet demand in the North of the County which led to the LA providing additional temporary places for pupils at the nearest primary school. / Early Education Team to work more closely with team working on Child Sufficiency Assessment to ensure that full consideration is given to Welsh medium funded three year old provision.
Work in collaboration with Mydiad Meithrin to ensure public awareness of Welsh medium funded three year old provision. Consider expanding provision in areas of high demand.
Increase the recruitment of Welsh speaking childminders in order to help to increase the supply of Welsh medium childcare in areas where sustainability may be an issue.
Ensure sufficient support to enable Welsh speakers wishing to work in childcare to gain the relevant qualifications to work in a childcare setting.
Support the development of more Welsh language and bilingual childcare provision that is sustainable and increase the Welsh speaking childcare workforce.
Increase availabilty of training through the medium of Welsh for childcare workers to support them in working in Welsh medium settings.
Promote recruitment and training of Welsh speaking childcare workers across all sectors by working with Morgan Llwyd, WFIS, Cam Wrth Gam training scheme and NCMA.
Increase availability of Welsh language training and training courses through the medium of Welsh (inc higher level courses), and ensure that staff have access to level 2 and 3 training on language immersion.
Increase accessibility and sustainability of Welsh provision in areas of demand with links to schools.
Explore potential of running ‘Making Choices’ in Welsh to encourage Welsh speaking people into childcare and investigate availability of other courses.
As part of the general expansion of Flying Start, Wrexham Authority are aiming to expand Welsh medium Flying Start childcare.
Future surveys will need to be developed and consideration needs to be given to producing a system which can track preferences by cohort.
Consider developing an annual survey of parents of new born infants. This information should be used to inform planning for childcare as well as school places.
1.3
Ensure that proposals for 21st Century Schools include full consideration of Welsh-medium education. / The 21st Century Schools Strategic Outline Plan which has been submitted to the Welsh Government is based on carrying out reviews of provision in cluster areas of the County Borough. In determining the requirements for an area full consideration will be given to the demand for Welsh Medium places.
There are no proposals as part of Band A however the third tranche of transitional funding has been secured to develop a new build single form entry Welsh medium primary school.
/ Ensure that area reviews are informed by the latest data showing likely demand for Welsh medium provision.
Consult with stakeholders regarding the outcomes of area reviews.
1.4
Ensure collaborative working through consortia. / The Early Education Team consult with North Wales colleagues through termly Early Education North Wales Partnership Meetings. This is a forum for sharing good practice, eg regarding training opportunities etc for practitioners.
The Local Authority already collaborates with neighbouring authorities in order to provide efficient Welsh medium Post 16 provision.
Further work will be required in order to ensure that a strategic approach is taken to provide the right number of primary and secondary school places in the right area. / Consider establishing an Inter authority working group to consider school places planning.
This will require us to consult with neighbouring authorities before submission.
1.5
Increase the ability to take advantage of Welsh-medium provision through immersion education schemes and centres for latecomers. / There are currently places available at two primary schools and one secondary school which provide immersion programmes for latecomers.
The Authority provides funds for Welsh medium primary schools to support pupils wishing to transfer to Welsh-medium education at any time during the academic year. A specialist teacher is employed to provide language support.
Currently an Immersion programme is funded by the Welsh Language Board for pupils wishing to transfer from English-medium primary schools to the Welsh Medium Secondary Schools. The transfer rate for the last 3 years is as follows:
Number attending / Number transferring
2009
2010 / 15
2011 / 24 / 15
/ Ensure that the number of immersion places available keeps track with demand subject to future funding.
1.6
Establish a Welsh-medium Education Forum and establish links with the Children and Young People’s Plan. Ensure considerations for resources and finance for Welsh-medium provision within early years. / The Wrexham Our Joint Plan (Wrexham Children and Young People Plan and Health Social Care and Well-Being Strategy) was published April 2011 by the Children and Young People’s Framework Partnership and the Health, Social Care and Well-Being Partnership. It is a three year plan that provides the strategic direction to improve the well-being of children, young people and adults in Wrexham through a partnership approach. It contains our three year vision; the outcomes and priority areas that we wish to achieve by 2014 and further strengthen the work we undertook within our separate 2008-11 plans.
The aims of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan are mainly referenced within Outcome 4 of Our Joint Plan. However, there is also cross-over with Outcome 1 and 3 in relation to childcare and youth support settings.
The specific actions that relate to the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan are:
§ Outcome 4 -
Ensure that all children and young people have equality of access to Welsh medium education.
§ Outcome 1 -
Increase access to affordable, flexible, sustainable and good quality childcare that takes into account sufficient Welsh medium provision and provision. for disabled children.
§ Outcome 3 -
Continue to develop and review our Welsh medium provision in youth support settings.
Progress of Our Joint Plan will be monitored by the Children and Young People’s Framework Partnership Board and the Health, Social Care and Well-Being Partnership Board. Population indicators and performance measures have been assigned and it is proposed that the Outcome Groups will oversee their relevant outcomes and report progress to a monitoring and review group and then onto the Board. / Build on existing training for English medium Foundation Phase settings in promoting Welsh language development in schools and setting.
Strengthen provision for training through the medium of Welsh for Welsh-medium settings and schools.
1.7
Provide information for parents/carers / Information is provided in published Parent/Carers School Guide which is updated annually. The guide is available from schools, libraries, council buildings and on the council’s website. This is a bilingual document. Further information is available in the Parents Information Leaflet (EE).
Information regarding non-maintained settings is available through Wrexham Family Information Service.
We do not currently include information about provision that is in close proximity to Wrexham. / Update and maintain the information for parents/carers annually ensuring that the school language category definition is clearly defined for each school.
Wrexham Family Information Service to have full access to any information deemed relevant for the service they provide.
Create links with neighbouring authority to provide information about provision that is in close proximity.
Outcome 2: More learners continuing to improve their language skills on transfer from primary school to secondary school
A. Objective / B. Current position
(Questions to be answered) / C. Timetable of future plans
2.1
Increase the percentage of Year 9 learners who are assessed in Welsh (First Language) / The numbers attending the Welsh-medium secondary
School is steadily increasing as the number of places available in primary schools expands. The local birthrate seems to be increasing again and this may show an impact in future years.
All pupils at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd are assessed in Welsh First Language in Year 9.
There are currently enough secondary school places to meet current demand / Maintain 100% teacher assessment through the medium of Welsh in Year 9.
As part of the area review process this will be monitored closely.
2.2
Develop more effective transfer between the funded non-maintained provision to maintained school provision, between Key Stage 2 and 3 and Key Stage 3 and 4. / The transfer rate between Wrexham Welsh-medium primary
schools (KS2) and the Welsh-medium secondary schools (KS3) is usually almost 100%. In 2011 only 3 pupils were lost to Welsh-medium education giving a rate of 97.6%. Those 3 pupils continued with their education in other authorities.
In an area of Wrexham we also have a natural Welsh school and a school with a Welsh stream. Pupils from these schools sometimes transfer to the Welsh stream of a bilingual Secondary school in a neighbouring authority. In 2010, 1 pupil out of a cohort of 9 pupils was lost to Welsh-medium education giving a rate of 89%. (See below)
Year / All pupils Year 9 / Year 9 pupils in
Welsh Medium
(EDU/006ii) / Target
No / % / %
2007 / 1371 / 145 / 10.5% / 10.6%
2008 / 1308 / 130 / 9.9% / 10.0%
2009 / 1295 / 118 / 9.1% / 9.3%
2010 / 1284 / 138 / 10.75% / 9.5%
2011 / 1280 / 114 / 10.65%
/ Promote effective transition from funded non-maintained provision to maintained school provision by ensuring that all settings and schools have effective and workable Transition Policies in place. Encourage schools to appoint Transition Co-ordinators to manage transition at all stages.
Information regarding Welsh medium education and schools to be available at non-maintained settings.
Opportunties for school staff to visit settings on a regular basis and settings to visit schools to become embedded, creating a strong link between non-maintained settings and schools.
EE Team to monitor implementation of transition policies in non-maintained
Settings.
Middle management transition co-ordinator to cover all stages of transition.
Transition policy/Transition Plan with focus on Yr 6/7/Common transfer day(week)
Learning walks to look at continuity and progression, also to share good practice.
2.3
Promote a higher proportion of Welsh-medium provision within bilingual schools. / The authority has a natural Welsh school and a school with a Welsh stream (bilingual). In 2010 in the bilingual school, 53% of the total cohort of 77 full time pupils was solely working through the medium of Welsh.
A telephone survey of non-maintained settings at the beginning of each academic year is used to measure linguistic progression between funded non-maintained Welsh-medium provision and maintained Welsh-medium provision within the Foundation Phase.
Outcome 3: More learners aged 14-16 studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh
Outcome 4: More learners aged 16-19 studying subjects through the medium of Welsh in schools, colleges and work-based learning
A. Objective / B. Current position
(Questions to be answered) / C. Timetable of future plans
3.1
Increase the percentage of learners aged 14-16 studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh / · The current percentage of Year 11 learners in Wrexham studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh is 9%.
· 100% of these learners study for 5 or more qualification through the medium of Welsh.
· Forecasts suggest that this figure will continue to increase with 18% of learners studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh by 2022. This figure will have implications for the provision of Welsh medium education in Wrexham. / Maintain the 100% of Welsh learners studying for 5 or more qualifications
The Local Authority will need to ensure that CPD opportunities are available for the workforce to meet the demands of this increase.
3.2
Ensuring that provision for 14-16 year old learners complies with the Learning and Skills Measure (Wales) 2009 / · Welsh medium provision for post 14 options does comply with the Learning and Skills Measure.