Cardiff council’s 10-year strategy is ambitious but not practical, according to education professionals
PLANS to increase the number of Welsh medium school places are set to be approved by Cardiff Council, despite criticism from teaching staff.
Cardiff’s 10-year Welsh in Education Strategic Plan stems from Cymraeg 2050, the Welsh Government’s strategy to have one million Welsh speakers and 40% of children receiving a Welsh-medium education by 2050.
“We want our education system to ensure that all young people, from each and every community across Cardiff, have the opportunity to speak Welsh, to be proud of their identity, and to be able to celebrate and enjoy both Welsh and English in their daily lives,” said Sarah Merry, Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills.
“This strategy clearly sets out Cardiff’s firm commitment, clear aspirations, and the actions to bolster the growth.”
The strategy includes increasing the number of five-year-olds receiving a Welsh-medium education, from 19% in 2022 to 30% by 2032.
It aims to increase the number of Welsh-medium nursery, primary, and secondary school places, so more pupils gain qualifications in Welsh and have all subjects taught in Welsh.
This would mean increasing the amount of Welsh-speaking teaching staff.
In an eight-week consultation on the draft policy, education professionals praised the ambition but many felt it lacked practical measures.
“The aims tend to convey that the council responds reactively, rather than proactively,” said Claire Morgan, chief inspector of Estyn.
“The outcomes are not sufficiently purposeful and coherent in planning long term, such as when considering the proposed increase in demand for housing sites on the outskirts of the city.”
Matthew H T Evans, headteacher of Ysgol Glantaf in Llandaff North, praised the aims but said: “There are very few firm proposals, and these shortcomings lead us to believe that it is highly unlikely the targets will be achieved.
“The absence of practical offers is likely to see a reduction in numbers of Welsh-medium pupils due to the council’s current projections for a steady reduction in birth rates over the next decade.”
Similarly, John Hayes, headteacher of Ysgol Plasmawr in Fairwater, said: “The 10-year Strategic Plan is ambitious, but we believe that there are too few specific action points in the plan which show exactly how the objectives will be realised.”
“We strongly believe that capital investment should be made in the sites and buildings of the three Welsh-medium secondary schools in Cardiff.
“All the new English-medium secondary schools with excellent resources across the city are going to be much more attractive to non-Welsh speaking parents than the three run-down sites that are currently home to the Welsh-medium secondary schools.”
Likewise, Siân Evans, headteacher of Ysgol Mynydd Bychan in Gabalfa, said: “In reading the consultation, the vision is not reflected in practical strategies and there are few practical proposals.
“Robust staff training plans and secondment opportunities are needed to develop a workforce to meet the needs.”
Responses from parents were generally positive, but 62% of respondents had concerns about whether there were enough high-quality, bilingual teaching staff to deliver on the plans.
Aled Roberts, the Welsh Language Commissioner who died earlier this month, had praised Cardiff council’s “positive and ambitious” vision for Welsh language in education.
However, he said: “There is currently no practical detail on how the council will go about increasing the capacity of Welsh-medium schools.
“The high-level commitment to increasing capacity is very clear, but the plan does not provide a strategy for achieving this.”
The revised WESP is set to be approved at a cabinet meeting this Thursday and will be implemented in schools from September 2022.
