Co-ordinated work to strengthen the Welsh language
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Background
The main aim of the language centre is to provide successful and fun immersion education for pupils who are newcomers to the island. This is done by providing a full course, an aftercare course, a pre-centre course, face-to-face and digital support for teachers and schools in the county, producing and sharing resources and, of course, any bespoke training.
The language centre on Anglesey develops provision for newcomers to the language by:
- Holding a full-time immersion course in two language centres (Moelfre and Cybi).
- Preparing and presenting a new scheme for foundation phase classes.
- Preparing and delivering support for the county’s secondary schools.
- Providing aftercare to former pupils of the centre (secondary and primary).
- Delivering digital resources aimed at newcomers, to be used in our schools for pupils in local schools.
- Digital resources.
- Providing training.
- An app (being designed).
Full-time immersion course
The best possible opportunity is offered to our newcomers by arranging a place for up to 16 pupils in each centre each term. Pupils are taught full time for up to 12 weeks by two teachers, one for every 8 children. A carefully structured, bespoke scheme is delivered to introduce the language in a lively and intensive way – “Cynllun y Llan”. The aim is that 80% of newcomers have reached Level 2 or above (first language) in spoken language and that 75% reach Level 2 or above in reading and writing by the end of the course.
The results at both centres are consistently positive. At the end of each term, questionnaires are shared with headteachers, and headteachers note a clear development in the Welsh levels of pupils who have attended the Language Centre.
Aftercare
As a follow-up to the immersion course, we re-visit the centre’s newcomers annually by visiting the home school and providing aftercare sessions. Additional units of work from the scheme are presented as aftercare activities. Teachers from both centres present lively sessions that last up to an hour, once a week, in the home school. To measure the effect of this work, we send questionnaires to the schools at the end of the period and visit schools to check the pupils’ linguistic progression. All responses are positive and class teachers see the newcomers’ confidence expanding further following these sessions.
The aftercare scheme is usually offered during the summer term.
The teachers who remain at the centre provide a refresher course for pupils in Key Stage 2 who lack confidence in the Welsh language. These are pupils who have perhaps joined the Foundation Phase at the end of Year 1 or during Year 2 and have not had an opportunity to immerse themselves fully in the language.
New Foundation Phase scheme
The authority welcomes the views of stakeholders regularly. For example, during a discussion with the school language co-ordinator for the Holyhead catchment area, concern was raised about the language of Foundation Phase pupils following the lockdown period. As a result, the Centre’s teachers have created and presented a unique scheme that was delivered in the Cybi catchment area during the spring term 2022. Nearly all schools in the Cybi catchment area took part in the project. A teacher from the Centre was seen demonstrating lively immersion lessons in the classroom and sharing various immersion methods and techniques during the lessons. Teachers and assistants observed during lessons and schools had digital access to the resources and plans to develop the work.
Following the success of the scheme, the sessions were delivered in the primary schools in the Syr Thomas Jones catchment area during the autumn term 2022. The intention is to co‑operate and demonstrate lessons in all catchment areas on the island.
Secondary support
Aftercare and support has been offered to pupils in all secondary schools from the Spring Term 2022. Teachers from the centre travel around all secondary schools providing weekly sessions and sharing plans and ideas in a dedicated digital class. A teachers from the centre works closely with each secondary school and responds to the needs of each school individually by providing aftercare or immersion sessions, as necessary. The response of secondary headteachers to this support has been extremely positive. The aim is to use grant funding to expand and develop this support further.
Pre-centre scheme
There is a waiting list of pupils who wish to access the centre’s services. As support for those pupils and schools, a pre-centre scheme is shared. All schools have access via a link to a digital classroom. This means that the scheme is available to pupils as necessary. Six units of work are delivered digitally, including oral activities and games. We will update and develop this scheme annually. These units of work provide pupils with a solid foundation before they receive the full immersion course.
Digital resources
Running full courses and providing face-to-face aftercare were not possible during the restrictions of the pandemic. As a result of, the lockdown period and the need for distance learning, a new digital class was created which included interactive resources with verbal support for parents. These resources were available to all schools on Anglesey and headteachers and teachers responded positively to these resources. The class now continues to grow and includes thematic resources, in addition to resources that present and review language patterns in the classroom.
The class is now available for schools to browse and select activities as necessary. There is also a simple plan and resources as a guide to introducing language patterns through the ‘Ysgol Camau Clebran’. The link to this class has now been shared with teachers across the county following visits from language immersion teachers from different areas in Wales.
Training
Following the lockdown period and the lack of opportunities for pupils in our schools to practise and use the Welsh language, a need was identified for training in language immersion methods for school staff. For this training to be available simply and conveniently in the midst of a very challenging time for school staff, a decision was made to create a new digital classroom. The classroom includes clips of immersion training. More clips are added regularly. The centre’s teachers visit schools and offer face-to-face immersion training for staff, according to the school’s wishes. The Anglesey language centre has worked with Canolfan Bedwyr for several years by providing immersion training sessions for assistants in the northern counties, namely the ‘National Sabbatical Scheme’. There were very positive responses to the sessions through the university’s evaluation processes.
App
As part of the need for modern resources for our newcomers, part of the funding from the immersion grant was used to begin to create a bespoke new resource for learners. The expertise of teachers from the Anglesey language centres is being shared with a local company to develop a bespoke app for newcomers. This app will be available soon and will be full of exciting resources and activities.