Welsh-medium and bilingual teaching and learning in further education

The purpose of this report is to:- examine how effectively further education colleges ensure continuity and progression in learning experiences through the medium of Welsh and bilingually- evaluate the effectiveness of curricular models and teaching methods that are in place in further education colleges- identify and share good practice in Welsh-medium and bilingual teaching.

Recommendations

Further education colleges should:

• R1 Work more effectively with secondary schools to identify Welsh-speaking learners before they transfer to college and ensure that learners have all the information about support that they need in order to allow them to choose to continue their learning in Welsh
• R2 Strengthen Welsh language strategic plans to increase the number of learners who learn in Welsh or bilingually, particularly in the occupational areas for which there is an increasing demand by employers for bilingual skills
• R3 Ensure that there are sufficient staff available in each college to provide courses in Welsh or bilingually and to support staff who wish to learn Welsh or improve their Welsh
• R4 Improve staff training on the methodology of teaching bilingually and ensure that there are sufficient resources and learning materials for Welsh-medium or bilingual courses
• R5 Ensure that information about learners’ language ability, prior qualifications in Welsh and learning activities are correctly recorded on the Lifelong Learning Wales Record

The Welsh Government should:

• R6 Help colleges to improve the quality of Welsh language strategic plans, including the use of data to set challenging targets to increase the number of learners who follow their courses in Welsh or bilingually
• R7 Conduct regular reviews of the progress made by colleges against the targets in their strategic plans
• R8 Improve data collection fields, and their associated guidance, to ensure that colleges record accurate information about learners’ linguistic abilities and the language of learning and assessment by activity
• R9 Develop a national strategy to raise learners’ awareness of the advantages of choosing to continue to learn in Welsh when they transfer from school to college
• R10 Ensure that there are sufficient resources and learning materials for Welsh-medium or bilingual courses