Senedd Elections 2021 Manifesto
Jun 20, 2020
RhAG launches questionnaire on the impact of the lock-on period on families in Welsh-medium education.
RhAG is launching a questionnaire today which will ask parents to identify the effects of the lockout period on their children and on them as parents. It has been an unprecedented time with learning and teaching having to transition from classroom to digital forcing us to adopt new practices and functions. The questionnaire asks a number of questions about activity in recent months and about the impact it has had on teaching, resources used as well as teaching and learning methods.
The purpose of collecting this information will be to contribute to the preparations that will take place over the coming months. Schools and organizations across Wales will be busy preparing to ensure that our pupils have the best opportunities to acquire and use Welsh over the coming months. Securing the best resources and circumstances to develop our pupils' bilingual skills through blended learning will be key and RhAG is ready to help support this important work.
Wyn Williams, National Chairman of RhAG said,
"We appreciate that it is a worrying time for parents and pupils across Wales at this time. RhAG wishes to better understand the challenges that parents and pupils have faced over this period. We ask as many parents as possible to contribute responses from across Wales so we can hear about a wide range of experiences and identify the challenges, looking at what needs to be in terms of resources and practical support for parents over the coming months.”
The questionnaire will be shared widely across our social media and we ask schools and organizations to share the questionnaire with their communities as well.
We want to thank the parents, pupils and staff of our schools, local authorities and central government for the heroic effort that has gone into ensuring the continuation of our children's Welsh medium education.
The link can be found here until 20.7.2020
https://forms.gle/SvdS9hXeWVeRK7Fn6
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RhAG calls on Cardiff City Council to respond urgently to the shortage of places in Cardiff’s north-central schools.
Parents for Welsh Medium Education has received a number of complaints over the last few weeks from parents who are concerned that their children will not be able to access Welsh Education within their catchment area in north-central Cardiff.
This year’s first round of school applications has been completed and a number of parents, although identifying up to 3 Welsh-medium primary schools within a reasonable distance of their home, have received letters from the Council noting that there are no places available for their children for September and to apply for other schools. They are currently preparing their appeals.
We understand that application numbers for Welsh Medium Education in Cardiff have increased significantly this year and this is very encouraging news for the County. But there is a danger that we will lose these pupils if they have to travel too far to school from home.
This is not a new problem.
We also understand that the Council received funding under the Welsh Government’s Welsh Medium Education Capital Grant (1) to address these issues in 2018, specifically to expand Welsh-medium primary education provision in North Cardiff. RhAG wishes to know the purpose for which this funding was used and presses upon Cardiff City Council to find an urgent solution for these parents by September 2020.
We know that about 15 children have been refused places this year at Ysgol Mynydd Bychan who live in the school’s catchment area.
Michael Jones, RhAG Cardiff said:
“RhAG urges Cardiff Council to do what it has done many times before and establish “seedling classes” under the supervision of Ysgol Mynydd Bychan in an adjacent building. What the county has to do is use its powers to respond to this crisis and open up one or more “seedling classes” in the north-central Cardiff area to cope with whatever the actual demand is in this area.”
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RhAG has congratulated the Vale of Glamorgan Council on an important decision to open a Welsh medium school as part of the Waterfront development in Barry.
This comes as Cabinet today approved the implementation of a proposal to increase Welsh medium primary provision in Barry, by increasing the capacity of Ysgol Sant Baruc from 210 places to 420 places and transferring staff and pupils from the existing site to a new school built as part of the Waterfront development, in September 2021.
Mark Bowen on behalf of RhAG Vale of Glamorgan said,
"We have long campaigned in support of the proposal to move Ysgol Sant Baruc to the Waterfront. We warmly welcome today's Cabinet announcement.
"This is a very significant decision in the growth of Welsh Medium Education in the region, showing how it can be a central building block in new large housing developments.
"This will allow Ysgol Sant Baruc to be relocated to a building that is fit for purpose and ensures that all children in Barry are within walking distance of a Welsh medium primary school, including the children of Barry Island, for the first time ever.
"We thank the Vale of Glamorgan Council's Cabinet for their vision: it is a very good day for Ysgol Sant Baruc and for the future of the Welsh language in Barry."