To scrutinise the draft report of the Portfolio Holder for Education and Property and to make recommendations / observations to the Cabinet for consideration.
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
· Draft Report of the Portfolio Holder for Education and Property.
Issues Discussed:
· A number of consultation meetings had been held. There have been a significant number of responses – 440 online and 25 others by post or email, including from Estyn. 61% of respondents (online) were in favour of the proposals.
· Questions:
Question |
Response |
Thank you to the Service for the consultation response document. Some people have asked for public meetings to be held but that would not give any greater opportunity for them to comment that they had online. School council - was this a range of Welsh and English speakers – only 3 selected. Also in relation to the secondary school – again only a small number was selected. How were these pupils selected. |
The school selected the pupils who took part in the consultation exercise. The pupils were very mature and able to express themselves very well. There was a mix of Welsh and English speaking pupils selected. |
If you are going to start from the Reception year in September 2022, then it will take many years for this proposal to be fully implemented. Hopefully this process can be accelerated. |
Immersion is key to this proposal and also more support for bilingual pupils. Immersion will also be needed for latecomers to the school. |
Can you expand on the support for Immersion and how this will be delivered, and will this allow an acceleration of language development for year 2, 3, and 4 pupils. What support will there be for English Language parents to have access to learning Welsh. |
In relation to Immersion – an online system has been piloted and is successful. The Council is moving to a different model from September 2021 and will be redirecting the Athrawon Bro Service who are involved in immersion in schools. The Council could also tap into the successful immersion process used in Gwynedd. Parental support is important for parents. There are a number of support packages available for parents that have already been developed. Parents have joined pupils in immersion sessions which has helped them learn the language. The methodology being proposed is to developing pupils to be multi lingual. There is also a great deal of experience in this field which will be made available to Ysgol Bro Hyddgen. The Service will work with the school on what additional support can be provided to pupils in the English Language stream. |
With older children moving into the area and latecomers to the school they will have difficulty following GCSE courses in the medium of Welsh. Internet learning will be huge in the future. Will there be precautions to stop using the internet for Welsh avoidance. - if most lessons are online, will there be support even if pupils do not use the Welsh Language in lessons. |
The school is very Welsh now and will be a Welsh Medium school in future. Out of school activities will help integrate pupils into the community and will assist pupils in leaving school with some level of bilingualism. |
Transport to school – what if pupils do not want to attend this school.
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If a pupil does not want to attend Ysgol Bro Hyddgen after it becomes fully bilingual, they have the choice of attending another school. However, the Council could not transport them unless they were eligible. If parents were refused transport they could appeal as part of policy.
The proposal means that Ysgol Bro Hyddgen will not be a Welsh school but a bilingual school
ACTION – Committee to consider this when reviewing the Transport Policy in future. |
Saving of £184k p.a. – can this be achieved |
It will take much time to achieve this saving. It is likely that it will take 12 years for the school to move to becoming fully bilingual. However, this proposal is not about savings but creating opportunities for pupils to become fully bilingual. |
Immersion (Trochi) and additional Welsh Language support - what is this. Could list of resources be made available to other Welsh Medium schools. |
This includes a range of things, including additional support for lessons, homework etc. The school is key for providing this support. |
Can Powys publish guidelines relating to bilingual schools |
The Council website has been updated about the benefits of Welsh Medium learning. Booklets will be published online to support that. |
Are the numbers moving between English Medium and Welsh Medium streams accurate. |
The figures in the documents are accurate. The numbers moving between Welsh Medium and English Medium are held by school not by the Service. Those figures are anecdotal at present.
ACTION – the Committee suggested that the figures should be made available to Cabinet. |
ALN - what changes would there be in relation to ALN or is this already covered within the catchment. |
ALN is an area of concern for parents. It is already known that a child with ALN can be educated successfully bilingually. The school will have a provision for ALN and specific support within the new build (which is being designed in consultation with ALN team). The support provided to a child with ALN is according to their individual needs. Whilst parents do have valid concerns, there are also developments going on in the Council in relation to ALN service and bilingual learning. Welsh Medium education should be available to all learners whatever their needs.
ACTION – Committee to review Trochi (Immersion) and ALN in future. |
In relation to teachers and their career development, if teachers are currently teaching solely through the Medium of English will this proposal be a problem |
Very few teachers are currently teaching solely through the English Medium, most teach bilingually. Figures can be provided to the Committee outside the meeting. |
What support can be given to teachers to help them become bilingual |
Sabbatical courses already being run in Wales for anyone who wants to join them. |
The Committee concluded that there was nothing in the consultation response that has not been addressed, or will be addressed in the future. The concerns raised in the consultation would mean the Council could not move if the proposal was implemented in a short time period. However, as the proposal is a structured change over a long period of time, those concerns raised can be addressed as the project progresses.
Scrutiny make the following observations to Cabinet:
· The numbers of pupils moving between English Medium and Welsh Medium streams is currently anecdotal. The Cabinet should be provided with accurate figures for their consideration of the report.
· The Committee noted that there was nothing in the consultation response report which had not been addressed, or would be addressed in future. As this is a structured change to the language category at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen the Committee was satisfied that concerns raised in the consultation report would be addressed as the project progresses.
Scrutiny’sRecommendation
1. That the Cabinet be provided with accurate figures for numbers of pupils moving between English Medium and Welsh medium streams
Supporting documents: