To receive and consider the WESP Powys First Year Evaluation Report and the Feedback Report from Welsh Government.
Minutes:
Background: -
o First annual report of 10, addressing Powys’ priorities within the WESP.
o Feedback received from WG received in November, meeting scheduled next week for discussion on next steps.
Points raised by the Panel:
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Responses received from Officers or Cabinet Members. |
Outcome 1 |
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In relation to Outcome 1 has there been improvement on previous year, are the trends moving in the right direction as difficult to understand without full context. Could the class sizes be shared, to provide Committee with the links across the various outcomes of the WESP. |
In the WESP document there is all the pre-data which has led to information produced and held by WG and PCC to inform the next stages. Data has remained stable at 36.4% for Welsh medium nursery provision. The transfer to school was 80% of those in Cylch Meithrin 2021/22 to 87.5% in 2022/23 therefore an improvement in the percentage of numbers retained. |
The LA has funded Mudiad Meithrin / language Support Officer to support the Welsh Language skills of practitioners in 3+ settings, what is the costs and for how long is that post costed for given that Mudiad Meithrin are a voluntary organisation, what outcomes are hoped to be achieved. |
This does not form part of the current TROCHI, this post was of a temporary contract for specific support for specific settings and was not currently funded. Will forward further details to committee on the outcomes of that particular work. |
Within the WESP there was an intention to develop Cylch Meithrin in the Carreghoffa Arddleen, Four Crosses and Llandysilio area, however no reference in the annual report, what was the current status |
This was not one of the designated areas to be prioritised at this time. The WESP covers a 10-year programme, in this year the focus was on Hay-on -Wye area as currently there was no Welsh medium provision at all. There was Welsh medium provision within the Llanfyllin catchment area, with the aim of ensuring these were at capacity. The Arddleen, Carreghoffa area has been identified an area for development over the 10-year period of the WESP, with development commencing from July 2027. There are 5 areas in the WESP in need of improving provision, Hay-on -Wye, Crickhowell, Presteigne, Llanidloes then Arddleen area, work will be undertaken for one of those areas per annum over the first five years. |
The equality of provision was varied across the county, not just the 5 areas mentioned. Cylch Meithrin and Ti a Fi provision was very much dependent on volunteers, and the bureaucracy involved in setting up a new provision made it more difficult, could this be addressed in any way. |
There are issues with per pupil funding for very small settings which would determine whether they could be financially viable. |
Were WG informed of issues in rural areas, the need for accessible and equitable provision, which was currently non-existent, to be addressed. |
There were regular meeting with WG in relation to Welsh medium education and early years education. Officers hold monthly meetings with Mudiad Meithrin, who are keen to ensure WG are aligning funds towards Welsh medium education provision. |
Outcome 2 |
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Not all pupils from entering Welsh medium reception have come via Cylch Meithrin. |
Not all settings need to be registered with Cylch Meithrin to provide a Welsh medium education. WG provide PCC with data and information from Mudiad Meithrin which allows tracking of pupils and was where the 87% noted under Outcome 1 came from. |
Was there a clear education pathway for children or were children leaving Cylch in an area where the local or nearest school did not provide Welsh medium education. |
Work on the Hay-on-Wye area with Mudiad Meithrin has enabled Powys to understand that there was no point in having a Ti a Fi, Cylch Meithrin and then no further provision for Welsh medium education. Discussions are being progressed with the Gwernyfed catchment of schools to ensure there was transition into early primary school phases. |
Was the 87.5% all pupils transferring into Welsh medium education or just those from Cylch Meithrin. |
The 87.5% was pupils just from Cylch Meithrin, there would be others transferring in from other settings, or parents have chosen Welsh medium education and have not been through an early years setting. |
The document stated that a website had been developed alongside social media channels, was there an indication of usage data by parents of these resources. |
The website was formed in 2021. In terms of the social media presence, through discussion with Communications Dept. it is quite difficult to build the followership, work is being progressed with schools to share messages as they have a well-developed audience. |
It was documented that TROCHI immersion centres had been established as support for latecomers to the Welsh language, this has happened on three occasions, Dafydd Llwyd twice and Llanfyllin. Request made for new phraseology to distinguish between late comers model and the TROCHI model for Yrs. 6 & 7, in addition there should be reference to a Bi-lingual education and English education, it was the outcomes that count. |
There is also confusion with the TROCHI early education and the TROCHI methodology was a different model again, this would be something that the National network of TROCHI practitioners need to review to ensure a consistent national approach as well as the phraseology used. Will share this with WG when meet next to get as for a consistency across the national picture. With TROCHI it was felt that a more centralised provision could be more accessible and available throughout the year or 2 terms of the academic year, although the geography of Powys would still present challenge. |
There were a number of initiatives mentioned within the document however unsure of progression or outcomes, there was not much analysis included, how many hours was spent on projects that did not progress and could have been used more constructively on viable and deliverable projects. |
Actual hours was not known but through Consultations on schools closure all options had to be evaluated. There was a lot of activity in the first year of the WESP. Work has to be prioritised otherwise risk of becoming disparate in the approach. |
If Powys were determined to have more Welsh medium language schools, there must be progression along the linguistic spectrum, how many schools have mentioned an intention of this progression, especially those of a dual stream provision. |
All schools are moving along the continuum, work is underway with Bro Caereinion. Discussions are ongoing with several schools to ensure they have the school development plans to follow the continuum and improve the provision of Welsh medium education.
As the White paper goes through Government and if the Bill would be accepted, there would be an expectation that every school, whatever their circumstances, would progress along the language continuum. However, no school, with the exception of Bro Caereinion, which was still under a consultation process, had mentioned any intention of moving along the continuum to be fully Welsh medium. Every school, has been made aware of their linguistic category within the new category system, from which to progress. |
There has always been discussion about moving along the continuum, with the aim to do better, however the crux of the matter was if want to produce Welsh speakers, there has to be bi-lingual education for all. It was disappointing that no other school other than Bro Caereinion had mentioned their intention to do this, was this entirely decisions made by Head Teachers and Governors or could the LA influence them. |
Ysgol Dyffryn Trannon and Ysgol Cribarth have moved along the continuum. The decision must come from the school, the LA can advise and support which is a better method than dictating the position. Some schools have mentioned the intention to increase the amount of Welsh medium teaching used, but it was important to note that the categories in the WESP are far broader with multiple elements which would require completion prior to progressing to the next category. Cabinet Member added that Ysgol Cribarth was being actively monitored as it formally moves along the continuum to a dual stream setting. Admissions would be monitored over the next few years in the hope of an organic change toward a fully Welsh medium provision. We remain aware that Powys has a teaching related issue, if not sufficient nor the ability within the current staff to offer a full Welsh medium experience, additional staff would be required which creates further challenge. |
Acknowledgement of the poorer experience pupils have had and that there was a reluctance to move along the continuum amongst some groups, dual stream schools are effectively dual standard schools. Further promotion was needed with videos shared with all schools with an offer, to distribute to parents and pupils. |
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Outcomes 3 &4 |
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There must be emphasis on the importance of the numbers of pupils moving from one medium to another. Were schools providing data and how was this collected. |
Yes, where pupils are not receiving bi-lingual but Welsh medium lessons. The Arweinydd Cymraeg (Welsh Lead Officer) was responsible for collecting this data from schools. A sample of a survey from parents and pupils would be sufficient to test the accuracy of the data provided. The 14+Lead Officer was currently carrying out a mapping exercise at Key Stage 4 to look at the offer both vocationally, academically and language delivery to address the point that have been made by Committee Members on provision and language delivery across the spectrum to ensure equity. There was also a clear picture on Post 16 provision following improvements in the data capture processes, course delivery, learner numbers and language delivery. |
Outcome 5 – No questions forthcoming from the Committee. |
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Outcome 6 – No questions forthcoming from the Committee. |
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Outcome 7 –No questions forthcoming from the Committee.
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Welsh Government Feedback document |
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Request for Committee to have sight of the LA’s response to the WG feedback to follow the progression. |
Accepted that for future updates the documentation and data would be provided and presented in a more suitable format for the Scrutiny Committee. |
Actions
Observations:
Scrutiny made the following observations:
· The Committee requested that:
o Assurance be given on pace of the development of WESP timeline in particular the development in the North of the County in relation to the Llanfyllin Catchment Schools Transformation programme.
Supporting documents: