Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

Councillor Roberts introduced the report which had been developed to provide Members with an overview of the draft plan for the next Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) which would run from September 2022 until 2032.

            The Council believed that the Welsh Language belonged to everyone.  The WESP in Flintshire was a long-term strategic tool for the Council to contribute its part in the country-wide goal of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.  The Council was committed to increasing the number of those speaking Welsh within the wider community, with the aim of creating an increasingly bilingual county and country.

            The first ten year plan would commence on 1^st September 2022 and would expire on 31^st August 2032.  Each further plan would commence on 1^st September in the year during which the previous ten year plan would come to an end i.e. 1^st September 2032 to 31^st August 2042.  The plan must include a target outlining the expected increase in the number of Year 1 learners taught through the medium of Welsh in the local authority area during the lifespan of the plan.

            The WESP 2019 Regulations made provisions requiring a local authority to design their plans on the basis of a target.  The Council was therefore required to set a ten year target outlining the expected increase in Year 1 children who were taught through the medium of Welsh in Flintshire.

            Councils had been grouped by Welsh Government (WG) into different categories reflecting the current similarities and differences between the 22 local authorities in Wales.  The factors considered when grouping included the percentage of learners taught in Welsh in an area; the models of Welsh-medium education provision adopted and the linguistic nature of the area.  For that purpose, Flintshire had been placed in Group 4.  The definition of Group 4 was 12% or fewer of Year 1 children in those local authorities were being taught through the medium of Welsh in 2017/18.  There was a choice between Welsh-medium education and English-medium in those local authorities.

            The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) added that WG had established a lower range and an upper range target for Flintshire.  That represented a 6 percentage point increase (lower range) and 10 percentage point increase (upper range) in the number of Year 1 pupils being taught through the medium of Welsh.  Whilst the lower range was the minimum to be achieved, the upper range should not be treated as a maximum.  There was a need to look to increase the number of Year 1 pupils being taught through the medium of Welsh to between 225 and 295 pupils over the 10 years of the Plan.  She paid tribute to Sian Hilton and Vicky Barlow who had led the development of the Plan.

            In response to a comment from Councillor Bithell, the Chief Officer (Education and Youth) explained that teaching Welsh in English schools was a statutory function and the authority was committed to ensuring teachers were equipped to deliver  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115