WESP - Ten year vision September 2022 - August 2032

Our ten year vision for increasing and improving the planning of the provision of Welsh-medium education in our area

The year 2050: The Welsh language is thriving, the number of speakers has reached a million and it is used in every aspect of life. Among those who do not speak Welsh there is goodwill and a sense of ownership towards the language and a recognition by all of its contribution to the culture, society and economy of Wales...Our vision is to secure favourable circumstances throughout the country that support language acquisition and use of Welsh language skills. We want to see an increase in language transmission in the family, early introduction of Welsh to every child, an education system that provides Welsh language skills for all...

Cymraeg 2050 - A million Welsh speakers (Welsh Government, 2017)

Since the turn of the century Swansea has seen a marked increase in the number of pupils accessing Welsh-medium education. This increase in demand has been supported by the opening of a further three Welsh-medium primary schools and one additional Welsh-medium comprehensive school. In addition, the Welsh Government's 21st Century Schools Programme has supported the council in making a huge investment across the Welsh-medium school stock.

In 2022 we will see more Welsh-medium places being created with the opening of the new and enhanced accommodation and facilities for YGG Tan-y-lan and YGG Tirdeunaw. This will be followed by additional classroom space at YGG Bryn y Môr and YGG Y Login Fach. To complement this provision we are also delivering enhanced provision at both our Welsh-medium comprehensive schools Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe that includes improving the learning environments both internally and externally. This provides a solid foundation for our journey towards 2050.

With the creation of these additional places, we aim to work with all our partners to promote the benefits of bilingualism to ensure that all parents and families can make an informed decision at the earliest possible time in their child's life. We also recognise that it is more difficult in some parts of the city and county to access Welsh-medium provision from an early age. We will seek to increase opportunities to access Early Years provision so that more parents have a real choice in making a preference for their children's education. As the additional places in our current school stock are filled, we will review where further places are needed in Swansea to realise he full extent of Swansea's target. This will include identifying areas where Welsh-medium education is less easily accessible.

The development and expansion of Welsh-medium education remains our vision and we recognise the importance of creating opportunities for all Swansea pupils to become bilingual / multilingual so that they emerge from our education system, proud of their identity and confident to use all the languages that they have acquired.

As Swansea develops its next Welsh Language Promotion Strategy 2022-2027 we will work across the council and beyond to ensure that the WESP is supported and strengthened by decisions and opportunities throughout the life of the strategy.

In promoting bilingualism, we are giving all our children an opportunity to thrive in the language of their choice, increasing their life opportunities and by learning more than one language, facilitating the learning of other languages.

For our vision to be realised, it is imperative that we also recognise the importance of the use of Welsh beyond the classroom. We will, through the council's Welsh Language Strategy and by working with our partners, continue to maximise opportunities for all Swansea learners to use Welsh in all aspects of everyday life.

Taking all of this into consideration, our vision for the next ten years is as follows:

1. Providing equal opportunities for all learners to learn Welsh and speak the language confidently and to promote the benefits of bilingualism.
2. To increase the percentage of pupils opting for Welsh-medium education, to between 23% and 27% of Year 1 pupils by the end of the Plan, and apply the principles of the 15-minute neighbourhoods to ensure that all learners have access to Welsh-medium education within a reasonable distance of their homes.
3. That learners who have attended a Welsh-medium setting in the primary phase will be encouraged and expected to continue with this when transferring to subsequent key stages in the secondary phase.
4. To ensure significant growth in Welsh-medium education, to increase the number of people of all ages who become fluent in Welsh, English and other languages and who can use their languages confidently with their families, friends, neighbours and in the workplace.
5. To provide an equal linguistic opportunity to learners with additional learning needs (ALN).
6. To provide an equal linguistic opportunity to learners with Welsh or English as additional languages.
7. To aspire that, through this plan, Swansea contributes significantly to the national goal of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

This document by its very nature sets out a strategic plan which will be complemented by appropriate action plans to turn the vision to a reality. Both the strategic plan and associated action plans need to be 'living' documents which will be reviewed as appropriate throughout the coming years. By their very nature the action plans can only be fully developed following the finalisation and formal approval of this strategic plan.

WESP - Ten year target WESP - Ten year target