Consultation to be held on Welsh in Education Strategic Plan

A plan that could shape Welsh-medium provision in schools across Powys over the next decade will go out to consultation, the county council has said.

Powys County Council has been developing its Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) for 2022-2032, a binding document to ensure well planned provision for increasing the opportunities for a growing number of children and young people in Powys to become fully bilingual.

Every Welsh local authority is required to prepare a 10-year WESP under the Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (Wales) Regulations 2019.

Today, Cabinet gave the go-ahead to start consultation on the council's draft WESP, which could start later this month.

A post-consultation version of the WESP will be considered by Cabinet in January 2022 before being submitted to Welsh Government for their consideration and approval.

Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Property, said: "Last December, Cabinet approved a new Welsh-medium Education Strategy for the council, which outlined our vision for increasing the number of bilingual learners in Powys. While one of the strategic aims in our Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys is to improve access to Welsh-medium provision across all key stages of education.

"These two strategies have provided the basis for the council's new 10-year Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.

"We want to improve access to Welsh-medium provision across all the key stages of education and increase the opportunities for children and young people in Powys to become fully bilingual. I believe that our draft WESP sets us on this road.

"We have held discussions with headteachers and members of council's Welsh-medium Education Forum as we have developed our draft WESP. However, it is important that we seek the views of other key education stakeholders so that they can shape the plan and help make a real difference to Welsh-medium provision across the county.

"It is important that we consult on our draft WESP as we want to increase the opportunities for a growing number of children and young people in Powys to become fully bilingual."