Home-schooling: Parents of Welsh-medium pupils 'need more support'

Parents in English-speaking homes whose children go to Welsh-language schools need more support during lockdown, the Welsh language commissioner has said.

Some parents said time away from face-to-face schooling was affecting younger children who have not fully established their language skills.

One mother said "not only do you not know how to help them, you don't know what the question is to start with".

The Welsh Government said it had given guidance to Welsh-medium schools.

There are 65,000 children in Welsh-medium or bilingual primary schools across Wales.

Cardiff council estimated more than 70% of children in Welsh-medium education in the city did not speak Welsh at home.

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Welsh language commissioner Aled Roberts said any parents concerned about remote learning in should let the school and teachers know in the first instance.

However, he said it should be ensured there were "as many resources as possible to support them" at a national level and these policies should "recognise the huge investment that these people are making [into] Welsh-medium education".

Angela Crabtree said her nine-year-old daughter Ffion had to help her younger sisters

Angela Crabtree, from Caerphilly, said her daughters were partly reliant on her eldest child Ffion to translate Welsh schoolwork.

Ms Crabtree, who is on furlough, said keeping up Welsh-language skills had been a challenge for her three daughters, Ffion, Natalie and Chloe, who go to Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Caerffili.

"It's hard if they ask you a question, not only do you not know how to help them, you don't know what the question is to start with," she said.

Natalie and Chloe are partly reliant on their older sister Ffion to translate Welsh work during lockdown

"The school has been really good in sending things back bilingually, but I've still got the challenge of trying to make sure that the girls look at the Welsh first.

"Off the back of the first lockdown I think what suffered most was their Welsh language, especially the middle child, going from the infants to the juniors - her Welsh comprehension fell behind a bit."

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Lisa Jane Thomas, from Cardiff, said she was concerned her youngest child, who attends a Welsh-medium school, was going to be disadvantaged.

"These are really critical stages and to have so much timeout, it does worry me that may be putting her back [and] is going to make it more difficult for her longer term," she said.

Ms Thomas said she felt there "ought to be more recognition" and more could be offered to help parents and children.

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Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Caerffili headteacher Lynn Griffiths said parents make a "conscious decision" to send children to Welsh-medium schools

Head teacher of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Caerffili, Lynn Griffiths, said of almost 440 pupils at the school, three families spoke to him about issues with Welsh-language learning.

Mr Griffiths said it was "a rarity" after one family that chose not to send their child back to the school this year, while the two other "listened to what support we can provide them to enable them to do the best for their children".

"But also let's not forget our parents have made a conscious decision to send their children to a Welsh medium school because they want their children to be fully bilingual and the advantages that will give them," he said.

Campaign group Parents for Welsh medium education said it was launching new website end of this month to help parents by collating Welsh language resources in one place, due to the extra pressure of lockdown home-schooling.

Elin Maher, who is a part of the group, said: "Obviously, we do acknowledge that acquiring language is done best in the classroom, with the teacher at the front and to be surrounded by the language - we want to reassure parents that the language will be there."

The Welsh Government, which has a target of one million people speaking Welsh by 2050, said it appreciated the challenges all parents faced with learning at home.

A spokesman said: "We have provided guidance to schools to help them during the pandemic, which includes dedicated support for Welsh-medium learners whose families don't speak Welsh.

"This includes advice for parents and carers on how they can support their children to use the Welsh language while at home."