Vale Council Staff Celebrate Success of Work Welsh Language Courses

Vale Council Staff Celebrate Success of Work Welsh Language Courses

Recently, Vale of Glamorgan Council staff celebrated finishing a level in the Work Welsh / Cymraeg Gwaith courses.

• Monday, 02 October 2023

  Vale of Glamorgan

Cymraeg Gwaith offers diverse, flexible training to employees which forms part of their working week. The aim of the Gwaith Cymraeg programme is to strengthen Welsh language skills in workplaces across Wales.

Courses are available for all levels of learners and includes one-to-one conversations as well as group learning sessions. Informal coffee mornings are also held regularly for staff to practice their Welsh speaking skills with other learners alongside fluent speakers.

Learners from across the Council recently came together for an award presentation where they received certificates for completing a Cymraeg Gwaith course level.

At the presentation the group were encouraged to talk about their experience of the course and why learning Welsh is important to them.

Matt Bowmer, Head of Finance for the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: "Living and working in Wales, I felt it was important to learn Welsh, especially when working in local government.

"The flexibility of the sessions ensures that I can work my Welsh sessions around my working week."

Sharon Miller, Operational Manager for Social Services, added: "I've thoroughly enjoyed my Cymraeg Gwaith sessions. Our fantastic teacher, Sarian, instils a lot of confidence in her learners which makes such a difference when learning an often-difficult language.

"The Cymraeg Gwaith sessions have also afforded me the opportunity to socialise and form friendships with staff across a number of service areas I wouldn't usually meet within my day-to-day role."

Following the results of the 2021 Census, The Vale of Glamorgan had the second-largest increase in percentage of Welsh speakers of any local authority area in Wales. The percentage of Welsh speakers increased from 10.8% in 2011 to 11.5% in 2021.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has made significant investment in Welsh Language education over the years to improve accessibility to Welsh language education in the Vale. These investments follow the Council's commitment in its 10-year plan Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP), and Welsh Government's 'Cymraeg 2050' strategy to target 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050.

In April, the Council officially opened the new state-of-the-art building for Ysgol Sant Baruc, the Welsh-medium primary school at Barry Waterfront.

Plans to develop a new school building for Ysgol Iolo Morganwg in Cowbridge, were also announced earlier this year. The new building, which is set to be completed by September 2025 will double the school's capacity to 420 school places.

Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: "It is so encouraging to see so many of our staff participate in Welsh Language lessons - especially as the number of Welsh speaking residents increases in the Vale.

"Our investment in Welsh language education goes beyond schools. Offering Welsh language courses to our staff and adult learners in our communities is just as important to us as we continue to develop access to the Welsh language.

"As the majority of our staff also live in the Vale, offering Welsh language lessons in work not only develops the skills of our workforce but our residents too."

The Cymraeg Gwaith courses fall under the Learn Welsh scheme. Members of the public can sign up to Learn Welsh - The Vale courses online. Similar to the Cymraeg Gwaith Courses, the Learn Welsh courses are available for all learner levels, from Entry to Proficient.

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