As part of the Cymraeg 2050 initiative, the Welsh Government wants to have 1 million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050.
To meet this target the council wants to increase the number of pupils who learn through the medium of Welsh.
The council’s new Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (2022-2032) has been approved by Welsh Government and will cover the period from September 2022 until August 2032.
The 10 year plan is ambitious and demonstrates Newport’s commitment to expanding and embedding use of the Welsh language across the city.
View the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan 2022-2032 (pdf)
View the shortened version of the plan which is also suitable for children and young people (pdf)
View the Fairness and Equality Impact Assessment (pdf)
It's a requirement for each local authority to operate a Welsh Education Forum (WEF).
The WEF provides a formal channel of communication between Newport City Council, its maintained schools and other partner organisations that have an interest in Welsh-medium education in Newport on matters relating to the Welsh-medium Education Strategy and the WESP.
In particular, the WEF shall:
- Act as a consultative group for the development of the WESP;
- Monitor the implementation of the WESP;
- Monitor the provision of Welsh-medium education and act as a consultative group for further developments, and;
- Provide an annual report to the Welsh Government describing progress in terms of implementing the WESPs targets against the approved timetable.
The Chief Education Officer chairs the WEF with membership including:
A separate sub-group of the WEF has also been established to specifically consider how Welsh-medium education can be promoted and how demand can be stimulated across Newport. Both the WEF and this sub-group work collectively to achieve the targets outlined in the WESP and the Council's Welsh Language Strategy.
The Newport Planning of School Places (POSP) group, which consists of a cross-section of officers from Education, Finance, the Newport Intelligence Hub, Partnership & Policy and Planning with colleagues from Newport Norse, meets on a half-termly basis to consider school place provision across the city, including demand and availability of places in Welsh-medium schools.
The Council is committed, through the WESP, to scope the need for Welsh-medium provision in relation to all future new school builds, and all future scoping exercises will be extended to beyond the immediate area of any new housing development.