EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EDUCATION & CHILDREN’S SERVICES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

9^th JULY 2009

Welsh-medium Education Strategy (WAG Draft Consultation Document)

1. Brief Summary of the purpose of the report This draft Strategy has been developed in response to the commitment in One Wales: A Progressive Agenda for the Government of Wales to ‘create a national Welsh-medium Education Strategy to develop effective provision from nursery through to further and higher education, backed up by an implementation programme’. The document covers all phases of education and training and includes six Strategic Aims, together with supporting actions which could be marshalled into an implementation programme. The main elements of the Strategy are laid out in pages 1-24, and include the following aims: ● Strategic Aim 1 – To improve the planning of Welsh-medium provision in the pre-statutory and statutory phases of education, on the basis of positive response to parental demand ● Strategic Aim 2 – To improve the planning of Welsh-medium provision in the post-14 phases of education and training, to take account of linguistic progression and continued development of skills ● Strategic Aim 3 – To ensure that all learners develop their Welsh-language skills to their full potential and encourage sound linguistic progression from one phase of education and training to the next ● Strategic Aim 4 – To ensure a planned Welsh-medium education workforce that provides sufficient numbers of practitioners for all phases of education and training, with high-quality Welsh-language skills and competence in teaching methodologies ● Strategic Aim 5 – To improve the central support mechanisms for Welsh-medium education and training ● Strategic Aim 6 – To contribute to the acquisition and reinforcement of Welsh-language skills in families, in the workplace and in the community The Context and Considerations section (beginning at page 25) provides more detail on the evidence for, and rationale behind, the main Strategy proposals and draft implementation programme. The consultation period ends on 5 August 2009.

2. Other options available and their pros and cons – N/A
DETAILED REPORT ATTACHED?	YES Welsh-medium Education Strategy (WAG Draft Consultation Document)

INTEGRATION

I confirm that the Community Strategy Integration Tool has: Not been used to appraise the subject of this report as it is not appropriate to do so. Signed: Bryan Stephens Head of Governance and Service Support

IMPLICATIONS

I confirm that other than those implications which have been agreed with the appropriate Directors / Heads of Service and are referred to in detail below, there are no other implications associated with this report. Signed: Bryan Stephens Head of Governance and Service Support
Policy, Crime & Disorder and Equalities	Legal	Finance	ICT	Risk Management Issues	Organisational Development	Physical Assets
NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE

CONSULTATIONS

I confirm that the appropriate consultations have taken in place and the outcomes are as detailed below Signed: Bryan Stephens Head of Governance and Service Support
1. Local Member(s) – N/A 2. Community / Town Council – N/A 3. Relevant Partners – N/A 4. Staff Side Representatives and other Organisations – N/A
Section 100D Local Government Act, 1972 – Access to Information List of Background Papers used in the preparation of this report: THESE ARE DETAILED BELOW
Title of Document	File Ref No.	Locations that the papers are available for public inspection
Welsh-medium Education Strategy (Draft Consultation Document)	WAG No: 067/2009	WAG website at: (English) http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/education/wms/?lang=en (Cymraeg) http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/education/wms/?skip=1&lang=cy