Personal and Social Education in Welsh language success prompts calls to expand provision

An education group that provides Personal and Social Education and Religion, Values and Ethics resources in the Welsh language is championing its provision after a select group of schools successfully implemented the curriculum.

Jigsaw Education Group (Jigsaw) provides of Personal and Social Education (PSE) and Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE) curricula and resources to over 500 primary and secondary schools in Wales and, to date, has translated its existing PSE curriculum into the Welsh language for 73 Welsh-medium and dual language schools.

Heritage

Teachers and students have reported feeling closer to their heritage as they work through the complex and personal issues covered in the lessons in Welsh, allowing schools to confidently deliver the Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and Experience in their chosen language.

Sanjeev Baga, CEO of Jigsaw Education Group said: “PSE is a broad subject that incorporates themes of culture, identity, relationships and language, all of which need to be sensitively taught in an age-appropriate manner, and a way that complements the individual child’s requirements.

“We have seen first-hand the impact that providing our PSE curriculum in the Welsh language has had on students, who have relished the opportunity to develop a deeper connection between their cultural heritage and the language of their ancestors.

“The success of our initial step into Welsh language translation of our resources has been very encouraging and we look forward to expanding our provision in the future.”

Welsh-medium schools were particular beneficiaries of the translated curriculum.

With Welsh language PSE materials sparse in availability when compared to English resources, the success of this implementation has opened the door to the development of even more materials which will be a significant contribution to the Welsh Government’s aim of having one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Challenge

Amy Hughes, Assistant Head Teacher at Ysgol Garth Olwg in Pontypridd said: “There is a real challenge in finding high quality and well translated resources, but the materials that Jigsaw has provided have given us great delight in providing our Health and Wellbeing curriculum across our age 3-19 classes.

“Enabling our pupils to discuss important issues to their lives through the medium of Welsh is vital in highlighting the status and importance of the language and allowing them to live all aspects of their school lives through the medium of Welsh.

“All the staff at Ysgol Garth Olwg want to say Diolch for the fantastic Welsh content that is helping us to conduct these important conversations through our lovely language.”

Jigsaw’s PSE curriculum is delivered through a whole child and whole school approach.

Rather than devoting singular blocks of lesson time to PSE education, Jigsaw’s curriculum supports schools to incorporate the lessons and language learned across all aspects of the school, identifying the specific needs of the child while also ensuring that all staff are equipped to discuss the materials when outside of the classroom.

Following the successful delivery of the translated curriculum, Jigsaw is looking to further expand the provision of its materials to even more schools across Wales, solidifying children’s cultural identity by intertwining language with the emotional vocabulary required to help them make sense of their feelings.

For more information on Jigsaw and its PSE provision, visit https://jigsaweducationgroup.com/