Scheme to boost numbers of Welsh speaking teachers launches

A new scheme has launched which aims to attract Welsh-speaking teachers to work in secondary schools across Wales.

Now open for applications, the ‘Cynllun Pontio’ programme is aimed at Welsh speakers who are currently teaching in primary schools in Wales, teachers in schools outside Wales, and teachers who have been out of the profession for five years or more, to become secondary school teachers in Welsh-medium schools.

Opening on Monday 10 February and closing three weeks later on 2 March, the popular scheme has been running since 2020 and has already helped primary teachers convert to teach in secondary schools – with benefits to both the individuals and the wider sector.

Support

Angharad Pari-Williams is currently taking part in Cynllun Pontio and is teaching Geography at Ysgol David Hughes on Ynys Môn. She has converted from primary to secondary teaching.

She said: “I’m really enjoying the Cynllun Pontio. I’m so glad I applied. With the new curriculum for Wales being so cross curricular I found my experience in primary teaching to be really useful in my new role.

“What makes the Cynllun Pontio unique is that you receive support. There is always someone around to speak to for advice.”

The Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle said: “This successful scheme is one of the ways in which we are developing a talented teaching workforce in Wales, especially in our secondary schools.

“I am determined to ensure we support learners to reach their potential and continue to raise standards.

“Developing a teaching workforce to teach Welsh, and deliver education through the medium of Welsh, is essential in creating more Welsh speakers. It is key to the implementation of the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill.”

Funding

The Cynllun Pontio is one of a number of initiatives, backed by £8m of Welsh Government funding, to support practitioners to develop their Welsh language skills and to increase the number of Welsh medium teachers and teaching assistants.

The funding also includes:

• A £5,000 retention bursary for eligible secondary teachers who teach Welsh or through the medium of Welsh
• Funding to increase the number of learners studying Welsh at A Level, enabling schools to continue to provide Welsh as a subject when learner numbers are low
• A range of courses for practitioners in English medium schools to learn Welsh.

Two teachers who took this opportunity to return to Wales last year are Siân Bradley, Head of Biology at Ysgol Glantaf, and Richard Battrick, Art and Technology teacher at Ysgol Llangynwyd.

Siân Bradley, who moved back to Wales from London through the Cynllun Pontio said: “I have gained so much from the opportunity and it has given me the confidence to use a language that I hadn’t spoken for a long time. I enjoy the challenge, and everyone has been so supportive and welcoming.

“Teaching the new Curriculum for Wales is also an exciting opportunity, as it gives teachers much more freedom to choose what to teach and to make the link between the subject and the local community. It’s a very unique and exciting thing.”

Richard Battrick, who returned to the community he had grown up in said: “It’s great to be back in a community that I know and to give back to the community that gave me my education. After living and working in England for a long time, I was a little apprehensive about the standard of my Welsh, but that was quickly dispelled in the interview.

“The advice I would give to anyone thinking about applying to the Cynllun Pontio, or even applying to work back in Wales, is there’s a lot less to worry about than you think, and you might know more than you realised. The support from the Cynllun Pontio, fellow teachers, and the whole school really are invaluable.”

Anyone interested to learning more about the Cynllun Pontio or in applying can do so here Conversion Programme | Educators wales.