Welsh Second Language
Examples of Good Practice
- In marking pupils' work – teacher comments refer to the initial targets shared with the pupils:
"Da iawn/You have used suitable language patterns to express like and dislikes".
- The Curricular Leader is very aware of the expected standards for all year groups and a concise self-evaluation document for Welsh maps out short and long term targets for improvement.
- In a minority of schools a Home/School Sharing book scheme – using Tedi Twt, provides opportunities for parents to read in English & Welsh with their children and to comment on progress. In many cases, pupils explain the Welsh reading materials to their parents.
- In some Yr 5/6 classes pupils can express opinions and preferences on a range of topics, e.g. - "Fy hoff chwaraewr pêl-droed i ydy Ryan Giggs o achos mae e'n cicio'n dda".
- In some schools, many Y5 & Y6 pupils write quite extensively regarding their leisure activities. They are aware of the standards required and make effective use of present, imperfect and past tense verbs and a good range of topic-related language patterns.
- All schools use a range of songs and games to reinforce language patterns very effectively. References to football and rugby players in teaching materials are very popular with pupils.
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- Teachers and pupils use the interactive Whiteboard to exemplify topic sentence structures in preparation for written tasks. 'Dewi Dewin' and other electronic books are used successfully to promote reading skills.
- In some schools, Welsh is taught as a discreet subject, as well as in a cross-curricular context, e.g. in a history lesson, pupils asked to prepare a questionnaire in Welsh for Henry Tudor:
- Pwy ydy dy fam di?
- Lady Margaret Beaufort ydy hi etc.
- In an RE lesson Christmas Story characters are described in both languages:
- Mae'r bugeiliaid yn hapus.
- Mae Mair wedi blino.
- Dydy hi ddim yn byw mewn tŷ.
- Introducing Welsh in a cross-curricular context considerably increases the curricular time allocation for Welsh and results in good or very good standards. In some schools weekly time allocated for Welsh in Y1 – 5 is 110 minutes per class per week.
- Some teachers use Welsh and English to promote pupils' literacy skills e.g.' The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark' and 'Plop Y Gwdihw' and pupils' age-related bilingualism is celebrated.
- Welsh Language video materials – Stabec, Bobol Bach etc., are used extensively in many schools to promote pupils' listening and speaking skills. In some cases there is an over-reliance on the worksheets provided with these videos from other LEAs.
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