Many people in the local area have vilified the head of Ruthin School for his Free Press letter about 'unnecessary' Welsh medium education. Instead, perhaps we should actually be indebted to Toby Belfield for it. For him, it may have been an unintended consequence but his views have managed to galvanise local opinion in support of the Welsh language and culture. Let's be clear, although we've heard it many times, without some nurturing, Welsh will decline further. In this locale, we're fortunate but shouldn't be complacent: it's already weaker than it was a quarter of a century ago. It needs protection.
And so we have more newsprint in the Free Press this week (three pages) plus a 'me too' article in today's Daily Post. On the subject of school mergers, in both, former Pentrecelyn pupil Rhys Ifans, an actor, headlines in support of Welsh-medium Ysgol Pentrecelyn over bilingual Llanfair DC, although why anyone would ask ex-pat Ifans his views when he doesn't know yogurt from mayonnaise : ) ‡
In the Free Press, there was also a 'Comment & Quarrel' piece by a Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg representative. He wished to see every child leave school fluent in Welsh. He didn't specifically mention the Llanfair/Pentrecelyn merger debate, though the inference was there. 'We can lead the way in teaching our children more languages to a higher standard'. Belfield’s view was that this takes valuable curriculum space.
But which of the two models is the answer? A bilingual Llanfair DC or Ifans's preferred Welsh-medium Pentrecelyn? Ifans felt that category 2 bilingualism (Llanfair) would be 'detrimental'. Welsh medium category 1 education was the only option. But for how many would this prove to be a closed shop? In other words, how many parents would elect a school other than Pentrecelyn and would that school offer anything other than a limited Welsh component?
Llanfair's Welsh-speaking chairman of governors said, 'We really are a model… where we serve a rural community where about half the people are Welsh speakers. What we can offer is a route for children with an English language background to become fluent in Welsh'. No matter their language background, all but one July leaver entered Brynhyfryd's Welsh stream. Isn't that a sound way of safeguarding the language?
‡ The reference to mayonnaise was of course from Ifans's character in a 1999 film called Notting Hill
In the Free Press, there was also a 'Comment & Quarrel' piece by a Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg representative. He wished to see every child leave school fluent in Welsh. He didn't specifically mention the Llanfair/Pentrecelyn merger debate, though the inference was there. 'We can lead the way in teaching our children more languages to a higher standard'. Belfield’s view was that this takes valuable curriculum space.
But which of the two models is the answer? A bilingual Llanfair DC or Ifans's preferred Welsh-medium Pentrecelyn? Ifans felt that category 2 bilingualism (Llanfair) would be 'detrimental'. Welsh medium category 1 education was the only option. But for how many would this prove to be a closed shop? In other words, how many parents would elect a school other than Pentrecelyn and would that school offer anything other than a limited Welsh component?
Llanfair's Welsh-speaking chairman of governors said, 'We really are a model… where we serve a rural community where about half the people are Welsh speakers. What we can offer is a route for children with an English language background to become fluent in Welsh'. No matter their language background, all but one July leaver entered Brynhyfryd's Welsh stream. Isn't that a sound way of safeguarding the language?
‡ The reference to mayonnaise was of course from Ifans's character in a 1999 film called Notting Hill