The Welsh Government has a policy aim for there to be 1 million Welsh-speakers by 2050 called “Cymraeg 2050”.
At the moment the average estimate for the number of Welsh speakers is anything between 600,000-800,000. That said, if you only count those who are fully fluent and literate in Welsh the number is likely to be lower.
The foundation needed to increase the number of Welsh speakers is Welsh-medium education.
Bridgend Council has been on the receiving end of criticism for several years for how they’ve approached it. The issue has been raised in the Senedd by Luke Fletcher MS (Plaid, South Wales West) and his predecessor, Dr Dai Lloyd.
The Welsh language in Bridgend
It would be difficult to argue the case that Bridgend is a Welsh language hotbed.
Anecdotally, you don’t get a sense of a resurgence in the language as there has been in neighbouring local authorities like Neath Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf. That’s reflected in the very low levels of Welsh-speaking ability in the county.
Based on the 2011 Census, the proportion of adult Welsh-speakers in Bridgend averages around 9-10% and only increases into the low teens in parts of the Llynfi valley and a few outliers like Bryncethin and Penyfai. This compares to all-Wales averages that are closer to 20%. We’ll likely know what the 2021 Census says in the next year or so but I doubt the figures will be all that different.
Last year, a report on Bridgend Council’s Welsh language strategy revealed that during 2020-21, just 0.1% of contacts with the council’s customer services department were in Welsh – and that was an increase on previous years.
There is one area concerning the language where Bridgend punches above its weight. In 2016, Bridgend was said to have the most Welsh language street names in Wales – so the language is ever-present but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly vibrant.
Welsh-Medium Education & “The Pencoed Gap”
Bridgend is unusual in that there are no catchment areas for Welsh-medium primary schools – apparently one of the few or only local authorities in Wales where that’s the case.
Bridgend Council’s policy states that parents can apply to send their children to any Welsh-medium primary in the county. However, if they decide to apply to a Welsh-medium primary that’s not the closest to their residence and are successful, then the children are not eligible for free home-school transport. This presents particular problems for parents living in the Pencoed area.
To give you an idea as to why, here’s a map of current and planned Welsh-medium schools in Bridgend county.
The closest Welsh-medium primary school to Pencoed is Ysgol Bro Ogwr in Brackla.
However, as it serves the entirety of Bridgend-town itself (population 50-60,000) and Pencoed, it’s massively over-subscribed, while other Welsh-medium primaries in the county often have surplus places.
As a result, there are plans for a new Ysgol Bro Ogwr a short distance away from the existing site which would increase the available capacity by up to 50%. The new school is set to open in September 2025 and the plans are currrently out for consultation.
I was recently contacted by a Pencoed parent who said:
“Ysgol Bro Ogwr is….just under 5 miles away. There is transport provision from the town to the school.
“My son attended nursery there in 2020/21. When I applied for him to attend reception for 2021/22 we were denied a place based on the fact the school was full. He was applicant #56 for 54 places. They stated that we lived too far away as the reason.
“The school has previously taken over 60 and the maximum legislation for class size is 60. There is room for him, but they continue to argue prejudice against other children if they allow one more child in the class.
“Being too far from the closest school is ridiculous. Their option if I wanted my son to attend Welsh-medium was to choose one of the other schools further away and they would provide a taxi for him at 4-years-old. Completely unrealistic and unreasonable. I fought the case and appealed and didn’t get anywhere. He now attends Pencoed Primary (English-medium).”
Under normal circumstances, parents seeking Welsh-medium education in the Pencoed area may have been able to send their children to the Welsh-medium stream at Dolau Primary in Llanharan (and presumably go on to attend Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari).
BCBC’s policy since 2020, however, has been for all new Welsh-medium pupils to attend schools in the county.
In principle, that’s the right way to approach it. But when you have gaps in provision as in Pencoed (and the same is true to an extent in the Ogmore Valley and the Sarn-Tondu area) then you’re going to see this type of scenario play out more often. Children who would otherwise have gone through the Welsh-medium system end up not doing so.
The Future
Bridgend Council recently closed a consultation on their ten-year Welsh-Medium Education Strategy, which runs until 2032.
One of the key aims is to increase the proportion of primary-age pupils starting in the Welsh-medium system from between 8-10% now to between 14-18% by 2032. We’re probably a very long way from needing a second Welsh-medium secondary school, regardless. For pre-school ages, the council are rolling out four Welsh-medium childcare centres. Two are set to open in Blackmill and Bettws by September 2022.
As mentioned earlier, the number of Welsh-medium primary school places is due to increase in the next 5 years, with new or extended schools at Ysgol Y Ferch o’r Sger and Ysgol Bro Ogwr.
There are also provisional plans for a new Welsh-medium primary school in Porthcawl and a new dual-stream (separate English and Welsh-language streams) primary at Parc Afon Ewenni.
No funding decisions have been made for the Porthcawl school yet, while you would assume the Parc Afon Ewenni school will end up becoming the local Welsh-medium school for Pencoed – and it’s a lot closer and a bit easier to get to. That should ease the pressure on Ysgol Bro Ogwr by releasing more places.
However, the new school is entirely dependent on the Parc Afon Ewenni development (of up to 700 homes) being built; it’s stalled for years. It was also recently postponed in the council’s school building plans in favour of a new single-site Mynydd Cynffig primary – which angered the local RhAG group.
The draft local development plan has provisionally included a large housing development and primary school to the east of Pencoed. Even this far out, it would make sense for that primary school to either be dual-stream or Welsh-medium to help close the gap. The wider issue of Bridgend Council’s home-school transport policies is a more immediate problem.
