English demand Welsh-medium school places
Mar 8 2004 Claire Hill, The Western Mail
ENGLISH parents have begun sending their children to Welsh language schools on the border.
Despite the fact they do not speak Welsh, parents are becoming increasingly desperate to send their children to oversubscribed Welsh schools.
Bilingualism and the believed educational benefits are said to be the reasons that English parents are choosing Welsh for their children.
Gwyn Jones, headteacher at Ysgol Plas Coch, Wrexham, said he has had a number of inquiries from English families in Chester considering sending their children to the school.
Mr Jones said he has had to turn many prospective pupils away.
"I am full to capacity. I have to turn down people every year but if someone wants Welsh education there are five schools in the area so they will be offered another place," he said.
While most of the pupils at the school are believed to have some Welsh links, Mr Jones said some English parents sent their children to the school.
Other schools in Wrexham noted the trend and Richard Jones, from Ysgol I.D. Hooson, said that 14% of the children had English parents and 2% came from an ethnic minority background.
Father-of-two Mark Vening chose to send both of his children to a Welsh-medium school in Wrexham despite being born in England.
Though the 34-year-old lived in Wales for part of his childhood, he and Lincolnshire-born wife Sue had no links to the country until they moved here recently.
Mr Vening said they chose Ysgol Bodhyfryd for Zaak, five, and Tasha, three, because they wanted to give their children the best start in Wales.
The charity worker said, "This move was not just for the next six months, we really feel our time in Wales is for the long term and we want to embrace the country and culture."
The only Welsh-medium school on the Monmouthshire border agreed that English families were choosing a Welsh language education as the preferred option.
Head teacher Melanie Smallwood from Ysgol y Ffin at Sudbrook said that 95% of the pupils came from English-speaking families and one English family was staying in Wales because of the school.
Mother Susan Houghton moved to the area with her husband Philip when his job brought him to Wales.
The English couple found their eldest daughter Josie, 13, was starting to learn Welsh at her comprehensive school so decided to give their younger child the language from reception onwards.
Anna, seven, and the couple's youngest daughter, Lili, five, have had a complete bilingual education and their parents could not be happier.
Mrs Houghton, 42, said, "If we moved to France I would expect them to learn the language and I think it's the same here."
Though husband Philip, 42, no longer works in Wales and the pair commute to Bristol and London every day they would not move back to England because of their children's Welsh-medium education.
Mrs Houghton said, "We are not just commuters living here and crossing the border every day, it has made living here a richer experience."
The Welsh-medium school also has another unique selling point as Welsh parents who live in England cross the border daily to send their children to the Sudbrook-based school.
Ysgol Gymraeg Newydd i Gwersyllt/ A New Welsh School for Gwersyllt.
Email this petition to your friends
No comments:
Post a Comment