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Welsh in Education Strategic Plan

Published: 08/12/2016

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve Flintshire’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) when it next meets on Tuesday, 13 December. The Welsh Government has launched a draft national strategy to achieve a million Welsh speakers by 2050 and Flintshire County Council is fully supportive of this strategy as it seeks approval of the revised WESP 2017-2020 and reinforces its strong commitment to the Welsh language. Flintshire’s plan is the result of a productive partnership approach between officers of the local authority, representatives from Welsh and English medium schools and other key organisations with an interest in promoting the Welsh language and Welsh medium education. This wide ranging group is known as the Welsh in Education Strategic Forum. Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Youth, Councillor Chris Bithell said: “Flintshire has a very strong commitment to the Welsh language and our vision is to increase the number of Welsh speakers within our county. We will support people of all ages to improve their Welsh language skills and to give them the confidence to use the language in their daily lives – at work, at home, at school and in their communities. “Our forum is a strong partnership with clear goals and includes the right people with partners from Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, Coleg Cambria and representation from parents and governors. As Chair of the Committee, I am confident that our plan will succeed.” Flintshire’s WESP 2017-2020 has to be submitted to Welsh Government by 20 December. Once final approval has been received, the Plan will be operational from 1 April 2017.