Welsh Language Scheme 2013

BRIDGEND COLLEGE / COLEG PENYBONT Welsh Language Scheme 2013 1 Date: 27 February 2013 Review Date: 27 February 2016 Item Page Number 1 INTRODUCTION 3-4 2 COLLEGE PROFILE 4-7 3 IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING / SERVICE PLANNING AND 7-16 DELIVERY Responsibilities for Implementation and Monitoring Administrative Arrangements for Facilitating the Scheme Policies and New Initiatives Third Party Compliance Enabling the workforce to provide a complete service through the medium of Welsh Monitoring and Reviewing Processes Quality Comparing Performance against Standards Dealing with Enquiries, Comments and Complaints Ensuring Publicity for the Scheme 4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WELSH ETHOS AT THE COLLEGE 16-22 (Strand 1 of the Strategy) Administrative Arrangements Developing a Welsh Ethos within the curriculum Dealing with the Welsh Speaking Public The Public Face of the College Marketing and promotion of services available in Welsh/bilingual (including promotion and publicity of Welsh medium communication units / courses and of bilingual and Welsh- medium provision). 5 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BILINGUAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS 22-23 TO AUGMENT AN ENGLISH MEDIUM PROVISION (Strand 2 of the Strategy) Planning and Management of College Curriculum Current Provision at the College The College Curriculum 6 THE DEVELOPMENT OF WELSH-MEDIUM OR BILINGUAL 23-26 PROVISION FOR POST-14 LEARNERS (Strand 3 of the Strategy) Planning and Management of the Curriculum Head of Faculty/ Head of School responsibilities Priority Areas of Learning and how do we develop these areas Tutorials/ Work Experience/Assessments/ Mentoring Schemes and Pastoral Support/ Advice and Guidance/ Learning Resources Tutorials Mentoring Schemes and Pastoral Support Work Experience and Assessments Advice and Guidance Learning Resources The College Curriculum Collaboration and Partnership 7 TIMETABLE / ACTION PLAN 26-33 2 Date: 27 February 2013 Review Date: 27 February 2016 1. Introduction Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 The Welsh Language Measure transfers functions relating to Welsh language schemes to the Welsh Language Commissioner. The Measure also gives legal effect to the official status of the Welsh Language. Over a period of time, Welsh language schemes will be replaced by statutory standards that will place duties on organizations to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh Language and to treat the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. They will state how organizations are expected to provide services to the public and how they will treat and use the Welsh language. The College is committed to taking positive actions to implement functions under the new Measure. 1.1 Bridgend College is pleased to report it has successfully implemented its first Welsh Language Scheme. Positive feedback has been received and the Welsh Language Commissioner has agreed it is appropriate to proceed to revise its Welsh Language Scheme. Bridgend College’s second Welsh Language Scheme received the approval of the Welsh Language Commissioner under section 14 of the Welsh Language Act on 27 February 2013. This will succeed the first Welsh Language Scheme. 1.2 This is a Welsh Language Scheme prepared under the Welsh Language Act 1993. The College is committed to enhancing the guiding principles that in the conduct of public business in Wales, it will treat the English and Welsh languages on a basis of equality. This scheme sets out how Bridgend College will give effect to that principle when providing services to the public in Wales. 1.3 The second Welsh Language Scheme seeks to further develop the procedures and practices already implemented to promote both the Welsh language and to develop a bilingual ethos at the College. The scheme will respond to feedback from the Welsh Language Commissioner and from Colegau Cymru/Sgiliaith. 1.4 The aims and objectives of the College with respect to the development of the Welsh Language and bilingualism are outlined below and reflect the priorities of the Welsh Government, DFES and Estyn as well as the Colleges own aspiration to be a bilingual institution reflecting equality and inclusivity for the Welsh speaking community. 1.5 The scheme is based upon Colegau Cymru’s National Strategy on Bilingualism for Further Education. There are three key elements to the strategy: Strand 1 – The development of a Welsh ethos at the College. 3 Date: 27 February 2013 Review Date: 27 February 2016 Strand 2 – The development of bilingual communication skills to augment English medium provision. Strand 3 – The development of Welsh medium or bilingual provision for Post- 14 learners. Details of how these three strands will be developed are found under sections 4, 5 and 6 of the scheme. Section 3 outlines the procedures that support and facilitate the implementation of the three elements identified above. 1.6 The implementation of the Welsh Language Scheme will allow the College to meet its four aims: a) To develop procedures to ensure the English and Welsh languages are treated on an equal basis and continue to provide and develop high quality services through both mediums. b) To further develop a Welsh/bilingual curriculum which is flexible and responsive to meet the needs of learners, the community and other stakeholders. c) To ensure that members of the public have the opportunity and the right to choose the language they would like to use when conducting business with the College. d) To publicise, promote and further develop a bilingual ethos within the College, demonstrating its commitment to the Welsh Language Act 1993. 2. COLLEGE PROFILE In recent years the College has revised its mission statement so that it sets out our clear intent to be ‘the outstanding College committed to your success’. The College has its main campuses at Cowbridge Road in Bridgend and at Pencoed with a further smaller campus specialising in some areas of our higher education provision and including a new Centre for Media Technologies at Queen’s Road on the Bridgend Industrial site. The College also has a community College in Maesteg as well as offering provision via partnerships at community locations including schools, in the workplace and on line. It also part owns with the Borough Council a property on the Pyle Industrial Estate where it delivers a foundation programme in Media Skills to potential NEETS. All of these campuses vary in size and nature and most offer a variety of programmes. The College delivers a comprehensive and broad range of academic and vocational courses and training programmes across all ‘subject sector areas’. These courses range from entry level to postgraduate level in response to the needs of our local communities. It offers further education, adult and community learning, higher education and work based learning and provides for an ever increasing number of 14-19 school pupils who attend at the College or who are taught by College staff at their schools. 4 Date: 27 February 2013 Review Date: 27 February 2016 Of the 2,600 full time students at the College, over 1,000 travel into Bridgend every day from outside the Borough with the total number studying at the College being almost twice the number of 16-18 year old students studying at all 10 local secondary schools within Bridgend. The College has an annual turnover of £27m, only around two thirds of this is provided via DfES and therefore the College has one of the lowest reliance on DfES funding. The College currently employs a total of around 900 staff of whom over 500 are directly involved in teaching. The College is the fourth largest employer within Bridgend County. The College has a strong local reputation for the quality of its programmes. In terms of external performance measures the College has Investors in People status, the Basic Skills Quality Mark as well as BS 5750 status. In recent years the College has continued to focus on a range of national awards or prizes and has either won a range of awards including the AOC Beacon Awards, Colegau Cymru Awards, TUC Quality Award and UFI Employer Engagement Award. The College enjoys an excellent reputation for quality. In the Estyn inspection of 2009 the College achieved 10 Grade 1’s and 5 Grade 2 though one of the recommendations did identify the need to “do more to promote the value of Welsh/bilingualism across the College”. The College is led by the Principal / Chief Executive within the College’s Senior Management Group - the Strategic Planning Group - which includes the Deputy Principal, 2 Assistant Principals with specific areas of responsibility and the HR Manager. The Curriculum is delivered through 8 Schools each of which has a Head and a Deputy Head. Business Activities The College has 4 pillars of core activity: 1. Full time programmes – These have developed under the ‘transformation agenda’ to include the offer of both academic and vocational programmes to all post 14 pupils within our 10 local partner schools within the school ‘options’. In the past 8 years this has included the flagship ‘Twilight A Level provision’ where over 200 school pupils per annum come to the College for 2 sessions per week to study a 3rd or 4th A Level that is not usually available to them within their individual schools. 2. Part time programmes - the widest range of both work related and lifelong learning courses delivered in partnership within the Community Education Department within the Borough Council to whom we franchise over 50% of their income. This allows the College to be more responsive in meeting the social inclusion and widening participation agendas. 5 Date: 27 February 2013 Review Date: 27 February 2016 3. Higher Education programmes - franchised through strong partnerships with University of Glamorgan, Cardiff Metropolitan University and University of Wales, Newport. Over 1,000 students study HE at Bridgend College, we are one of the highest providers of HE in FE.

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