Moving yr7 son due to too much welsh

[Mandy1999]

My yr 7 son is struggling in his school due to the fact that they have chosen to educate him in every subject in welsh, including French!!! Welsh is his second language. The school just doesn't seem to understand they are making school much harder than it needs to be. It claims in it's perspectus that it is bilingual,rubbish!!! Maths and the sciences should be in English so they can study one of these in higher education. The policies of this school are awful. I have applied for an English school 25 miles away, it is terrible that you can't get the education you wish for your child without moving them miles away!! I am so disgusted in this system!! What do think!!

[FABsBackAndIsWell]

Surely you knew this before you sent him to the school?

[TalkinPeace2]

You (plural Welsh) voted for devolution
the details of welsh schools are very clear and public

[loonyrationalist]

Yabu. He will improve his welsh beyond recognition being immersed in it every day, it should have been a concern when applying if anything but it seems weird to be complaining about it now. What does your son think??

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

"They have chosen to educate him in every subject in Welsh"

Surely you made that choice when you opted for him to go to that school?

Did he not go through a Welsh medium primary school?

With what you've told us in your op then YABU

[Chaotica]

Didn't you know this beforehand?

Also, it won't make a bit of difference to his prospects, he should easily be able to change languages in maths and science when he needs to.

[Chaotica]

There are as many similarities between French words and Welsh ones, as French words and English (btw).

[lostinwales]

Interesting one, DS1 will be going to a 'bilingual' secondary in September. I am aware though that he will be educated almost entirely in Welsh ( we can choose Welsh or English language for Maths/Science), they do much better immersed in the language though, rather than mixing the two, the school has excellent league table results (compared with English educating schools as well) although DS1 is going more for their SN department. If you feel your son's education is suffering for any reason though you should look to other options.

Incidentaly I do feel that it is harsh and unfair when there is little provision for children whose Welsh isn't that strong, especially in more rural areas where there aren't many schools. I fear this thread may turn into a bunfight though.

[lostinwales]

Although DH did all the sciences and maths/further maths through the medium of Welsh and it didn't stop him getting an excellent degree from an English university or continuing to a research post at Cambridge University.

[MK1993]

I go to a Welsh-medium school, even though Welsh is my third language. I didn't feel disadvantaged in the slightest and am now studying Welsh at A-Level.
It's quite surprising that his school doesn't offer the sciences/maths through English. They should. Are you completely sure they don't?

I'm also surprised that you didn't consider this would be a problem beforehand. If your son was weak at Welsh, did you not foresee this would cause problems?

You should talk to the school. They must have some things set in place to help children less-confident in Welsh, because I'd guarantee your son isn't the only one.

Your insinuation that sciences/maths need to be in English to study them further annoys me a bit though. I don't understand why so many people have this view. Welsh is a living language, the scientific and mathematical vocabulary is all there. After studying science in Welsh all my life, I switched this year to English for A-Level.(because our teacher's English) I learnt, naturally enough, the English words alongside the Welsh ones over the years, and the language switch wasn't a problem at all. Friends who moved to England for university have said the same. It is not a disadvantage as people seem to think.
Sorry for getting off-track ranting a bit, but I really feel strongly about this. I'm not even Welsh, but I hate it when people see it as an inferior language that doesn't have a place in the modern world.

[cory]

Not sure if I should be joining this, as am not Welsh, but I am a non-native English speaker, which means I did all my early training in another language. This has absolutely not held me back in any way in higher education. English universities are full of foreign students and foreign teaching staff, and many European universities now teach in English instead of in the native language. When I was at university in Sweden our textbooks were in 3 or 4 different languages- small linguistic area meant translation was simply not financially viable. If you're bright enough to study at university in the first place, then you should be able to handle doing it in your second language.

[lelly88]

Hi, my eldest son went through the welsh primary and secondary system, no trouble with the both languages.(Dad bilingual). My DS2 -dyslexic struggled through primary even though SEN money was thrown at him (he never would have had the same support in an English medium primary, perhaps he wouldn't have needed it so much), spent all his primary years stuck on an SEN table. He was moved to our local v. good English medium secondary, and despite being initially put in the lowest stream C (even though he had L4 sats and above average CATS -another story!) has risen to Set 2, and looks forward to going higher.
Anyway it is very much up to the child's grasp of the language, doesn't bother some, but can be a pressure too far for others. If your son is struggling with the language move him now, have you had a chat with him about how he feels about the welsh or are you going by his assessments? A friend of my DS2 spent yr7 in welsh medium, but told his mum he was having difficulties with being taught in welsh, she has moved him and he is much happier, of course he already had a friend in my son.

My neice, who was fully educated in Welsh medium discribed her school years as torture. Each case is individual, but don't hang around.
Best Wishes with your decision.

[saysithowitis]

You sound a bit dim OP. You knew that it was a Welsh Medium Secondary school? You thought the policies were awful? Your son does not speak welsh?You are only now considering other options?Plenty of children have to travel some distance in rural Wales to get to school.
I think you should bugger off to England.

[lostinwales]

Bloody hell sayithowitis talk about an appropriate NN. That was rude and uncalled for.

[miso]

It is a bit of an odd OP though, unless the school has suddenly changed it's policies since September

[lelly88]

I think the OP is confused by the use of bilingual. It "should" indicate that welsh and english are on an equal footing, but this is not the case. In our case we knew from the start it would all be in Welsh, but we were persuaded with the argument that learning languages simultaneously would do harm at all to the child learning it so young. Didn't know some Welsh secondaries teach maths and sciences through english medium!
Unfortunately we soon found out that the first language speakers of welsh were given favoutism continually over the second language children for obvious reasons. So the children who had to work harder were penalised.
Also our welsh secondary had a very poor inspection report compared to our local English secondary (1 of the best state schools in Wales). Not many grammar schools where we live either, but glad we're out of that rat race.

[saysithowitis]

My yr 7 son is struggling in his school due to the fact that they have chosen to educate him in every subject in welsh

They haven't chosen to educate him in welsh. You have!

I think if you choose to live in another country then you should embrace it's culture. If OP didn't want her soon to learn in welsh she should have chosen another school. I'm sure they would not have been the only parents in her area to do just that.

[mrsruffallo]

It's silly, isn't it.
It's not as if even half of the welsh population have welsh as a first language.
It's a waste of resources.

[saysithowitis]

I haven't got the energy to argue with you today mrsruffallo but take this instead

[mrsruffallo]

Back off, myfanwy

[saysithowitis]

Thanks
Origin and Meaning of the Name Myfanwy
Gender:Girl
Origin:Welsh
Meaning:My little lovely one
Myfanwy, daughter of the Norman Earl of Arundel, was said to be the most beautiful woman in Powys, but she was vain and liked nothing better than to be told how beautiful she was, writes Nick Bourne from the Web Team.

Many men went to Dinas Brân to court her, but she had nothing to do with them, even if they were rich and handsome because they were unable to compose and sing poems that supposedly reflected the depth of her beauty.

Nothing like me unfortunately

[MK1993]

lol, is myfanwy used as an insult these days?

It's funny how very often English people cite 'lack of Welsh speakers' or 'minority language' as a reason not to bother with the Welsh language, after the English' oppression of Welsh in the past contributed to the current situation!

[walesblackbird]

My children go to a Welsh school and once they reach juniors then they are taught bilingually - most subjects are taught in Welsh as, clearly, it is a Welsh medium school but they are also taught in English as well.

Has something changed from the time that you elected to send him to this school? Did you not know they were going to teach bilingually?

It doesn't really matter what language they are taught maths/science in. The principles are the same. Just a different language. And if a child is bilingual then they will be able to automatically translate from one language to the other.

By the way, Welsh isn't my children's first language either but they can still do maths/science in Welsh and English.

[SenSationsMad]

Fancy having a look on a short film made by Menter Iaith Món on bilingualism? You can find it on You Tube if you look for "dwyieithrwydd - bilingualism".
(Tried linking but, duh, can't)

It has clips with parents/ children/ experts on bilingual education and what it means today, and for your childrens future. Last about 20 minutes.

I don't see what the problem is, the school probably thinks your child's Welsh is good enough, but he's wised up to the fact that you have negative feelings towards the language, and is leading you on.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Yabu.
I did all my post university education in Norway, in Norwegian, heck I even learnt English and French in Norwegian. It did not stop me from obtaining two degrees from a top London University. In English.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Clearly I did not learn the difference between pre and post ...

I obviously meant pre university education...