To be having second thoughts about Welsh school?

[SheLovesaCrisp]

My Son is 3.5 and will be starting pre-reception in April.

The school we chose for him is an all welsh school (most are in our area). He currently goes to a welsh creche, but english is also spoken occasionally.

The school he is going to is completely welsh.

I only speak a little welsh, my partner is fluent. I am starting to wonder if this was a good decision. We speak english at home, apart from a few commands like

wash your hands
lets clean up
whats the matter

That kind of thing.

Has anyone sent their little one to an all welsh school when it isn't their first language?

He does understand and know a little welsh. He refers to a lot of things in their welsh names, especially colours.

My partner said he is going in from a young age so will be fine.

Look at it like this - where is the future re jobs/prospects world-wide etc - then go for that IMO

He will pick it up quickly, especially if your partner is willing to speak only Welsh to him at home.

well, if you live in Wales then speaking Welsh opens up job opportunities.

Speaking two languages means it is easier to learn a third, or a fourth, etc

It is sought after in the military

It will give him a strong sense of history and identity

He will be more accepted in the Welsh community

On the other hand, yes, it is likely to impact negatively on his education as a whole, so it depends what you want for him

Post was aimed at OP

That is your experience, thank you for sharing and if it is like that, then it sounds good.

Last week one of our grandchildren aged about 6 - our son ie his dad advised us ourDGS was going for "Sapnish classes" - straight away I said French o gErman - Our son enlightened me re Spannish and he was right as he has his finger on the pluse and I was thinking of my school days, now just over 60

Therefore, keep on that track as you know best

Welsh schools, still make provision for English speaking parents - so you’ll get letters newsletters etc bilingually - if not you can request them.
As your partner is fluent homework etc covered.

The language of the home will be English, but your child will be bilingual they are like little sponges at this age. Just go with it. There’s lots of research that show bilingual children learn other languages more easily so potentially it opens lots of doors/options. Your not proposing he becomes monoglot so can’t see how it can be detrimental for future job searches.

My step daughter and nephew both go to welsh language skills and neither of their mother’s speak welsh. Doesn’t cause any issues at all.

My kids have all gone to Welsh school right through secondary. My husband is English and speaks no Welsh and I speak it conversationally. They've all done well, no issues. The majority of the parents don't speak Welsh so they accommodate that really well.

You might be able to see on the estyn report the percentage of Welsh speaking parents/households attending? With one fluent parent at home your child is likely in a stronger position than most.

I’d encourage it. I was raised bilingual, my kids are being raised bilingual - it’s such a gift. I don’t personally think it matters very much if he ends up using Welsh professionally or whatever, just having a brain exposed to different language structures etc is a huge bonus.

My nephew goes to Welsh school. His father is a fluent Welsh speaker. His mother is from another European country but speaks English fluently. Nephew is trilingual - Welsh, English and his mother’s mother tongue. No issues at all.

Like you we had our son down for a Welsh school, we live in between a really good Welsh and English school.
I spoke to my friend who is head of dept in a comprehensive and she said that kids from Welsh schools who then go onto English comps tend to struggle a bit due to all their learning being in Welsh. They can obviously all speak English, read and write, but not to the they can in Welsh. My husband and I can’t speak it so we were concerned with not being able to read with him at home. Hes in reception class in the English school and thriving and we have no regrets

On the other hand, yes, it is likely to impact negatively on his education as a whole, so it depends what you want for him

How will it negatively impact his education?

If there was a good Welsh secondary school near that may have changed the decision, but the best secondary school near us is an English speaking one.

I went through the Welsh-language education system in the 90s/00s with an English mother who didn't speak a word of Welsh, and a Welsh father who did conversationally, but hadn't been educated in Welsh so struggled with formal language and writing. It was tough at first and I always felt behind my peers who had two Welsh-speaking parents. However, I grew up with a passion for languages, went on to do Modern Languages at university and now live in Spain and am completely fluent in Spanish. I wouldn't change a thing and believe I've benefited from a lot of advantages over my siblings who are a bit older than me and went through the English-language system in the same area, e.g. smaller class sizes in the Welsh classes.

I went to a welsh unit throughout primary school. Dad spoke welsh at home, mum English. I grew up bilingual and went in to study French at degree level and lived in France for a while. Opening up those neurons and links in your brain in childhood is brilliant as it makes it so much easier to learn languages later. I love that I can speak welsh. I love languages. I speak welsh to my kids now even though we live in England. They understand a lot.

At University level, my friends who were taught at Welsh schools openly said they struggled with mathematical/scientific terminology that was taught to them in Welsh as they didn't know the English translations. However, they all caught up and got brilliant grades so I wouldn't say it was a lasting educational impact at all. I'd go for the welsh school if you have a local good one 😊

Think about it this way, if you were a Polish parent living in England you would send your child to an English school. Many children who have English as an additional language get on just fine. So the same is true here.

Thank you for the responses. I spoke to the secretary earlier today and she said that English is introduced into lessons in year 3.

I have no problem with him learning the welsh language, I would love it as it is spoken a LOT where we live. I just worry as people have said, about him keeping up with learning. Someone mentioned the reading and I didn't even think of this.

We always read at home, not sure how I will cope with reading in Welsh.

Ok I am gonna re-download Duolingo lol

@Lemonade84 yep, I went to a Welsh speaking school and can confirm. I really struggled with terminology particularly in maths and science subjects when I went to uni (in England). I finally grasped what a rectangle was when I went to uni 🤣

Looking back my school was really shit though (I’m 39 so it was a while ago). It had really weird rules like you’d get a detention for speaking English, not sure if that’s still a thing?!

My parents couldn’t speak a word of Welsh so had no help with homework (but at least that’s not the case for the OP). Being a parent now, I’d hate to put my child in that situation but I’m sure schools are more accommodating these days.

Plus, I didn’t live in a Welsh speaking area so I never reaped the benefits of speaking the language and couldn’t wait to leave (let’s leave that for another thread though!)

I guess it opens up opportunities for Welsh speaking jobs in Wales but I’m not sure it would put you at an advantage to learn another language as plenty of people are bilingual without going to a non English speaking school in the UK.

These are just my experiences though and I’m sure things have massively improved since my time!

Definitely go for the Welsh school.

Neither of my parents spoke Welsh and we had a fabulous education in Welsh and went to a brilliant school.

Now I have children of my own, they both go to a Welsh school and are absolutely thriving. We speak English mostly at home as my husband doesn’t speak Welsh but I do speak to them in Welsh as much as possible.

My husband was against a Welsh education but it was non negotiable for me. He now concedes that it was the best decision for our children.

I now work in a Welsh school too and love it. Most kids do very well with the Welsh. You’ll have some children who will struggle with it but the school will speak to the parents before they leave infants if they feel the child would do better in an English school.

Don't worry about the reading, it’s the easiest part as Welsh is phonetic. You’ll have parent groups on WhatsApp and Facebook and the Welsh speaking parents are always willing to help if you need help with pronounciation and you can always ask the class teacher. Children generally don’t have any problems when they start English reading in yr3. My DD only read Welsh until this year (yr3) and her first English book was a David Walliams novel.

My partner is fluent and went to Welsh schools all the way through, His mum speaks and teaches Welsh but his dad is English and doesn't speak at all.

He rarely uses Welsh now, but has nothing bad to say about his education.

We are an English speaking household (I speak minimal Welsh and DH none) and DS has thrived in Welsh medium. The benefits to the brain of being bilingual is what decided me.

But he already speaks English. Learning Welsh would only open his opportunities.

I’m a bilingual child of English-only parents. They were the trailblazers, nearly 50 years ago, and sent me and DSis to a Welsh medium school.
It has been, hands down the most positive experience for both of us and had opened so many doors career wise.
Honestly. Don’t worry that you don’t speak Welsh, it doesn’t matter. You may even find yourself going to Welsh classes because it has piqued your interest.

My friend and her husband are English and moved to wales a few years back. The eldest started secondary when they moved to went into the English stream, the middle started in year 4 or 5 in primary and now is at secondary in the full Welsh stream. The youngest started in reception and has been fully learning Welsh.

All communication is in English and Welsh from school. Both parents are leaning too as it obviously helps with their work as well but they obviously haven't picked it up as well as the children.

I went through Welsh medium education with an English mum and honestly my bilingualism is one of the things I’m most proud about in life. Go for it!

Also, can’t say that I or any of my friends have ever ever struggled with mathematical/scientific terminology upon getting to university. And as for the poster who suggested it might hinder the rest of your son’s education, no. Being bilingual does amazing things for the brain, regardless of what the two languages are.

Cer amdani!