Welsh Language and Culture Development
At The Bishop of Llandaff, we are dedicated to the promotion of Welsh language and culture within our school community. Located in Wales’ capital city, it is only natural for us, as a school, to recognise and celebrate the culture and heritage of Wales.
We fully support the Welsh Government Cymraeg 2050 strategy, and we are proud to enable our students to play a part in this, too. We encourage our students to not only use their Welsh language skills within the classroom. However, there are also many opportunities for our students to experience and promote the Welsh language outside of the classroom and across our broader curriculum. This includes are annual Eisteddfod, as well as events such as ‘Diwrnod Shwmae’ and ‘Dydd Miwsig Cymru’, which are embedded within our school calendar.
Students are able to participate in a variety of clubs to expand their knowledge of Welsh culture and practise their Welsh language skills such as ‘Clwb Diwylliant’ and ‘Clwb yr Urdd.’ Many of our clubs are led by sixth form students and/or external providers such as the Urdd; we have strong links with Cardiff and Swansea universities with guest speakers regularly delivering sessions to our students.
Beyond the classroom, there are many educational trips and visits offered which celebrate Welsh language and culture. These include annual residential visits to Llangrannog and Glan Llyn, while our sixth form students enjoy a ‘Taith o Gymru.’ Students have to opportunity to visit local attractions as part of their humanities studies; there are also many links made and referenced across other languages. For example, a visit to Patagonia for our sixth form students.
As a school, we are on the journey to gaining ‘Siarter Iaith’ status, which recognises the use of the Welsh language within schools. The promotion of the ‘Tocyn Iaith’ initiative enables a competitive spirit through the medium of Welsh for our students, which feeds into our school House System. Students are actively encouraged, and given the opportunity, to use their Welsh language skills in conversation, with each other and with identified members of staff (we are lucky to have numerous Welsh speakers across the staff body).
Overall, we are proud to incorporate such a wealth of experiences and opportunities to celebrate our Welsh heritage; we encourage our students to use their Welsh language skills as much as possible: ‘Hyder, nid Cywirdeb.’