Croeso i Ysgol Gynradd Penclawdd

At Penclawdd Primary our Criw Cymraeg consists of pupils from Year 1 to Year 6.  The Criw  are enthusiastic about promoting and encouraging the use of Welsh throughout our school.  They are excellent role models to others and lead by their example. We are a Silver Siarter Iaith school achieved in 2023.

Beth yw’r manteision o gael Criw Cymraeg?

What are the benefits of having a Criw Cymraeg?

• They promote the use of incidental Welsh throughout the school.
• Maen nhw’n hybu iaith achlysurol drwy’r ysgol.

• They promote a Welsh ethos throughout the school.
• Maen nhw’n creu ethos Gymreig.

• Maen nhw’n hybu brwdfrydedd am yr iaith Gymraeg.
• They promote enthusiasm for the Welsh language.

The Criw Cymraeg lead playground games in Welsh, they read with younger pupils, promote the ‘Phrase of the week’ and organise fun activites and competitions such as, Diwrnod Shwmae, Dydd Gwyl Dewi (St David’s Day) and Wythnos Cymraeg (Welsh Week).  They lead their own assemblies and present awards to the Dosbarth/Athro/Athrawes yr wythnos (class and teacher of the Week).

The Criw Cymraeg are currently working hard to achieve the targets of the Siarter Iaith Gold Award., having achieved the Bronze in 2022 and Silver in 2023.  Siarter Iaith is an award system to promote the use of Welsh Language and schools welsh ethos.

The targets are broken down into 10 areas
1 – Establishing a Visual Welsh Ethos
2 – The advantages of Learning Welsh
3 – Using incidental Welsh in the Classroom
4 – Using incidental Welsh outside of the Classroom
5 – Welsh in assemblies
6 – Using apps and websites to enhance learning and enjoyment
7 – Enrichment activities
8 – Developing Reading
9 – Using Welsh across the curriculum
10 – A positive attitude

The Criw meet regularly to check the progress the school is making towards achieving the targets, discussing how they can help achieve certain targets and set challenges or tasks for pupils or teachers to achieve.

Staff lead is Mrs N. Davies who is supported by Mrs K. Thomas, Ms Hopkins and Ms Griffiths.

What did Estyn say about our provision in teaching and learning for Welsh in November 2022? 

Our Estyn case study

Across the school most pupils’ Welsh language skills are strong. Younger pupils confidently sing a variety of Welsh songs passionately and respond to classroom characters effectively. Older pupils confidently speak to each other and visitors positively, and ask and respond to variety of questions well. Across the school, most pupils make good progress in their Welsh reading skills. By Year 6, many pupils read clearly with correct pronunciation and can deduce meaning effectively from the text.

The school has a clear focus on developing an authentic community-led curriculum to support learner engagement. The school provides a broad and stimulating curriculum and staff plan exciting engagement visits to encourage learner enthusiasm. For example, pupils in nursery and reception experienced a visit to Castell Coch and this inspired younger pupils to learn more about traditional tales.

The school fosters a strong Welsh ethos where all staff have high aspirations for the development of pupils’ Welsh communication skills. An outstanding feature of the school’s work is the provision for developing pupils' listening, reading and speaking skills in English and Welsh. Staff are successful language role models, and this helps pupils to become confident and respectful speakers, keen to develop and use new vocabulary in both languages. Welsh language skills are promoted continuously around the school and within the classrooms through everyday language, bilingual wall displays, marking, bilingual dialogue with staff and specific language lessons. Throughout the school, teachers incorporate the Welsh language into their lessons to a high standard. Over time, most pupils develop strong Welsh language skills and are confident and proud to be Welsh speakers.

Estyn will invite the school to prepare a case study on its work in relation to developing the culture, ethos and language of Wales across the school, for dissemination on Estyn’s website.

Click here to read this report - Developing the culture, ethos and language of Wales across the school

Take a look at the ‘Siarter Iaith’ page to see how our Welsh vision is driven by all our learners, staff and our wonderful community. Diolch! 

Criw Cymraeg are a very active pupil voice group and are pivotal in driving our love of the Welsh language and culture.  At Ysgol Gynradd Penclawdd we are ALL passionate about developing an ethos where Welsh is at our heart. Have a look at some of the activities we have done via the ‘Siarter Iaith’ page on the website. Here is just a little taster!! 

Ymadrodd yr Wythnos/Phrase of the Week

Every week we choose a useful Welsh phrase to use around the school.

An example of some of the phrases;

Dim problem/No problem

Ga i…?/Can I have…?

Hwyl fawr/Goodbye

Ble mae…?/Where is…?

Pob lwc/Good luck

Wyt ti’n hoffi…?/Do you like…?

Beth ydy dy hoff…?/What is your favourite…?

Throughout the week, pupils are rewarded with ‘tocyn iaith,’ language points by teachers or members of the Criw Cymraeg for their use of Welsh.  Criw Cymraeg collect the points each week and award the winning KS2 and Foundation Phase class with a certificate, ‘Dosbarth yr wythnos.’  They also award a teacher of the week.

Y4/5 Polar Bears are enjoying learning about the story of Blodeuwedd and linking it to our learning about perimeter
#Pencnum #Pencpoarbears #Penc45 #PencLLC