Portmead and Penllergaer have become the first two primary schools in Swansea to earn gold awards for encouraging pupils, staff and the wider community to speak Welsh more often both inside and outside the classroom.
Thanks to a lot of hard work and support from partners including Swansea Council both schools have been presented with the gold Siarter Iaith award.
It is a Welsh Government initiative to inspire children and young people to use Welsh in all aspects of their lives.
Alison Evans, headteacher at Portmead Primary School said: “In Portmead Welsh is a priority and children use Welsh throughout the day in and outside of the classroom in fun and exciting ways which means we have a positive attitude towards our language.
“We have strong links with the local community and cluster schools and have enjoyed hosting, arranging and attending a number of events getting schools together to celebrate and enjoy the language, as well as supporting other local schools in their journey.”
Sarah Burns, headteacher at Penllergaer Primary School, said: “We are proud to be Welsh and value and celebrate the Welsh language and culture.
“We hold the Welsh language high on our list of priorities and we want to help the Welsh Government achieve their goal of one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
“Our school ethos goes hand in hand with the ethos of the Siarter Iaith which is that we want to inspire our pupils to use Welsh in all aspects of their lives. The Siarter Iaith is for everyone.”
Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Learning, Robert Smith, said: “I’m very proud of Portmead and Penllergaer Schools in leading the way for Swansea and congratulate all at both schools on achieving the gold award.
“Swansea Council is supporting all our schools to increase the social use of Welsh by children and young people and we are using Siarter Iaith as part of our Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.”
