The Welsh Government has this week announced that it is now recruiting for its popular ‘Cynllun Pontio’– aimed at attracting Welsh-speaking teachers to secondary schools in Wales.
By being part of the programme, Welsh speakers currently teaching in schools outside Wales, primary school teachers, and teachers who have been out of the profession for five years or more can receive support to become secondary school teachers.
The Cynllun Pontio, which has been running since 2020, has previously seen Welsh speaking teachers, largely from England, supported to return to Wales to teach – with benefits both to the individuals and the wider sector.
The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, said: “Increasing the number of teachers who can teach through the medium of Welsh is key to reaching our goal of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.
“The Cynllun Pontio is a fantastic opportunity for teachers to be supported to teach through the medium of Welsh in secondary schools. It’s heartening to hear of the success stories to date and I would encourage any teacher considering moving back to Wales, transferring into the secondary sector, or returning to the profession, to apply.”
Two of the teachers who took this opportunity to return to Wales last year are Siân Bradley, Head of Biology at Ysgol Glantaf, and Richard Battrick, Art and Technology teacher at Ysgol Llangynwyd.
Siân Bradley, who moved back to Wales from London through the Cynllun Pontio said: “I have gained so much from the opportunity and it has given me the confidence to use a language that I hadn’t spoken for a long time. I enjoy the challenge, and everyone has been so supportive and welcoming. Teaching the new Curriculum for Wales is also an exciting opportunity, as it gives teachers much more freedom to choose what to teach and to make the link between the subject and the local community. It’s a very unique and exciting thing.”
Richard Battrick, who returned to the community he had grown up in said: “It’s great to be back in a community that I know and to give back to the community that gave me my education. After living and working in England for a long time, I was a little apprehensive about the standard of my Welsh, but that was quickly dispelled in the interview. The advice I would give to anyone thinking about applying to the Cynllun Pontio, or even applying to work back in Wales, is there’s a lot less to worry about than you think, and you might know more than you realised. The support from the Cynllun Pontio, fellow teachers, and the whole school really are invaluable.”
