Gŵyliaith 2019

Dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf mae buddsoddiad Llywodraeth Cymru a gwaith caled Sgiliaith, colegau Addysg Bellach, sefydliadau Dysgu Seiliedig ar Waith a'r Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol wedi dechrau dwyn ffrwyth o ran hyrwyddo a chefnogi addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg a dwyieithog yn y sector ôl-14.

Felly roedd prif bwyslais y gynhadledd hon a gynhaliwyd ar 16 Mai yn y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol yn Aberystwyth ar ddathlu’r gwaith hwn ac ar rannu arferion da wrth i ni symud ymlaen mewn partneriaeth gyda’n gilydd.

Braint ac anrhydedd o’r mwyaf oedd cael croesawu Comisiynydd y Gymraeg, Aled Roberts i draddodi’r araith agoriadol. Cawsom ein calonogi’n fawr gan agwedd agored, cynnes a chyfeillgar Aled a’i sicrwydd ynghylch pwysigrwydd y sector addysg ôl-14 i’r gwaith o feithrin gwlad ddwyieithog. Rydym yn edrych ymlaen yn fawr at gydweithio’n agos gydag Aled yn ystod y blynyddoedd nesaf, ac yn dymuno’n dda iddo yn ei swydd newydd.

Yna daeth yr Athro Enlli Môn Thomas o Brifysgol Bangor i’r llwyfan i drafod ambell fyth a ffaith, a'r ffordd ymlaen ym maes dwyieithrwydd. Roeddem yn hynod falch o groesawu Enlli i’r gynhadledd gan ei bod yn un o’r arbenigwyr rhyngwladol uchaf ei pharch yn y maes. Cawsom gyflwyniad eithriadol o ddifyr ganddi a oedd wedi ei seilio ar dystiolaeth wyddonol ac academaidd am fanteision dwyieithrwydd.

Braf oedd cael croesawu Glenydd Hughes o Grŵp Llandrillo Menai i'r llwyfan gan ei fod yn un o gyn-fyfyrwyr Modiwl MA Sgiliaith ar Fethodoleg Addysgu Ddwyieithog. Rhoddodd Glenydd gyflwyniad hynod bwysig ar ei waith ymchwil diweddar am y defnydd o'r Gymraeg a’r Saesneg yn y dosbarth a sut y gall newidiadau bach fel defnyddio technoleg a gwahodd siaradwyr dwyieithog i’r coleg ddylanwadu’n gadarnhaol ar agweddau dysgwyr tuag at y Gymraeg a’u parodrwydd i ddefnyddio’r iaith

Yna cafwyd panel trafod am ddwyieithrwydd yn y gweithle dan arweiniad Ryan Evans o NtfW. Ar y panel roedd Jeremy Turner o gwmni theatr Arad Goch, Siôn Elwyn Hughes o Gyngor Gwynedd, a Catherine Morris-Jones a Rhianydd Herdman o NtFW. Cafwyd cyfraniadau diddorol iawn ganddynt am y sgiliau iaith sydd eu hangen yn y Gymru fodern, a phwysigrwydd llythrennedd dwyieithog yn y gweithle.

Ar ôl cinio, cafwyd cyflwyniad gan Dr Dafydd Trystan a Dr Lowri Morgans o’r Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol yn trafod y cyfleoedd a’r heriau sy’n bodoli o ran datblygu sgiliau dwyieithog dysgwyr. Braf oedd clywed bod gan y Coleg strategaeth tymor hir a chynllun gweithredu uchelgeisiol a fydd, o gael adnoddau a chefnogaeth briodol, yn dwyn ffrwyth yn ystod y blynyddoedd nesaf. Braf hefyd oedd clywed y bydd llawer mwy o gydweithio strategol yn digwydd rhwng y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol a’r sector addysg ôl-14 yn y dyfodol.

Cafwyd cyflwyniad diddorol iawn gan Beth Owen-Hughes o Sgiliaith a Dr Hanna Binks o Brifysgol Aberystwyth am Blatfform Dysgu Cyfunol Sgiliaith. Mae’r platfform arloesol hwn yn galluogi myfyrwyr i ddilyn cyrsiau lefel A megis y Gyfraith, Seicoleg a Chymdeithaseg drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg a hynny ar-lein drwy gyswllt fideo a Google Hangout. Ychydig flynyddoedd yn ôl enillodd y platfform dysgu cyfunol hwn Wobr Beacon am arloesi. Braf oedd clywed Beth a Hanna, un o’i chyn-fyfyrwyr, yn siarad mor frwdfrydig am werth y platfform i ehangu addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg ar draws y wlad.

Wrth agosáu at derfyn y gynhadledd cawsom wybod am brosiectau diweddar mewn colegau Addysg Bellach a ariannwyd gan gronfa Grantiau Bach y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. Pwrpas y grantiau yw cynyddu gweithgareddau cyfrwng Cymraeg i fyfyrwyr yn y sector ôl-16. Yn y cyflwyniad cyntaf cafwyd neges fideo gan Lynwen Harrington am weithdy drama ac actio a gynhaliwyd yng Ngholeg Merthyr Tudful yn ddiweddar. Yn ail, cafwyd cyflwyniad gan Sioned Williams o Grŵp Llandrillo Menai am weithdy Celfyddydau a Pherfformio a gynhaliwyd gan Antena/Hansh yng Ngholeg Meirion-Dwyfor, Pwllheli. I gloi, ar ran Nicola Buttle o Goleg Caerdydd, rhoddodd Helen Humphreys o Sgiliaith gyflwyniad am gynhadledd Iechyd, Gofal a Gofal Plant. Yn ystod y cyflwyniad clywyd gan staff a myfyrwyr y coleg am gynnwys y gynhadledd, y siaradwyr gwadd a phwysigrwydd sgiliau Cymraeg i'r sector.

Nia Brodrick o ColegauCymru oedd y nesaf ar y llwyfan. Soniodd am y cynllun Cymraeg Gwaith mewn Addysg Bellach. Dyma gynllun sy’n rhoi cyfle i staff sy'n gweithio mewn colegau addysg bellach ddysgu Cymraeg neu wella eu sgiliau Cymraeg a’u hyder wrth ddefnyddio'r iaith.

I gloi, cafwyd anerchiad gan Branwen Thomas o Lywodraeth Cymru a bwysleisiodd pa mor werthfawr oedd y gynhadledd hon o ran adeiladu ymhellach ar seiliau cadarn y ddarpariaeth Gymraeg a dwyieithog yn y sector hwn.

Diolch i bawb a ddaeth i’r gynhadledd, a diolch hefyd i'r siaradwyr am eu cyfraniadau gwerthfawr.

During the last few years the Welsh Government’s investment and the hard work of Sgiliaith, Further Education colleges, Work Based Learning organisations and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol has started to bear fruit as regards to promoting and supporting Welsh medium and bilingual education in the post-14 sector.

Therefore, the main focus of the conference held on 16 May at the National Library in Aberystwyth was to celebrate this work and to share good practice as we move forward in partnership with one another.

It was an honour and a privilege to welcome Aled Roberts, the Welsh Language Commissioner to give the opening speech. We were very much heartened by Aled's open, warm and friendly attitude and his firm belief in the importance of the post-14 education sector to building a bilingual Wales. We look forward to working closely with Aled during the next few years, and we wish him all the best in his new role.

To follow, we welcomed Professor Enlli Môn Thomas from Bangor University on stage to discuss some myths and facts, and the way forward regarding bilingualism. Professor Thomas is one of the most highly respected academics in this field and, based on scientific and academic evidence, we were given an extremely interesting presentation on the benefits of bilingualism.

We then welcomed one of Sgiliaith's former Bilingual Teaching Methodology MA Module students to the stage. Glenydd Hughes from Grŵp Llandrillo Menai gave a very important presentation about his research findings on the use of Welsh and English in the classroom and how small changes like using technology and inviting bilingual speakers to the college can have a positive influence on learners' attitudes towards Welsh and their willingness to use the language.

We then had a discussion panel on the importance of bilingual skills in the workplace. The panel was chaired by Ryan Evans from NtFW and the members were Jeremy Turner from the Arad Goch theatre company, Siôn Elwyn Hughes from Gwynedd Council, and Catherine Morris-Jones and Rhianydd Herdman from NtFW. Interesting contributions were given on the language skills that are required in modern Wales, and the importance of bilingual literacy in the workplace.

After lunch, Dr Dafydd Trystan and Dr Lowri Morgans from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol gave a presentation on the opportunities and challenges that exist for developing learners' bilingual skills. It was positive to hear that the Coleg has a long term strategy and ambitious action plan that will, with the support of appropriate resources, bear fruit during the next few years. Moving forward, it was also very good to hear that there will be much more collaboration on a strategic level between the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the post-14 education sector.

We were then given an extremely interesting presentation by Beth Owen-Hughes from Sgiliaith and Dr Hanna Binks from Aberystwyth University about the Blended Learning Platform offered by Sgiliaith. This innovative platform allows students to follow A level subjects, such as Law, Psychology and Sociology, through the medium of Welsh by using video conferencing and Google Hangout. This Blended Learning Platform won the exclusive Beacon Award a few years ago for its innovative work. It was encouraging to hear Beth and Hanna, one of her former students, speaking so enthusiastically about the platform and its potential to expand Welsh medium education throughout country.

Towards the end of the conference we were given presentations on recent projects, funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Small Grants scheme, that have been underway in further education colleges.The purpose of the grants is to increase Welsh medium activities for students in the post-16 sector. As part of the first presentation a video message was given by Lynwen Harrington from Merthyr Tydfil College about a recent drama and acting workshop. Secondly, Sioned Williams from Grŵp Llandrillo Menai gave a presentation on an Arts and Performance workshop that was held by Antena/Hansh at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor, Pwllheli. To close, on behalf of Nicola Buttle of Cardiff and Vale College, Helen Humphreys of Sgiliaith gave a presentation about a Health, Care and Childcare conference. During the presentation we heard from college staff and students about the content of the conference, the guest speakers and the importance of Welsh language skills in the sector.

Next on stage was Nia Brodrick from CollegesWales who talked about the Work Welsh programme in Further Education. This is a project that gives staff working in further education colleges the opportunity to learn Welsh or improve their Welsh skills and confidence in using the language.

The closing comments were given by Branwen Thomas from the Welsh Government who emphasized the value of the conference in building on the solid foundations of Welsh medium and bilingual education in this sector.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the conference, and also the speakers for their valuable contributions.