Investment sees 4,000 children fluent in Welsh

Alys was standing proudly on stage holding her winner's medal for a speech in Welsh when she realised she could not understand what she was being asked.

This sparked the 12-year-old to make a change asking her mum if she could move from an English-language primary school to a Welsh one.

Alys is one of 4,000 young people the Welsh government says have become fluent Welsh speakers since the launch of "late language immersion centres".

She says she thinks her family are "really happy that I can now speak Welsh".

In 2020, £8.8m was spent establishing late language immersion centres in every council area in Wales.

It comes as the Welsh government tries to get one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

At the age of 10, Alys, from Newport, decided she wanted to learn Welsh after completing the learner's recitation competition in the Urdd Eisteddfod in 2019.

"When I was given my medal I was interviewed in Welsh and I couldn't understand what was being said so I asked mum to send me to a Welsh school.

"A month later nothing had happened so I asked again and then she knew I was serious," she said.

After her persistence, Alys joined a welsh medium school with her older brother joining later.

Her brother Evan said: "Because of all the cultural activities it felt like joining a secret club. It's a lot of fun and I feel part of the Welsh language community."

In 2021 an estimated 538,000 people in Wales aged three and over (17.8% of the population) said they can speak Welsh, the Office for National Statistics found.

Newport currently has one Welsh medium secondary school and four Welsh medium primary schools.

Three years ago, Ysgol Nant Gwenlli opened as a seedling school. It will have capacity for over 400 children when it moves to a new site in Pillgwenlly in March.

Keen to promote these opportunities, the council have produced a promotional film in which Alys, Evan and others talk about their experience.

Cllr Deb Davies, deputy leader of the council, said they hope that the video will persuade local families from all backgrounds to consider Welsh medium education.

"Many of our children, particularly in this part of the city will already have more than one language because they come from a background of different ethnicity so it's about telling them this is accessible for them as well," she added.

Rhiannon England is responsible for helping children learn the language at Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is-Coed, and said they had seen an increase in people actively choosing to move to Welsh medium education.

Elin Maher, National Director of campaign group RHAG, Parents for Welsh Medium Education, said Welsh medium education "is about getting both languages from early on but not everybody knows that".

A spokesperson for the Welsh government said immersion education was "key to our goal of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050".

"The impact of late immersion centres on reaching this target has been significant, and the demand for the provision is growing."