tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post5084450871196391689..comments2024-03-27T18:54:46.951+00:00Comments on Syniadau :: The Blog: Welsh Language GCSE ResultsSyniadauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876017048168055247noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post-27333811488098408432011-03-07T23:32:26.403+00:002011-03-07T23:32:26.403+00:00If you really were an invigilator—or if you'd ...If you really were an invigilator—or if you'd even read what I posted—you would know that no child is forced to sit a Welsh exam, and that any child who does sit an exam is able to leave the exam room if they think it's pointless being there. <br /><br />Better luck with your next assumed identity.MHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09329059309196746446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post-35575056030779797362011-03-07T20:29:04.529+00:002011-03-07T20:29:04.529+00:00As a exam invigilator at a newport high school. I ...As a exam invigilator at a newport high school. I have to question the merits of forcing children to learn welsh, when there is no interest or perceived merit in the language by those pupils. I don't know how much it costs to enter these pupils for the exams. However,it can only be a waste, given they sit there having completed their names, gazing into space waiting to be released from examination.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post-55442434333877269242010-08-26T20:24:07.630+01:002010-08-26T20:24:07.630+01:00I found the Golwg page in a Tweet by @hywelm.I found the Golwg page in a Tweet by @hywelm.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post-79428477348554080152010-08-26T03:34:46.533+01:002010-08-26T03:34:46.533+01:00Thanks for the page from Golwg, Anon. It's a m...Thanks for the page from Golwg, Anon. It's a mystery to me how one would ever be able to find it, though. There seems to be no obvious link to it from anywhere on the site. Perhaps there are more gems hidden away somewhere. <br /><br />But it's good to see the info, and it seems they have used a higher year 11 figure, since they have the 15% WFL but 62% WSL. No source. That's the trouble with statistics: if you see one set of figures from an authoritative source, you accept it. The problem only arises when you then see other figures that appear to contradict it, sometimes from the same source. But the difference is small and the trend is clear. <br /><br />I found the chart for the Key Stage assessments interesting. I had read the figures, but not seen a graph. Putting it in this form does suggest that the KS1 and 3 Welsh first language assessment targets are maybe not as low as I at first thought. The key to getting WFL GCSE entries to increase is to deal with the 3% or 4% that are assessed in WFL in primary schools, but not when they move to secondary schools. <br /><br />I had looked at the A Level figures for Welsh last week and, as the Golwg graph shows, they are all over the place with no real discernible trend. But one thing from the AS figures did catch my eye: although the WFL figures are almost exactly repeated in the following year's A Levels (i.e. students are taking it as the half way point of their A Level course) the WSL figures show there are many who take the WSL AS but do not go on to take the WSL A Level. Both last year and this year that difference was about 350. This year the AS figure is much higher than ever before (785). Do you, or does anyone else, have any thoughts on that? <br /><br />My guess is that students in sixth forms whose first language isn't Welsh want to keep on improving their Welsh by studying it, but don't want it to get in the way of their chosen A Level subjects when it comes to the exams. So for example, if you aim to do maths and science A Levels to get into college, there isn't much point in doing an A Level in Welsh as a means to get accepted onto the course.MHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09329059309196746446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post-13090099808788049442010-08-25T21:27:12.461+01:002010-08-25T21:27:12.461+01:00Fascinating. Small victories count though. I was a...Fascinating. Small victories count though. I was at a Newport Leisure Centre last night and heard this conversation between a mother and son after a vending machine visit.<br /><br />"Newid, luv?"<br /><br />"Dim newid, Mum"<br /><br />They were obviously non-Welsh speakers but somehow our language is creeping back. A patois, maybe? Somehow those little bits of Welsh, those odd words, seem important to me.<br /><br />Welsh in Gwent feels in a strange, subliminal way to be the language of the future not a relic of the past.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-985080357558043054.post-39338150135841773782010-08-25T19:33:53.895+01:002010-08-25T19:33:53.895+01:00See http://www.golwg360.com/publications/viewpubli...See http://www.golwg360.com/publications/viewpublication.aspx?id=384&PageID=754Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com