‘Baby steps into Welsh’ podcast series by Mudiad Meithrin will be launched on Wednesday 31st March when Good Morning Britain Presenter Sean Fletcher and his wife Luned Tonderai openly discuss and share their own experience in the 1st episode.
‘Baby Steps Into Welsh’ is a new and exciting podcast series by Mudiad Meithrin; the main providers of Welsh-medium early years education in Wales. Presented by Welsh TV Presenter Nia Parry, the podcast provides an opportunity for well-known parents to share their real-life experiences and their concerns around Welsh-medium language education.
Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies, Chief executive of Mudiad Meithrin said;
“Our main aim as an organisation is to enable all children in Wales to become confident Welsh speakers. We have several ways of achieving this aim but we depend on parents choosing Welsh-medium education for their children (starting in Cylch). Hearing about these lived experiences is an important contribution to the conversation about how we create 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050”.
In each of the five episodes, Nia Parry meets parents who openly discuss and share their own journeys. In the first episode, to be released on March the 31st, Good Morning Britain Presenter Sean Fletcher and his wife Luned Tonderai, share their fascinating experience of Welsh-medium education in London;
“I was a non- Welsh speaker at the time, Luned was fluent from birth. As a mixed-race person, I know how important identity is and as our kids are half Welsh, providing our kids with the gift of Welsh was a no brainer. I felt it was important to learn Welsh alongside them, so that I could help them with school work, and to make sure I wasn’t left out! The Cylch Meithrin was crucial first step and the Welsh school in London was amazing. I’m so proud and happy that we’ve done this for our family.” Sean Fletcher.
Comedian Mike Bubbins, and deputy head teacher wife Kelly, were both raised in South Wales and live in Cardiff with their two young children. Neither of them speak Welsh. Kelly was extremely passionate about Welsh-medium education;
“In A Level College I was so jealous of the other students who could speak Welsh. I decided that if I had children, I’d want them to have the Welsh-medium education I never had. It opens doors to so many more opportunities”.
Mike wasn’t so sure;
“As a non-Welsh speaking household, I was really worried that the kids would suffer, because we couldn’t help them. My son has just appeared on the Welsh Mastermind for kids, that proves it hasn’t held them back! I hate to admit that Kelly was right but sending them to Cylch and a Welsh school is the best decision we’ve ever made!”
As well as meeting parents who’ve made the decision; ‘Baby Steps Into Welsh’ also shares the stories of parents who are making this important decision right now. Bethan Sayed and Rahil Sayed became first-time parents in 2020. Bethan is a Plaid Cymru Member at the Senedd and a fluent Welsh speaker. She is passionate about Welsh-medium education for Idris. Husband Rahil, who was raised in Mumbai and attended private English education is unsure;
“Idris will be fluent in Welsh, English and Hindi, but our job as parents is to provide our children with the best tools to progress in real life, not to protect the culture. It’s an ongoing and difficult discussion, a big decision for us right now”.
Joining Nia on the podcast to share her expertise and her thoughts for those parents who are facing this big decision, is Dr Siân Wyn Siencyn from Ceredigion, a pioneer of Early Childhood as an academic discipline.
“I’m not here to say that Welsh-medium schools and Welsh-medium education are better, but I believe that if we don’t provide children in Wales with the opportunity to learn and to speak Welsh, we are depriving them. I’ve never met anyone who regrets learning Welsh, but I’ve met enough who regret that they don’t. I hope my contribution helps to answer the concerns of those who are facing this decision in the future.”