Mudiad Meithrin – an organisation passionate about giving pre-school children the opportunity to learn, play and grow in Welsh – have commissioned the language planning centre IAITH to conduct a review of the work of the Sefydlu a Symud (SAS)- Set Up and Succeed Scheme during the period of April 2018 to March 2021, specifically in order to shape the programme during the next term of the Senedd (2021 – 2026). We believe that it is important to take time to assess the scheme’s achievements since April 2018, including which challenges have arisen and which lessons to be learnt for the future.
Sefydlu a Symud – Set Up and Succeed (SAS) is a specific project managed by Mudiad Meithrin in response to #Cymraeg 2050 – a million Welsh speakers, the new Welsh Language Strategy announced by Welsh Government in July 2017.
The aim of the project which commenced in April 2018 is to establish 40 new Cylchoedd Meithrin(Welsh-medium playgroups) with a Cylch Ti a Fi attached (parent/carer and toddler group) by end of 2021.
Despite Covid-19 affecting the scheme, 43 new Cylchoedd Meithrin will have opened their doors across Wales by November 2021, and there are plans to open a further 12 during the 4th year of the scheme.
We welcome the report’s findings that “there is wide-spread and robust support for the SAS Scheme, and for the work it has carried out since its establishment. Throughout the journey there have been general appreciative expressions of the scheme’s quality and its achievements, and also the commitment of its staff.”
The report is constructive, but it has also identified a number of the challenges facing the new Cylchoedd Meithrin, e.g. attracting sufficient numbers of children to be sustainable, recruiting qualified staff with the necessary Welsh-language skills, and the responsibility and workload placed upon management committees. It is important to emphasise that these are the challenges faced by every Cylch Meithrin in Wales, and that supporting Cylchoedd Meithrin in overcoming these challenges in order to offer quality Welsh-medium care and education is the Mudiad’s core work.
Mudiad Meithrin accepts all the report’s recommendations, and we will be putting these changes at work during the fourth year of the scheme (2021/22). We will also discuss the recommendations with the Welsh Government and our other partners in order to ensure the future success of the SAS scheme.
Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies, Mudiad Meithrin’s Chief Executive said:
“I am very proud of all the hard work the Mudiad’s staff have put into the successful implementation of the Sefydlu a Symud scheme since April 2021. We would not have been successful in achieving our target of opening 40 new Cylchoedd Meithrin this year without the support of our partners, local communities and mainly the volunteers who form the management committees for the new Cylchoedd Meithrin. Thank you everyone, and we look forward to continuing to develop the scheme over the next 5 years.”