Celebrating Apprenticeship Success
Ysgol Bro Gwaun champions a thriving bilingual culture for all. As an 11–16 bilingual secondary school serving over 600 pupils from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, Ysgol Bro Gwaun is making huge strides toward embedding Welsh as a living, everyday language for its entire school community.
By embedding Welsh in every part of school life – with leadership from staff, learners and apprentices alike – Ysgol Bro Gwaun is nurturing the next generation of confident bilingual speakers, proudly contributing to the Welsh Government’s goal of one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
At the heart of the school’s approach is Perthyn – a carefully designed strategy to strengthen the use of Welsh across all aspects of school life.
Tomos Griffiths and William Davies, both working in the school’s IT department while completing apprenticeships with PRP Training, play a vital role in making the bilingual vision a reality. Their behind-the-scenes work is a cornerstone of the Perthyn strategy’s success and their contributions highlight how apprentices can lead real change within a school community.
Tomos supports the Perthyn strategy through his role in the IT department, explains: “We have a strategy called Perthyn to develop the embedding and use of the Welsh language. William and I help make this happen by posting on social media, updating digital noticeboards, preparing parent communications and making resources – always putting Welsh first, English afterwards.”
To reinforce consistency, all staff at Ysgol Bro Gwaun have a desktop background displaying Welsh language key phrases and expectations to embed Welsh in daily practice. These daily habits support learners and staff alike in building confidence and fluency in Welsh.
Ysgol Bro Gwaun’s Canolfan Iaith (Language Centre) provides targeted support for learners at different stages of Welsh language development. The school’s library offers bilingual books and resources, while strong ties with Ffrindiau Bro Gwaun and local cultural organisations help maintain deep community roots – especially in areas like the Gwaun Valley, where Welsh continues to thrive.
The progress made by Tomos and William has been strongly supported by their PRP Training assessor, Laura Barrett, who has played a vital role in developing their Welsh language use in the workplace. Laura has worked closely with both learners to set bespoke Welsh language targets throughout their apprenticeships. Laura has provided regular feedback and encouragement, helping both learners build the confidence to use Welsh in increasingly professional and public-facing contexts.
When Tomos shared a Welsh-language internal email as part of his ongoing work, Laura recognised it as an example of good bilingual practice and requested permission to use it as a showcase of professional Welsh communication within PRP’s quality assurance framework.
Her approach has ensured that language learning was embedded, meaningful and directly relevant to each apprentice’s role – not just an academic requirement, but a practical tool for real-world communication and cultural leadership in the school setting.
PRP Training is a work-based learning provider committed to equipping learners with both technical and professional skills that are directly relevant to the modern Welsh workplace. As part of their apprenticeship programmes, we at PRP set purposeful Welsh language targets that align with the Welsh Government’s vision of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
