Pupils have lost confidence reading and communicating in Welsh, education watchdog warns

Pupils at Welsh medium and bilingual schools have lost confidence reading and communicating in Welsh, education watchdog Estyn has found. Four years on from the start of Covid “many pupils’ reading skills have suffered as a result of the pandemic” and most told inspectors they prefer reading in English.

The report comes on the back of the 2021 census which reported a drop in the number of Welsh speakers, casting further doubt on the Welsh Government's aim of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050. Many primaries and "a few" secondary schools promote reading in Welsh for pleasure successfully, but overall, experiences to promote reading outside classrooms have “decreased significantly since the pandemic”.

At the height of classroom closures many parents with children in Welsh medium schools said they were not getting the support needed, especially those from non-Welsh speaking homes. Asked about this at the time the now First Minister Eluned Morgan suggested parents got their children to do online gaming in Welsh and you can read more about what she said about that here.

Read more: Council consults on plan to shut four Welsh-medium schools

Don't miss: What is the future of the Welsh language?

Following on from its report into standards of reading in English among 10 to 14 year-olds Estyn has now turned its gaze on Welsh reading standards among the same age group. It found , as with reading in English, that enjoyment in reading fell in secondary school.

But for Welsh only 6% of the more than 2,000 children Estyn surveyed said they read Welsh books independently and most children and teenagers said they preferred reading books in English. In autumn 2023, Estyn visited 20 Welsh-medium and bilingual primary, secondary and all-age schools and “a few” immersion units to look at the state of reading in Welsh and it also ran a survey of learners at the National Eisteddfod.

Inspectors evaluated pupils’ Welsh reading skills across the curriculum in the last year of primary and the first three years of secondary to see what schools do to develop Welsh reading skills. They found “wide variations”.

Estyn’s report, Developing pupils’ Welsh reading skills from 10-14 years of age, warns: “the negative impact of the pandemic remains clear on the standard of pupils’ Welsh reading skills in general, with some pupils having lost the confidence to communicate and read in Welsh.

“Our findings from visits and our recent inspection reports show that a minority of primary schools and a majority of secondary and all-age schools do not have a clear enough picture of what needs to be done to strengthen pupils’ reading skills,” the document adds. It warns that only “a few secondary schools were seen to be working diligently to develop a positive reading culture.”

During their visits inspectors found a number of secondary schools had converted their libraries into classrooms owing to lack of space or money. Some shut their libraries because they couldn’t afford to buy and update books and other materials, or employ staff to run them.

Around half of the secondary schools Estyn visited have kept and updated their libraries to include a variety of paper and digital reading material. Where school library provision is most effective, it is “a welcoming place, contains a good and varied depository, is supervised and used by a variety of classes and subjects on a daily basis”, inspectors said.

The report also highlights what else is working. While interest in reading falls off in secondary school, inspectors said the most beneficial opportunities to develop reading skills were in Welsh lessons or language sessions and in the humanities subjects.

The inspectorate recommends that schools strengthen opportunities for pupils to develop a variety of reading skills in subjects across the curriculum in addition to Welsh. Chief Inspector Owen Evans said the findings were to be expected.

“It is unsurprising that we are still seeing the negative impact of the pandemic on the standard of pupils’ Welsh reading skills but our new report highlights good practice from schools and offers a number of suggestions and practical toolkits to support teachers in developing pupils’ Welsh reading skills.

“There are clear opportunities to improve how clusters of schools can work together to effectively develop pupils’ reading skills and create more purposeful opportunities to develop Welsh reading skills across the curriculum. Improving the standard of pupils’ reading skills is a national priority and we hope this report will support schools to plan strategically and structure opportunities to increase pupils’ interest, resilience and confidence when reading in Welsh.” For more news, sign up to our newsletter here.

Estyn found that a advanced reading skills of a majority of pupils in Years 7-9 in Welsh medium and bilingual schools don’t develop as well as in primaries. This was owing to "the lack of purposeful opportunities to develop their reading skills across the curriculum”.

Whilst leaders in nearly all schools visited recognised the importance of prioritising reading skills “often this didn’t translate into effective provision across the curriculum, particularly in the secondary sector”. School leaders were found to be “too reliant” on data rather than what exact things that needed to improve to get children reading.

By the final year of primary “many pupils read with appropriate fluency” and in secondary schools “many pupils had sound basic reading skills”, inspectors found. They said "a few pupils" used more advanced techniques confidently and a minority of pupils were unable to analyse or evaluate texts confidently in lessons outside Welsh and English.

“Overall, opportunities to develop advanced reading skills across the curriculum and, in particular, outside Welsh lessons, are weak,” the report warns. In these cases, planning is not careful enough to ensure that pupils make progress in their reading skills and there is often a lack of challenge in tasks.

Some teachers plan "many simple tasks" such as repeated and closed reading comprehension, fill the blanks or annotation and quizzes or wordsearches. "These are tasks that keep pupils busy and quiet, rather than tasks that improve their understanding and skills," Estyn said.

Inspectors found the the best schools also offer additional support and provide resources to overcome any linguistic barriers and ensure that pupils from non-Welsh-speaking homes are able to receive the same support as pupils from Welsh-speaking homes.

Among Estyn's recommendations are that schools they should "strengthen opportunities" for pupils to develop a variety of reading skills in subjects across the curriculum in addition to Welsh. Local authorities should consider how to improve transition arrangements between primary and secondary schools to remove any reading barriers.

The inspectorate also recommends that the Welsh Government should consider how to "create opportunities for Welsh authors to engage with schools and talk to pupils about the type of books they would like to read in Welsh".

Responding to the report a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We welcome the report, and the recommendations mirror our own expectations for all learners to develop high standards of reading and wider literacy during their time at school, regardless of background. This includes Welsh reading. The findings help shed further light on the challenges we know we are facing across Wales.

“Literacy is a top priority and is at the heart of the Curriculum for Wales. To support this, the Cabinet Secretary has set out plans to develop nationally available intensive support for literacy, establish clear national principles and review and strengthen the Literacy Framework.

“We are also supporting several projects that are focused on boosting pupils’ confidence in using their Welsh, such as the Ein Llais Ni oracy project run by GwE which has shown promising results.”