Singing and play in the swimming pool
Holywell Leisure Centre
Sunday, February 19th, 3.30 – 5.30 pm
For more information phone 01352 744042
Saint David’s Picnic with Dewi the Dragon
Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint invites you to celebrate Saint David’s Day with a picnic and treasure hunt in Treuddyn park and village hall.
On March 4th, between 2 – 4pm there will be a picnic and games for the family – and one child will take Dewi the Welsh Dragon home with them!
The event is free, but you must register if you intend to stay for the picnic. E-mail Rebecca: rebecca@menteriaithsiryfflint.co.uk or phone 01352 744042 to reserve your place.
Advantages of Welsh medium education – FREE booklet
“I don’t speak Welsh myself – can my children go to a Welsh school?”
“Is there pre-school childcare provision available for Welsh speakers?”
“Is it true that going into Welsh medium education will help my child’s mental development?
“Is there a way for me to help my child with their Welsh homework, even though I don’t speak it myself? “
“Are there resources available for families who want to speak Welsh at home?”
“Can someone explain the ‘immersion course’ to me?”
The answer to all of the above is YES – and the answers to all of these questions (and more) are right here within this booklet.
More and more parents are realising that choosing Welsh medium education can make a big difference to their children’s future – but the process of finding childcare and selecting a Welsh medium school can sometimes seem complicated. Not anymore!
This booklet has been uniquely created for the parents of Flintshire, with information about the services available within the county, where to go to get support and resources, and even a map showing where your nearest Mudiad Meithrin group and Welsh medium school are located. The booklet is full of useful contacts, parents’ personal experiences and practical advice, so click HERE to get your free copy.
Annual General Meeting
The Menter Iaith’s AGM was held on Thursday evening the 17th of November. A worthy audience attended to hear about the Menter Iaith’s activities and developments over the last year. A copy of our Annual Report and Accounts can be seen on our website.
The following directors were re-elected to our Board of Directors: Huw Alun Roberts, Harri Bryn Jones, Nia Wyn Jones, Gwenno Jones, Dylan Davies, Nesta Davies, Bronwen Hughes, Carl Renshaw, a Gwennan Henstock. The Menter Iaith would like to thank Lisa Orhan for her work as a director over the last few years as she stands down from the role. This means that there is an empty seat on the Board of Directors, and the Menter Iaith is happy to accept nominations for the position.
To finish the evening, we had an extremely interesting presentation from Dr Enlli Thomas of Bangor University on research work that is being conducted by the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory and Practice, at the University. She discussed research work that looked specifically on cognitive skills within bilingual children in Wales.
MENTER IAITH SIR Y FFLINT ANNUAL REPORT 2010-11 - click here
MENTER IAITH SIR Y FFLINT ACCOUNTS 2010-11 - click here
Community Consultation Session
A Consultation Session was held on the 15th of September in order to give members of the community an opportunity to:
- influence Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint’s Strategy and Action Plan with regard to the promotion and development of the Welsh language in Flintshire.
- give opinions about Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint’s current work within the community, and suggest areas for development and partnership work.
- find out more about the latest developments with the Language and Heritage Technium.
Click HERE to see a copy of a report from the evening by TJB Cymru Company can. The evening came to a close with entertainment from the well-known Welsh language comedian Eilir Jones.
One of Wales’ most famous folk music bands is coming to Trelawnyd Memorial Hall.
On September 19th, Welsh folk stars Gwibdaith Hen Fran will be performing a selection of hits from their albums ‘Cedors Hen Wrach’, ‘Tafod Dy Wraig’ and ‘Llechan Wlyb’. Musicians are welcome to bring their instruments as Gwibdaith will also be hosting a free acoustic music workshop.
In addition, there will be fun for all the family with free face painting, a Welsh quiz, games and delicious homemade soup.
The evening has been arranged by Menter Iaith Sir Y Fflint and Clwb Hwyl Hwyr to celebrate the successful completion of Menter Iaith’s Language and Heritage Project, and also to kick-start a new year of fun activities with Welsh language youth groups, Clwb Hwyl Hwyr and Clwb Pop.
The evening begins at 6pm, and is suitable for all ages.
Splash and song
Holywell leisure centre was filled with music on May 15th, when a Splash and Song session was held in the swimming pool. Thank you to the Mudiad Meithrin and TWF officers for coming to talk with parents and for leading the singing in the swimming pool.
Bethan Gwanas vists Mold
On May 10th author, script writer and popular television personality Bethan Gwanas came to Mold Library to discuss her book 'Yn ôl i Gbara'. Over a glass of south Affrican wine, Bethan shared anecdotes and tall tales about her journey back to Nigeria, as she returned to the village where she worked as an English teacher 25 years ago.
The Daniel Owen Film Festival 2011
Congratulations to Flint High School who won the Daniel Owen Film Award 2011 with their film ‘Gadael Ysgol’, and to Ysgol Maes Garmon who came second in the competition with the film ‘Garej Lôn Glan Môr’. The Awards Evening was held on May 19th at Clwyd Theatr Cymru. This year’s competition was judged by Bethan Gwanas and Neil Williams, two familiar faces from S4C. All the schools involved came together for the premier, an evening of entertainment and also to thank the producers, directors and organisers of the project. Congratulations to all the students who participated in the project – we hope that some of them will see this as the first step towards a career in the Welsh film industry.
The films are available for viewing at www.gwobrdanielowen.co.uk
Get in touch with your Welsh!
Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint’s ‘Get in Touch with your Welsh!’ campaign kicks off in June with a fun-filled programme of events. The campaign aims to promote the advantage of speaking Welsh as a family, and offers a wide range of Welsh-language activities including sports sessions, picnics, buggy workouts and musical shows.
Project organiser Rebecca Davies said, “We were all taught Welsh in school; but once you’re out of education it can be easy to lose touch with the language and lose confidence. ‘Get in touch with your Welsh’ is about having fun as a family and promoting the advantages of bilingualism. Yes, children learn Welsh at school, but hearing it at home too will give them a huge boost. Our message is that your child won’t expect your Welsh to be perfect – but they will benefit from hearing you speak it and practising their nursery rhymes, vocabulary and numbers with mum and dad. We want to see more parents transferring the language, because with the number of Welsh speakers increasing every year and more and more careers requiring bilingual skills, there’s never been a better time to get reacquainted with your Welsh and help your children learn it too!”
‘Get in touch with your Welsh’ takes place throughout June and July. It starts on June 1st, when panto star Martyn Geraint brings his whimsical 1-man show to Mostyn Clock Tower (10am) and to Ysgol Terrig Hall, Treuddyn (1.30pm). Admission is free and everybody is welcome!
Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint sees successful project extended
Menter Iaith is pleased to announce that Flintshire County Council and the Welsh Assembly Government have extended its Language and Heritage project until September 2011. The project was originally meant to complete in February 2011, but as an acknowledgement of the Menter’s hard work between 2008 – 2010, it will be allowed to run for an additional six months and has received an additional £70,000 funding from the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
Gwawr Cordiner, Menter Iaith’s Manager said, “It’s very encouraging that the project has been given an extension; it shows that the County Council values the services we are offering the inhabitants of rural Flintshire, and also the extra six months offers us the opportunity to implement the Assembly’s “Iaith Fyw, Iaith Byw”, Welsh-language strategy. We’ll also be able to contribute to the immense excitement surrounding the National Eisteddfod, which is being held in the North East in August.”
Over the coming months Menter Iaith will be busy organising a number of extension projects, including a Welsh transference in families project, a heritage art for schools project, numerous youth-orientated activities, and of course, it will continue to support community events throughout rural Flintshire.
A new aspect of the project is the Bilingual Marketing Grant, which will support small and medium-sized businesses in the provision of bilingual marketing materials. Businesses can find out if they are eligible for the grant by emailing busnes@menteriaithsiryfflint.co.uk.
Celebrating Autumn
A group of Welsh artists were inspired by their workspace to make a wall hanging celebrating autumn and all its colours.
The field studies centre at the DEFRA-run Rhydymwyn Valley Works is one of many historic buildings dating from World War II. Today the area is a nature reserve run by North East Wales Wildlife, and the centre is surrounded by beautiful countryside.
Artist Dee Rivaz said “Rhydymwyn Valley Works is the most fantastic place to conduct art workshops as you are surrounded by such inspiring beauty. Over the course of the workshops we observed trees turning from green to gold, orange and red, and it was this kalidescope of colours which inspired us to make our wall hanging. Some of the multi-media squares depict summer picnics, others autumnal images and winter scenes, and there is a real rainbow of colours as a result. Each square also depicts a word in Welsh and English. As the artists are all learning Welsh, we felt it was important for the wall hanging to be bilingual, and we had plenty of time to practise speaking Welsh as we sewed! We are very grateful to Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint for funding the wall hanging, and to DEFRA for allowing us to use their centre free of charge.”
The wall hanging is now on display in the field studies centre, where it is hoped that it will inspire other artists to get creative!
Walking Tour of Caergwrle Castle
On Saturday, October 16th 2010 Ken Brassil from the National Museum of Wales conducted a unique lecture within the walls of historic Caergwrle Castle. With the help of local historians in Medieval costume, Ken presented the castle’s history to a group who had travelled from every corner of Flintshire. The group learned about things as diverse as famous visitors to the castle, Meideval weaponry and Welsh double toilets!
Rebecca Davies, Language and Heritage Officer said, “We were extremely fortunate to have Ken sharing his expertise with us and helping to bring our heritage alive. It was great to see so many people turn out, and we hope to arrange a similar event in the spring.”
Songs from Stones
A film made by the aNImation group as part of Cadw's education programme. A language and heritage project from Menter Iaith, the Urdd and a group of enthusiastic and very hard-working animators! More information about the Songs from Stones project is available here.
Rain failed to dampen spirits as festival-goers flocked to Y Ffin festival in Holywell last Saturday.
Y Ffin festival was launched in 2009 to offer Welsh language rock and pop bands a platform in north east Wales. Its organisers, Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint and Urdd Gobaith Cymru, feel that this year’s event was successful in promoting the Welsh music scene to a new audience.
Darren Morris, the Urdd’s Development Officer for Flintshire and Wrexham, said, “ It was a funky fusion of Welsh and English rock, pop, acoustic, ska and indie music. We heard every instrument from trombone to tabourine. We jammed to Welsh reggae and danced to bilingual Beyonce. Whether they understood the lyrics or not, people were dancing in the street. People were coming up to us wanting to know more about the bands, asking whether there were going to be any more Welsh gigs in the area soon. It’s great to be able to generate so much interest in Welsh music before the 2011 National Eisteddfod comes to Wrexham. We want everybody to be aware of and to enjoy the fantastic contemporary bands playing in Wales.”
Around 500 visitors attended the festival, bringing income as well as music to Holywell high street.
Gwawr Cordiner, Managing Director for Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, said, “Our intention was to hold a real community event in Holywell; one that people could enjoy regardless of linguistic ability. From the positive responses we had on Saturday, and the wide cross-section of people who came to the festival, we like to think that it was a successful. We are already planning Y Ffin 2011! We would once again like to thank everybody who has supported Y Ffin Festival in Holywell.”
Wild Welsh Women
On June 14th members of Cylch Ti a Fi Terrig and Terrig Meithrin came together to enjoy an evening of pampering. Guests enjoyed relaxing head and shoulder massages, make-overs and manicures. The guest speaker for the evening was Beryl H. Griffiths, talking about her book ‘Wild Welsh Women’. She introduced us to some of Wales’s most famous women, and this led to a discussion about who the group would select to include in an updated edition. We look forward to reading Beryl’s next book!
The Daniel Owen Film Workshops – Awards Evening
Congratulations to Saint Richard Gwyn Catholic High School who won the Daniel Owen Film Award 2010, and to Flint High School who came second in the competition. The Awards Evening was held on Mai 20th at Clwyd Theatr Cymru. The evening was a well-deserved celebration and a fitting end to the film project. All the schools involved came together for the premier, an evening of entertainment and also to thank the producers, directors and organisers of the project.
If you would like to buy a copy of the films on DVD, please contact Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint’s office on 01352 744040.
Animation
Shrek, Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon ... Animation has never been more popular! Now, thanks to Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, the Urdd and Cadw’s Lifelong Learning Programme, a group of youngsters from Flintshire will have the opportunity to become animators and make their very own film....Click here for more.
Children and Young Peoples’ Activities Fun in the Half Term
Again, Menter Iaith joined forces with the Urdd to offer a series of one day workshops aimed at local Welsh-speaking primary school pupils. They were given the choice between Art, Drama and Dance workshops held in Ysgol Glanrafon over February half term. The children had a lot of fun creating a wild animal mural, masks and decorating t-shirts during the Art and Craft day. Cari Sioux from Llanuwchllyn conducted the dance session where the children learnt hip hop, tap and street dancing amongst others. The workshops came to a close with a lively drama workshop based on refugees. The children were beside themselves learning how to mime.
Holi Hana
A special visitor popped in to see the pupils and friends of Ysgol Glanrafon on the afternoon of November 25th. Characters from S4C’s Holi Hana were in Mold for the afternoon. Hana the duck who acts as an agony aunt to the other animals, and the small bear Bert, received a warm welcome from the children in the form of hugs and kisses!
The event was organized in partnership with Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin in order to raise awareness amongst parents of the benefits of bilingualism in the home. Rhian Davies, Menter Iaith’s Business Officer said, “It was a brilliant afternoon, and the children were overjoyed to meet Hana. We had the opportunity to pass worthwhile information on to parents. The amount of children choosing Welsh education is rising across the county and we are keen to celebrate this. More and more parents are seeing the advantages that come from bilingualism. There is ready made support to be had from Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin and Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint for families who are interested in introducing Welsh in the home.”
Marian Antrobus, the Development Officer for Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin in Flintshire added, “The Holi Hana characters and others alike are available to watch on S4C every morning from 7.30am until 1.30pm, this is a great way to introduce Welsh into the home. Children at this age are like sponges and pick up languages so easily. It was also great to see so many parents from the Cylch Meithrin and the Ti a Fi groups attending the activity along with their children.”
Creu D
During February, the Menter Iaith provided Welsh Learners with a unique opportunity: a series of writing workshops with renowned Welsh authors, Iwan Llwyd and Siân Northey. Rebecca Davies, Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint Language and Heritage Office said: “These workshops have been organized especially for Welsh learners, so that they can gain experience from working with professional writers and receive feedback on their writing and hone their skills. Even though it was only a small group, they were given the opportunity to express themselves creatively through several mediums– who knows perhaps we’ve inspired the next winner of the Welsh Learners’ Eisteddfod!”
Here is a copy of the poem created by the group with Iwan Llwyd:
Adfywiad
Daw’r eirlys drwy yr hirlwm
i’r cae ym mhen draw y cwm
yn groes i farrug rheswm.
Fe ddaw fel atgof tawel
o hyd, daw eto i hel
o’r awyr ddagrau’r awel.
Drwy’r hir daw’r blodyn gwirion
i herio’r erwau oerion
a llwm â’i styfnigrwydd llon.
Coming together to create a mural
A group of enthusiastic Welsh leaners came together to work with community artist Mari Gwent came to Flintshire to create a mural based on Buckley’s famous pottery.
The workshops, held January 30th, February 6th and 13th and organised by Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint, were an opportunity for the county’s residents to learn more about one of the area’s oldest industries, create a work of art and practise their Welsh in a relaxed atmosphere.
Mari said she had “Enjoyed the project very much; combining the artists’ creativity and concersation was a very interesting process.”
Rebecca Davies, Language and Heritage Officer for Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint added, “This has been an extremely exciting project. The Welsh learners had the opportunity to practice their Welsh in a relaxed, social atmosphere, learning new vocabulary and a bif of herritage and history of local industry along the way. The art work created entirely from paper, glue and paint is worth seeing. The work is so effective that it tricks the eye into thinking it’s real pottery!”
The mural will go on public display in the near future.
Pictured (left to right): the artist, Mari Gwent, Dee Rivaz, Peter Davies and Robbie Burton.
The events were organised by Menter Iaith Sir y Fflint , as part of their Language and Heritage project with the aid of the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Union.
For more information, phone Rebecca on 01352 744042.
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