During the past year, the Council has adopted the Charter to promote the social use of the Welsh language in the county’s schools. This is the first charter of its kind in Wales.

As part of the presentation on the Council’s stall, pupils from Ysgol Gynradd Cwm-y-Glo and Ysgol Gynradd Llangybi will undergo the experiences of Victorian schoolchildren and learn the history of the Welsh Not.

John Dilwyn Williams, Gwynedd Archives and Museums Education Officer, will play the role of a schoolteacher from the Victorian era. Viewers of the BBC series, ‘Snowdonia 1890’, saw John Dilwyn Williams play this role fairly recently.

There will be an opportunity for the Minister to ask questions to the pupils and discuss the Welsh language and Welshness with them.

Councillor Siân Gwenllian, who leads on education matters on Gwynedd Council said:

“It is fitting that we recognise and celebrate the success of Gwynedd’s Welsh Language Charter here on the Eisteddfod yr Urdd field – a festival that is essentially a celebration of Welsh language and culture.

“The purpose of this charter is to encourage and to award the schools that succeed in creating a positive attitude towards the language and increase its use among children. The charter is a means for Gwynedd primary schools to ensure that the Welsh language, and its social use among Gwynedd’s children and young people, flourishes.

“Gwynedd’s Education Department has a robust language policy, with the aim of ensuring a positive impact on children’s attitudes and actions towards the Welsh language. It’s important that our young people have the language skills to take full advantage of the educational, social and economic live that Gwynedd can offer.

“Our aim as a Council is to see every child happy and confident to chat together in Welsh at school and outside school. It is a way of laying the foundations for a lifetime of bilingualism where our young people can play a full part in the community in which they live.”