Manager Amy Proud to Encourage Cymraeg Apprenticeship Learning in the Health and Social Care Sector
Apprenticeship Manager in Health and Social Care, Amy Thomas has received a prestigious award recently from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol for her special contribution to the Welsh Language.
Amy moved to Ynys Môn when she was just 11 years old not speaking a word of Welsh, she struggled to understand her lessons. Thanks to the support of Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern and an intensive 6-week language course she was able to learn and left school with an A* in her GCSE Cymraeg.
She joined the Busnes@LlandrilloMenai management team in 2021 and since then has spearheaded initiatives that support staff within the department to deliver the Health and Social Care Apprenticeships through the medium of Welsh. Her work to enable apprentices to complete all or parts of their apprenticeships in Cymraeg has seen her increase the numbers from 56 apprentices in 2023 to 109 in
Amy explains:
“Making sure that my team of assessors and apprentices are empowered to teach and learn in Welsh is a personal priority and central to my role. I started my career as a care worker and I’ve seen first-hand how important it is for people receiving care to be able to converse in their mother tongue, it’s especially important in services such as dementia care.
“We now have a bilingual ambassador working within the department who supports colleagues, each Wednesday is ‘Dydd Mercher Cymraeg’ where resources are shared and the main focus for all is Welsh culture and language.
“To date we’ve taken part in two phases of Bangor University’s ARFer Programme and are due to commence a new phase in the next few weeks. ARFer is intended to change language practices to enable colleagues who can speak Welsh (but have established a habit of using English) to use more Welsh at work.”
Amy and her team’s commitment has certainly paid off as she was awarded the Special Contribution award. This award is given to a member of the management team who influences the development of Welsh language provision within their organisation.
Rhianwen Edwards, Busnes@LlandrilloMenai’s Director of Commercial and Work-based Learning commented:
“It’s been fantastic to see Amy and her team’s commitment to the promotion and development of bilingualism in Apprenticeships being recognised and celebrated. We're immensely proud of our talented workforce.”
The Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Awards recognises students, apprentices and lecturers from further and higher education as well as the apprenticeship sector, awarding them for their contribution to Welsh medium and bilingual education.
To find out more about apprenticeships visit www.gllm.ac.uk/apprenticeships