English: Catrin: So, we, and the teacher, have had to use resources and articles in English, and it's been very difficult to translate them, especially the geography terminology. It's taken a lot of time. It would be really useful to have had the resources in Welsh. Meurig Jones: A consequence of the fact that there aren't any textbooks is that we have to take care when we inform the students and parents of this fact, because people will immediately ask - and they have in our school, as in our neighbouring Welsh-medium schools - ' Would my child be better off learning through the medium of English, because they'll have the resources, and you yourselves acknowledge that resources aren't available in Welsh?' For me, that is a big problem. Joanna: The English language resources that are available are a little complex for us because we need to use them when we've been studying in Welsh, so the terminology is completely different. Megan: So, we focus more on translating the work rather than on learning and understanding it. Ffion: We have to remember things in two languages instead of one, which makes things really complicated for us. Joanna: There are so many more resources available through the medium of English, so it's a bit unfair on us and perhaps they might get better marks than us. Casey: I'm studying maths and I can see that most of the past questions given as revision material are in English, so we have to spend more time translating them into Welsh. So, it's unfair and it places us under more of a disadvantage than people who aren't studying maths in Welsh. Cerys: I'm studying French and it's really difficult, particularly in this subject, as part of it involves translating anyway. It's really difficult to translate from French to English and then from English to Welsh again. It doubles my workload, so I feel that it puts me at a disadvantage and it puts me under more pressure too. Alwen: The resources that we've used now are all solely in English, and so the terminology is all in English, in the articles and the textbooks that we've used for our coursework. We've had to translate them, and it's taken so much of our time, and the teacher's time, to be fair. It's taken so much time to translate it. In a way, it's more difficult to understand, because studying case studies in English and then having to translate them into Welsh is completely different to studying them in Welsh in the first place, as we would have understood that immediately. Meurig Jones: What it's doing is increasing the pressure on staff in the Welsh-medium stream, because they produce things themselves, to translate things themselves, so that they don't feel that Welsh-medium students are at a disadvantage. Dyfrig Huw Jones: It's a sorry state of affairs, if truth be told, in that textbooks are produced, they can be found in English, but it's a challenge for us in the Welsh-medium sector, because the quality of the materials depends entirely on the goodwill of the staff, in all honesty. They take responsibility for translating this work at the expense of the other important responsibilities we have in school, and of ensuring quality teaching and learning, as a lot of time goes on creating Welsh language materials. Rachel Edmunds: And there's the time we spend on translating as well. That time could be spent on so many better things if we had the resources in Welsh. Dyfrig Huw Jones: I have to admit, as Rachel said with regard to the new specifications, there has been some development there, and I think that the WJEC deserves a great deal more praise for that. Materials have been created jointly with Hodder and these materials are in Welsh and are excellent because they're there straight away, they're ready. It's true to say that the English language materials have been readily available for longer, but, having said that, with the new GCSEs, the resources are now available to pupils and we are able to get hold of them and use them. They're fit for purpose, so to speak, and that's something that deserves praise. Rachel Edmunds: I agree entirely with Dyfrig. The textbooks we have, when they come out in Welsh, are of a high standard, and there are several digital resources also available on the WJEC website that have been created in English and Welsh. Not every single theme is supported by a resource, but a great many digital resources are available, and that has been great. Meurig Jones: It should be an age in which we perhaps look for more digital solutions, where templates are available for us to use and adapt, perhaps in conjunction with these new qualifications. I'm grateful to the WJEC's language unit, because, following the discussion that we had, they released one of the RE books they had in draft form, so that staff wouldn't have to wait until the official publication of a posh, glossy, hardback edition. So, I think that more co-operation along those lines is needed. Rachel Edmunds: In this area, we've created a network of RE teachers who come together to share and create resources jointly, but, clearly, creating the packages takes a lot of work and time during school holidays. We miss days of school on these meetings and we miss lessons in key stages 4 and 5 where there's so much to do with the new specifications. We don't have the time; we need every lesson we have.
Welsh: Catrin: Mae'r athrawes a ni wedi gorfod defnyddio adnoddau Saesneg ac erthyglau Saesneg. Mae e wedi bod yn anodd iawn i'w cyfieithu nhw, yn enwedig efo'r termau daearyddol sydd ar gael, ac mae e jest yn cymryd llawer o amser. Felly, buasai fe wedi bod yn ddefnyddiol iawn pe buasai yna adnoddau Cymraeg. Meurig Jones: Yn sgil y ffaith bod dim gwerslyfrau, mae'n rhaid inni fod yn ofalus fan hyn gyda fel rydym ni'n hysbysu dysgwyr a rhieni o hwn, achos, yn glou iawn, bydd pobl yn - a c maent wedi yn ein hysgol ni, a hefyd mewn ysgolion Cymraeg cyfagos - c odi'r cwestiwn, 'Wel, a ydy fy mhlentyn i'n well 'off' yn astudio trwy'r Saesneg oherwydd bod adnoddau gyda nhw, a'ch bod chi eich hunain yn cydnabod nad oes yr adnoddau cyfrwng Cymraeg?' Wel, mae hynny i fi yn broblem fawr. Joanna: Mae'r adnoddau Saesneg sydd ar gael dipyn bach yn gymhleth i ni oherwydd mae angen edrych arnyn nhw tra ein bod ni wedi bod yn astudio drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg, felly mae'r derminoleg yn gwbl wahanol. Megan: So, rydym ni'n ffocysu mwy ar gyfieithu'r gwaith yn lle deall a dysgu'r gwaith. Ffion: Mae'n rhaid inni gofio pethau mewn dwy iaith yn lle un, sy'n ei wneud e'n 'really, really' cymhleth i ni. Joanna: Mae cymaint mwy o adnoddau ar gael drwy gyfrwng y Saesneg, felly mae e dipyn bach yn annheg arnom ni ac efallai bod eu marciau nhw yn mynd i droi allan yn well na'n rhai ni. Casey: Rwyf i'n astudio 'maths' ac rwyf i'n gweld bod y rhan fwyaf o'r hen gwestiynau sy'n cael eu rhoi i ni fel deunydd adolygu yn Saesneg, felly mae'n rhaid i ni dreulio mwy o amser yn eu cyfieithu nhw i'r Gymraeg. Felly, mae'n annheg ac mae'n ein rhoi ni o dan fwy o anfantais na phobl sydd ddim yn astudio 'maths' yn y Gymraeg. Cerys: Rydw i'n astudio Ffrangeg ac yn enwedig yn y pwnc yma mae'n 'really' anodd gan fy mod i'n cyfieithu 'anyway' fel rhan o'r pwnc so mae'n 'really' anodd i gyfieithu o Ffrangeg i Saesneg ac wedyn o Saesneg i Gymraeg eto. Felly, mae'n dyblu'r gwaith i fi so rydw i'n teimlo ei fod e'n fy rhoi i o dan anfantais a'i fod e'n rhoi mwy o bwysau eto. Alwen: Mae'r adnoddau rydym ni wedi'u defnyddio nawr i gyd yn uniaith Saesneg ac felly mae'r derminoleg i gyd yn Saesneg ynddyn nhw - yr erthyglau, yr holl werslyfrau rydym ni'n eu defnyddio nhw ar gyfer ein gwaith cwrs ni hefyd. Felly rydym ni wedi gorfod cyfieithu rheini ac mae wedi cymryd cymaint o amser - cymaint o'n hamser ni ac amser yr athrawes, chwarae teg. Mae wedi cymryd gymaint o amser i'w gyfieithu fe. Mewn ffordd mae'n anoddach i'w ddeall, achos mae astudio astudiaethau achos yn Saesneg ac wedyn gorfod cyfieithu fe i'r Gymraeg yn hollol wahanol i beth fyddai ei astudio fe yn y Gymraeg yn y lle cyntaf. Byddem ni'n deall yn syth wedyn. Meurig Jones: Beth mae'n ei wneud yw rhoi mwy o bwysau ar staff yn y sector Cymraeg, oherwydd maen nhw'n mynd ati i gynhyrchu pethau, i gyfieithu pethau eu hunain, fel nad ydyn nhw'n teimlo wedyn bod dysgwyr cyfrwng Cymraeg dan anfantais. Dyfrig Huw Jones: Mae yn sefyllfa druenus i bob pwrpas, oherwydd mae gwerslyfrau yn cael eu cynhyrchu, mae modd dod o hyd iddyn nhw drwy gyfrwng y Saesneg, ond mae'n her i ni yn y sector Cymraeg, oherwydd mae safon y deunyddiau yn llwyr ddibynol ar ewyllys da'r staff, mewn gwirionedd. Nhw sydd â'r cyfrifoldeb i gyfieithu'r gwaith yma ac mae hynny'n eu tynnu nhw oddi ar gyfrifoldebau pwysig eraill, efallai, sydd gyda ni o fewn yr ysgol, a sicrhau dysgu ac addysgu da, lle mae lot o amser yn cael ei dreulio ar greu deunyddiau Cymraeg. Rachel Edmunds: Ac mae'r amser rŷm ni'n treulio yn cyfieithu hefyd - buasai'r amser yna yn gallu cael ei ddefnyddio ar gyfer cymaint o bethau gwell, petasai'r adnoddau Cymraeg ar gael. Dyfrig Huw Jones: Mae'n rhaid cyfaddef, fel mae Rachel wedi nodi o ran y manylebau newydd, mae yna ddatblygiad wedi bod yn fanna. Rydw i'n credu bod CBAC yn haeddu llawer iawn o ganmoliaeth am hynny. Mae deunyddiau wedi cael eu creu ar y cyd â Hodder ac mae'r deunyddiau yna yn y Gymraeg, sydd yn wych, achos maen nhw'n syth ac maen nhw'n barod. Mae'n wir i ddweud bod y deunyddiau Saesneg wedi bod yn barod ac ar gael am ragor o amser, ond, wedi dweud hynny, ar gyfer y TGAU newydd, mae'r adnoddau nawr ar gael i'r disgyblion ac rydym ni'n gallu eu rhoi nhw iddyn nhw ac yn gallu eu defnyddio nhw. Maen nhw'n ffit i bwrpas fel petai, ac mae hynny yn rhywbeth a ddylai gael ei ganmol. Rachel Edmunds: Rydw i'n cytuno'n llwyr gyda Dyfrig. Mae'r gwerslyfrau sydd gyda ni, pan maen nhw'n dod allan yn y Gymraeg, maen nhw o safon uchel ac mae nifer o adnoddau digidol hefyd ar wefan CBAC sydd wedi eu creu, ac maen nhw yn y Gymraeg a'r Saesneg. Nid oes dim adnodd ar gyfer pob un thema ond mae lot fawr o adnoddau digidol ar gael hefyd, sydd wedi bod yn hyfryd. Meurig Jones: Dylai fod yna oes lle efallai ein bod ni'n edrych ar bethau yn fwy digidol, a bod y templedi yna ar gael i ni eu defnyddio a'u haddasu, efallai, i gyd-fynd â'r cymwysterau newydd yma. Ac rydw i yn ddiolchgar i uned iaith CBAC achos, ar ôl y drafodaeth a gawsom ni, mi wnaethon nhw ryddhau un o'r cyfrolau addysg grefyddol, er enghraifft, a oedd gyda nhw mewn fformat drafft, i staff eu cael nhw yn hytrach nag aros nes oedd y copi caled, 'posh, glossy' wedi cael ei gyhoeddi yn swyddogol. Felly rydw i'n meddwl bod angen mwy o gydweithio gyda hynny. Rachel Edmunds: Gyda'r ardal yma, rydym ni wedi creu rhwydwaith o athrawon AG sydd yn dod at ei gilydd i rannu a chreu'r adnoddau ar y cyd, wedyn. Ond, yn amlwg, mae hynny'n golygu lot o waith, lot o amser yn ystod y gwyliau i greu'r pecynnau yma, ac rydym ni'n colli diwrnodau o ysgol i fynd i gwrdd, ac rydym ni'n colli'r gwersi cyfnod allweddol 4 a 5 lle mae cymaint i'w wneud gyda'r manylebau newydd. Does dim amser gyda ni; ni angen pob gwers sydd gyda ni.