Education.SouthAsia is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and University College London that invites original and analytic pieces that make interdisciplinary contributions to the issue of education in South Asia.
Last week they ran a piece about our work in Sri Lanka, written by our very own Tom Cassidy, that focussed on our “Anyone Can Teach” initiative with the charity The Tea Leaf Trust in the country.
SSi is proud to have a long-standing relationship with Global Welsh – a superb initiative devoted to creating a global Welsh community.
Established in 2015, their aim, based on the belief that being Welsh is more than just geography, is to bring together Welsh people from around the world, and those with an affinity and love for Wales, in one online community. The objective of this community is to foster links, opportunities and connections with other global members.
Since their official launch in 2017, Global Welsh has gone from strength to strength, extending their community to all parts of the globe and strengthening their connections.
This month, SSi features in Global Welsh’s Business Spotlight Section. This great piece written by Bethan Payne focuses on our Non-Executive Director, Nick Prichard. Nick discusses with Bethan his journey to SSi, the company’s rich provenance, bespoke methodology and plans for the future.
SSi stands on the shoulders of the Welsh language. The history, beauty and plight of this language were the catalysts for inventing our unique methodology. Also, it is via the Welsh language that our methodology has, many times over the years, been tested and improved to ensure the best results.
We are immensely proud of the fact that our course is helping to strengthen the Welsh language, and that we have become one of the many building blocks which we hope will secure the future of one of Europe’s oldest living languages.
Being one of the building blocks means that we see ourselves as part of an ever-growing team of experts. From educators to marketing professionals, language specialists to government officials, we’ve become part of an impressive network of teams brought together to strengthen the Welsh government’s campaign to reach a million Welsh speakers by 2050.
Because of all this, we’re genuinely delighted to see SaySomethingin mentioned in the Welsh Government’s latest policy and strategy document Cymraeg 2050: Welsh language strategy action plan 2023 to 2024.
And not just mentioned, but described as an ‘exciting project’ – it’s certainly got all of us pretty excited! And we can’t wait to see the results.
In recent years SSi and the National Centre for Learning Welsh have developed a valuable working relationship. On the basis that the Welsh language belongs to all, we have formed a partnership which has begun adding new layers of language learning provision in Wales through some interesting initiatives.
To learn more about who The National Centre are, follow the link below:
Recognising that learning experiences vary greatly and that our neighbourhoods are constantly evolving, SSi and The National Centre have brought together the best of their expertise and experience to provide resources for individuals, schools, and localities throughout Wales.
We are already seeing improvements in how individuals from all generations and all cultural backgrounds are enjoying success on their Welsh learning journeys, which in turn will enrich our communities and workplaces and help reverse the language shift in Wales.
The National Centre’s latest newsletter outlines some of the inspirational initiatives we’ve been working on together. Follow the link below to read the newsletter, and learn more about the new resources provided and hopes for the future.
SaySomethingin celebrated St David’s Day in Dublin as part of a week-long Welsh Government Trade Mission to Ireland.
Following our desire to apply SSi methodology to indigenous and endangered languages, we enrolled on the Mission to explore possibilities with the Irish language.
The Welsh Minister for Education and Language, Jeremy Miles, was also in Dublin to promote the importance of increasing the use of Irish and Welsh languages. He visited a Dublin primary school that was teaching Welsh to its pupils and spoke with real heart about the importance of language in all aspects of culture.
We visited both Dublin and Galway and were fortunate enough to meet Irish language providers, bi-lingual universities and government officials that are the major influencers for the teaching of Irish at every level.
We really hope that we can work with these wonderful people to achieve in Ireland for Irish what we have done in Wales for Welsh. There is a long way to go and we have a lot to learn but we hope this mission is the start of a long partnership with our new friends in Ireland.
In addition to the meetings, we were treated to cultural events and musical performances that celebrated the Irish and Welsh cultures around St David’s Day.
The Dublin Welsh Male Voice choir sang to us, bringing many to tears. Then the Irish violinist, Aoife Ni Bhriain, and Welsh harp legend, Catrin Finch, combined to share some mind-blowing original renditions that received a standing ovation!
We must thank Export Wales and the Dublin-based Welsh Government Trade team that organised so much and looked after us so well.