A CELEBRATION of the Welsh language and culture was held in Welshpool on Friday to usher in a new era of education in the town.

Ysgol Gymraeg y Trallwng (Welshpool Welsh Medium School) opened its doors in September, but to give staff and pupils time to get to know each other, the celebration launch was put on hold until last week.

The audience at Welshpool Town Hall was treated to an afternoon of singing, dancing, recitation and presentations on school trips and projects, all in Welsh.

From the last census in 2011, Welshpool only has nine per-cent of the population speaking Welsh

If the lofty target set by the Welsh Government of One million Welsh speakers by 2050 is to be reached, this would need to increase to at least 33 per-cent.

With a Welsh medium school this could be possible.

At the launch Powys Cabinet member for education, Cllr Myfanwy Alexander, gave a passionate speech on the benefits of learning in Welsh.

She said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to celebrate what is a historic occasion in Welshpool. It’s important to give your children roots and wings.

“We are raising our children in a time of uncertainty and these young people will be part of a global community full of challenges.

“If they have deep strong roots they will survive and succeed and grow to be whatever they want to be.

“And there is no better way to give them these strong deep roots than giving them the opportunity to have Welsh education.

“Wherever they go they will never forget the education that they have had here in Welshpool.

“They will never forget who they are and they learnt that here at the Welsh school in Welshpool.”

Cllr Alexander added: “The thing we want for our children is that they can fulfill their dreams and ambitions, here they will grow strong wings that can take them anywhere in the world.

“One of my girls works in the Foreign Office and is travelling to work in Zambia next week through the grounding she has had by a fantastic Welsh language education. Welsh language education is the best you can have and you as parents have made a brilliant choice.

“Some of you may be anxious about the choice but the school, community, county council and third sector are all here to help you.

“There is a myth that children in Welsh medium education all come from families where Mum and Dad speak Welsh at home.

“It’s less than one in five families where this is true.

“If your children learn Welsh it opens the door for them to learn a third, fourth or fifth language.

“In Britain as a whole we’re rubbish at learning foreign languages, if they learn Welsh and English from an early age, they will find it easier to learn other languages and other ways to communicate, we have facts to back that.”

Cllr Alexander, continued: “A bilingual education forges creative people.

“Half the jobs we do today will be replaced by robots, the sector you cannot replace is creativity. So for these young people who knows what the world will present them as challenges.

“Learning two languages from an early age will make their minds strong and flexible, so when it comes to facing these challenges they will have a huge advantage.

“What you have done by choosing Welsh language education is give them an advantage in life.”