Addysg – Chwefror 2011
Diolch am y gwahoddiad i fod yma heno.
Mae’n bleser mawr i fod yn ôl ar y llwyfan yn yr ysgol.
Mewn dwy funded dim on dau beth sydd gyda fi i ddweud.
I ddechrau, ydw i’n gwybod, pan ni’n trafod addysg Cymraeg, yn yr ardal hon, ac yng Nghaerdydd yn gyffredinol, ni’n canolbwyntio – yn naturiol – ar y problemau sy’n wyneb y sector.
Ond just i ddweud, i fi , yr hanes o’r addysg trwy gyfrwng y Cymraeg yma yng Nghaerdydd dros y blynyddoedd yw un o lwyddiant.
Yr agweddau tu ag at yr iaeth, y tyfiant yn y nifer o ddisgyblion, yn y nifer o ysgolion, maen nhw’n i gyd yn dystiolaeth o’r sector sy’n ennill tir yma yn y brifddinas.
Wrth gwrs mae rhaid i ddelio gyda’r problemau sy’n dod ar ben y llwyddiant.
Dw’i ddim yn eisiau treulio amser heno yn mynd dros y gorffennol.
Yn edrych ymlaen ydw i’n awyddus i gefnogi’r cynllun diweddaraf mae’r Cyngor nawr yn cynnig.
Yr her, i’r cyngor, yw datblygu achos sy’n mor gryfach â phosibl ac i weithio mewn fordd adeiladol gyda’r Llywodraeth y Cynulliad i greu dyfodol cryf, llwyddiannus, ac un sy’n parhau dros y cyfnod nesaf i’r plant o’r Treganna a Glan-yr-afon.
Someone turn out the lights please – WWF event March 2011
WWF’s Earth Hour – 26 March 2011, 8.30pm
Switched on and switch off for WWF’s Earth Hour
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By switching off their lights off for one hour on Saturday 26 March at 8.30pm they will join millions of others across the globe in a graphic demonstration to decision makers that they support urgent action on climate change.
This year WWF also has the support of Amanda Holden, Tom Jones, Noel Sullivan and Danielle Lineker who are among the many high profile personalities who will be taking part and who are helping to make Earth Hour even bigger and better. Schools, communities, organisations and individuals can all take part in 2011 to show they support people and wildlife threatened by climate change.
Last year in the UK over 13 million people took part and more than 130 landmarks including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and globally the Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building in New York. An incredible 4,000 cities across 128 countries joined the global switch off, a compelling reminder that we only have one planet and we must all take urgent action to protect it for our future. Last year in Wales nearly 70 per cent of all local authorities signed up together with over a 100 schools, and Welsh iconic landmarks such as Wales’ Millennium Stadium, Caernarfon Castle and the National Library for Wales in Aberystwyth switched off.
By signing up to Earth Hour people showing the government they want action to ‘clean up’ the county’s energy supply and reduce the impact it has on our planet. People can join in by registering online at www.wwf.org.uk/earthhourwales2011 Already people around the country are organising Earth Hour events, from candlelit dinner parties and ‘wear it bright’ days at work to dancing flash mobs to lantern making workshops – it’s not about just sitting in the dark for an hour, it’s about having fun and making 26 March a night to remember!
“WWF’s Earth Hour is an inspiring opportunity for people to do something positive to help tackle climate change,” said Anne Meikle, Head of WWF Cymru. “Last year’s Earth Hour was the biggest ever climate change event. By making it even bigger this year, we can all send a strong message to world leaders that people around the globe are united in calling for decisive action on climate change.”
WWF’s Earth Hour: Saturday 26 March 2010, 8.30pm. www.wwf.org.uk/earthhourwales2011
National Austitic Society Cymru Event
I signed the National Autistic Society Cymru’s (NAS Cymru) candidate’s pledge ahead of the National Assembly for Wales election in May.I was lucky enough to sign the pledge at Welsh Labour’s Annual Conference in Llandudno, where I also met with NAS Cymru’s Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Rebecca Evans, to discuss how services for people affected by autism in Wales can be improved.
Autism has never been higher on the political agenda in Wales. In 2008, the Welsh Assembly Government launched its ground-breaking Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Strategic Action Plan, which outlined how the Welsh Assembly Government and local agencies would seek to meet the needs of people with autism and their families. The Government has more recently announced that £2m will be made available to drive the plan forward in 2011-2012.
However, many people affected by autism still go without the basic help they need, whether this is help in school, from social services, or getting the benefits they are entitled to. A research report launched by NAS Cymru in January reveals that many people affected by autism in Wales, including 54% of adults with the condition, say that their needs are still not being met*.
Autism is much more common than most people think. It affects 1 in 100 people – that’s over 25,000 people in Wales. Wales has set the bar in terms of developing autism support, and many people are finally getting the right support. Yet, many others still go without the help they need, leaving them isolated and unable to participate in society. If elected to the National Assembly for Wales on May 5th, I have pledged to stand up for people with autism, their families, and the thousands of professionals who work with them every day.
Rebecca Evans, NAS Cymru Policy and Public Affairs Officer added:
“The last Assembly term has brought many positive developments for people affected by autism, such as the introduction of the ASD Strategic Action Plan, an increased focus on autism in areas such as health, social care, and education, and a greater awareness of the condition among our elected representatives. We are very pleased that candidates are signing up to our pledge, and look forward to working with many of them in the next Assembly.”
Energy Matters
One of the issues which will pay a very important part in the next four year Assembly term is that of energy.
Rocketing fuel prices have an immediate impact on daily life. For pensioners, on fixed incomes, the rising cost of gas and electricity far outstrips the rise in pensions – and especially now that the Conservative-led coalition in Westminster has changed the way benefits are up-rated, so that they will rise more slowly in future. And, for people in employment, the cost of transport to and from work is a real tax on incomes, at a time when wages in the public sector are frozen, and businesses struggle to survive.
The global economy is recovering – even if the British economy is not. That means that oil prices are set to go on rising. It’s a vicious economic cycle, in which hopes of growth are chocked off by energy price rises.
It is also why, over the next four years, the switch to a green economy means so much here in Wales. I believe that we stand on the threshold of a generational shift in the Welsh economy, if only we have the determination to grasp it.
Our history, of course, is as the first great industrial nation on the face of the globe, first in and, in many ways, first out of the manufacturing revolution based on coal, iron and steel.
Now, we stand on the verge of a second energy revolution. For the past 40 years, Wales’ geographical location, perched here on the Western extremity of the European Union has been a great disadvantage to us – always at the end of the supply chain, always high cost in transportation, always too far from the centre of European gravity to attract company head quarters and jobs in research and development.
Now, in an era of global energy insecurity, and anxiety about climate change, our position can be reversed, using the natural advantages which Wales has in wind, wave and water to make a unique contribution to the future energy needs of the United Kingdom.
And, renewable energy is one of those rare opportunities where the needs of the environment, the economy and the community can come together.
Because renewable energy means a new generation of green jobs for Wales – jobs in manufacturing, as well as in energy generation itself.
And new prospects for community regeneration, too – for a renewal, in modern conditions, of that great tradition of municipal socialism in which Wales once led the world, and where we can lead again, bringing energy generation both closer to home and far less wastefully achieved than we have in the past.