Madam,

We would like to express our support for our school, Ysgol Bro Hyddgen, which we feel has been receiving a large amount of unjust criticism lately.

Bro Hyddgen is never going to succeed in pleasing everybody given that some people think the school will never be Welsh enough, while others will always think it is too Welsh.

But we, as current pupils at the school, are proud to say that we have been allowed access to the best of both worlds. We have the freedom to choose what language we speak with our friends, and to choose which language we do certain subjects in. Bro Hyddgen reflects the community, and that is one of its main strengths. School is where a majority of us five to 18 year olds are going to spend the most important years of our lives in terms of development and growth. It isn’t just about the grades, it is also about growing into happy, tolerant human beings who feel like they belong and have an identity, and Bro Hyddgen is, in most cases, ideally suited to helping young people achieve this.

Obviously it isn’t perfect - it’s school! But it seems to us that some of the small number of kids who have chosen to leave may be under the illusion that the grass is greener elsewhere. I’ve heard it’s not. I’m not going to pretend that right now Bro Hyddgen isn’t facing financial difficul-ties, but this is the same throughout Powys and the rest of Wales.So don’t let other people who have their own unclear agendas mess up our school and our community.

Dw i’n falch o’r ffaith fy mod yn hollol ddwyieithog a dw i’n falch o fy ysgol. Dydy hi ddim yn haeddu’r agwedd negyddol, annheg mae wedi bod yn derbyn yn ddiweddar.

Yours etc

Cerys and Huw Hickman (Years 9 and 7)

Ffordd Y Drenewydd

Machynlleth