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Sioned receives the Norah Isaac Award, having achieved the best result in the Coleg’s Welsh Language Skills Certificate assessment. 

Sioned is among the brightest and most dedicated Welsh-medium students and lecturers who have made a substantial contribution to post-compulsory Welsh-medium education during the 2020-21 academic year. She will receive a trophy and a cash prize of £200.

The Awards, which this year mark the Coleg Cymraeg’s tenth anniversary, take place tonight (5th October).

Sioned said:

“Receiving the Norah Isaac Award is a great honour, and I am grateful to the Coleg Cymraeg for the opportunity to take the Language Skills Certificate. The experience has been very rewarding, and the staff of the Bangor branch of Coleg Cymraeg are to be praised for their dedication and activity on behalf of students during what has been a difficult time for all.

Sioned added:
“The course has been challenging but also very rewarding, and I would like to thank the staff of 91�����'s Department of Welsh  and Celtic Languages for their interest and support.”

Aled Llion Jones, Head of Department added:
“Warmest congratulations to Sioned from all the staff of the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies: this is a well deserved recognition. We are also delighted that Sioned continues to use her considerable skills at Bangor, now pursuing her MA in Welsh: no doubt there are other awards ahead! ”

This years Awards mark the start  of the  Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol’s tenth anniversary.

According to the Coleg Cymraeg’s Chief Executive, Dr Ioan Matthews, who will be presenting the awards and leading the event:

“It is very fitting that we start a year of celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the Coleg by rewarding some of our brightest Welsh language learners and students, and our most dedicated Welsh-medium lecturers. It is students, learners and lecturers who have been at the heart of the Coleg’s success over the decade, and tonight we are proud of their outstanding success over the last year. 

“Over a period of eighteen months, learners, apprentices, students and lecturers across Wales have faced unprecedented challenges in continuing to learn and teach. Tonight, we have an opportunity to celebrate and thank the whole community for their heroic efforts ensuring that Welsh-medium and bilingual education has continued, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. 

“Tonight’s winners deserve praise and recognition for their high-quality academic work, but also for encouraging and supporting their peers and colleagues within their universities and workplaces to take pride in their Welshness, and by doing that, raising the profile of the Welsh language in their institutions. 

“The inability to meet and give lectures and seminars face to face for much of the year has meant that everyone has had to adapt and find new ways of working and supporting each other. The nominations received across each category have proven that work of the highest quality, as well as the social side of university and the post-16 sector, has been able to continue through alternative and virtual means. 

“On behalf of the Coleg, I would like to congratulate all the winners and thank them for their inspirational work in the face of such challenging circumstances.”
Due to the circumstances, the Coleg has organised a hybrid awards ceremony that will take place partly virtually and partly face to face, ensuring social distance measures in Canolfan S4C Yr Egin, Carmarthen, tonight at 6.30pm. The event can be watched here on the Coleg’s youtube channel.

A programme of events will be organised throughout this academic year to mark the Coleg’s tenth anniversary.