The success of Welsh-medium education in Wales has proved an inspiration for other parts of Europe with minority languages.

Teacher Fran May: "It allows us to dream"

In Britanny, the Breton language, a close relation to Welsh, gets only very limited support from the French government.

However, teachers from Wales are helping their Breton counterparts in a school established especially to foster the Breton language.

The school is in a former chateau in the town of Carhaix in central Brittany.

Stronghold

The area is a traditional stronghold of Breton culture, but the language is now mostly associated with the older generation, as its speakers have not been transmitting it to their children.

The Breton language is undergoing a revival

The new Breton-language secondary school, however, is the focus of a revival of the language.

After a period of being moved around temporary premises, the school is now on its first ever permanent site.

The 84 pupils follow the French national curriculum - but every subject is taught in breton. It is similar to the Welsh-medium school system.

The school's teacher of English, Pembrokeshire-born Fran May, said the the success of bilingual education in Wales is a constant source of inspiration to the Bretons.

"It is a great help for us," she said. "It allows us to dream and imagine we can have the same system here."

Unlike the Welsh schools, the school in Carhaix is a boarding school, attracting pupils from all over Brittany. There is a strong feeling of pride in their unique education

Limited support

But funding the school is difficult, the French government gives only limited support, leaving the parents to cover most of the costs.

Andrew Lincoln, a former Cardiff lecturer, is president of the Breton Education Campaign.