Our ESOL tutor, Clare Jones, has been delivering a Family Learning course to our ESOL learners in conjunction with our Partner, the African Community Centre, based in the Arts Wing of the Swansea Grand Theatre.

During these lessons, our learners have been able to develop their reading, writing and communication skills, alongside an understanding of how their children learn, and how parents can encourage and prepare them for school. Activities during classes include reading and discussing children’s books, learning and singing nursery rhymes in English and native languages, and making simple games and creative activities for their children.

Our tutor Clare uses children’s books not only to explore and encourage shared reading with their children, but also to generate a plethora of writing opportunities for her learners.

Clare says, “A recent particular focus has been on ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle – a classic staple of children’s literature and enjoyed by millions of children and their families since it was first published in June 1969! This is a book I read and re-read many times with my own children! It has been a joy to share it with a group of learners who have never come across it: they were enchanted both by the simplicity of the language and the fabulous illustrations.”

From attending these courses, our learners build confidence in using the English language and they begin to make friends with other mums whilst sharing and learning from each other’s experiences as parents.

Our tutor Clare Jones says, “For me, my ‘ESOL for Family Learning’ class is a highlight of the week! We have such fun through our learning activities.”

The SW & Mid Region’s partnership with the African Community Centre is one that is long-standing and well-established. We deliver a range of contextualised ESOL courses to their service users, including ‘ESOL for Employability’, to support learners with their job seeking and job application skills. We work closely with the Centre’s Wellbeing Manger, Sibu Mbwembwe, in the creation of a diverse and meaningful curriculum offer, to meet the needs of the many clients who walk through their doors. Discussions are afoot to further extend the curriculum offer for 2022, and we look forward to continuing our partnership work, in order to support and empower learners on their community education journey.

We would like to congratulate our learners for turning up every week with a smile and engaging so fully in different activities.

Click here to find out more about our Family Learning courses.