Pride for Post 16 ESOL Learners: end of year celebrations
In July, the latest cohort of 16–18-year-old ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students gathered at The Station in central Bristol to celebrate their end of year achievements.
The class, which is run in collaboration with Bristol City Council’s Post 16 and Community Learning teams, is made up of young people who are new to the UK and come from a variety of continents including Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.
The main aim of the class is to improve their English reading, writing and speaking skill. However, the group have also been learning about Bristol’s history, healthy eating and cooking, good habits, personal finance, resilience and mental health. Taking their learning outside of the classroom, the group visited Bristol Museum, Brandon Hill Park, The M Shed, Baraka Café, We The Curious and St Peter’s Hospice charity shop to sign up for a trail shift. The ESOL 16-18 classes have been visited by many partner organisations such as Our Second Home, who invited the learners to join their activities and residential trips, which everyone seems very excited about.
The group have been helped to find their post 16 provision for September – this includes organising tours, giving information about open days, and helping with applications.
The class is run throughout the academic year, starting in October and ending in July. Places are offered to the learners who are waiting for a place in college and/or struggling to engage with the college’s curriculum. Throughout the course, the young people were also working towards some AQA awards. During the celebration event, the young people were presented with certificates of their achievements which they can use to add to their CVs and study records.
This year’s class also surprised their tutors with bouquets of flowers to say thank you and enjoyed a delicious meal from Coexist Community Kitchen.
The group have also been attending Welcome Wednesdays ,a youth group organised by Creative Youth Network, which encourages refugees and asylum seekers to meet new people in a relaxed and sociable environment.
To show your interest in joining the next post 16-18 ESOL course, please complete a Post 16 referral form.
