The Learning Support Club was set up to help children of Chinese heritage aged 8-15 to improve their educational and social opportunities. It is an ongoing project and runs at weekends at the Mandarin School in both Gloucester and Cheltenham.
The Learning Support Club offers opportunities to gather these children together and offer key skills support such as English and Mathematics. It also provides a place where they can meet new friends and do school work together through the support of the Co-ordinator. It also provides a safe place for these children as well as their friends to enjoy activities like football, and sometimes badminton and table tennis. There are more than 20 children attending the learning support club regularly at the weekends.
One of the main advantages of the learning support club is that the Co-ordinator and volunteers can communicate in both English and Chinese (Mandarin or one or more of the other dialects). This means that it not only benefits the children but also improves communication with parents.
The LSC helps children to become more confident in their communication skills enabling them to perform better educationally at their mainstream school. They are more able to interact with other people and thus find it easier to form new friendships. We are able to liaise with mainstream schools if a student has any problems with their learning.
Children enjoy coming to the club to meet others of a similar background as they do not often get the opportunity to meet them outside of school. Since the club is held at the same time as the Mandarin school and the co-ordinator and most of the volunteers are Chinese, the children also gain knowledge of their ethnic heritage. This encourages them to take an interest in learning about China. Some students have gone on to take Mandarin as a GCSE subject.
We would encourage Chinese parents and those with children of a Chinese origin to consider visiting the mandarin school to find out what it can offer them. If you would like to find out more about the Gloucestershire Mandarin School or the LSC please contact us.
