York St John Communities Centre
Community Language School
Hosted via the York St John Communities Centre.
Discover our Community Language School
Established in September 2022, the Community Language School (CLS) offers interactive, activity-based classes in languages other than English to children and adolescents.
The 3 founding principles of the School are:
- Enabling knowledge exchange across volunteers, families, the School Leads, and the wider academic community
- Provision of professional development opportunities for our volunteers
- Conducting impactful research on attitudes as well as the language policies and practices of our families
Latest updates
Latest updates
- The language volunteers participated in a professional training day led by Lucy Sors, Senior Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education, in May 2023.
- We are excited to be able to offer Italian classes this year and enrolments are now open for families to express their interest. Please email us at cls@yorksj.ac.uk.
- We are seeking expressions of interest from volunteers to help in the Korean and Japanese classes. Please email us at cls@yorksj.ac.uk.
Collaborate with our research
We are keen to hear from potential collaborators who may be interested in exploring the nexus between community language schools and heritage language maintenance.
Song Mandarin class
The Community Language School is a wonderful inclusive environment where children are encouraged to discover and explore their heritage and culture as well as learning the language. My daughter is always eager to go to the class and I have already seen differences in her language ability.
Barker Korean class
Speaking as a parent from a Korean-English family, the course has proved to be a valuable opportunity, for the children to stay in touch with their Korean culture and for my partner to make social links with other Korean parents living in the York area. Thank you to all CLS team members for your passion, time and hard work.
Santana Spanish class
We recently found out about CLS, so we have done only a few classes but my daughter loves to attend. The teachers are so friendly and nice. We can't wait till September to start again!
James-Razlaff Japanese class
My husband and I are incredibly grateful for the Community Language School. The dedicated teachers rekindled our daughters' love for speaking in their heritage language by making learning fun through engaging activities like games, crafts, and poster writing. The school is a true gem in the heart of York!
Augustin Japanese class
The Community Language School has provided an inclusive environment for the children to learn and be exposed to a new language. They have created a relaxed atmosphere and structured a programme of teaching that the children find fun and engaging. The course not only teaches them the language but also provides them with exposure to the culture of the country whose language they are learning. My daughter has enjoyed her lessons immensely and is very much looking forward to the new year of the course. As parents we have been grateful to the Community Language School for providing a safe, educational space for the children to pick up new skills in a new language and culture.
Supporting York St John Communities Centre
Your donation makes a great difference!
Your gift helps cover the cost of providing free services such as our community language school, bereavement group and café's, student suicide support group 'Laurens Ladies' and drop-ins such as the weekly breastfeeding group.
As our income grows, so too does our staff team of receptionists, administrators, co-ordinators, assessors, supervisors, counsellors, coaches, and group facilitators, and your support is needed to ensure they are actively involved in service delivery and are remunerated for their work. Anything that you are able to donate can help support the work we do and the services that we offer to our community.