Cornwall’s only Cornish language preschool celebrated its first anniversary this month by extending its provision for children up to the age of 8 years of age.
Skol Veythrin Karenza (SVK) was opened on 16th January 2010 at the Karenza building on the grounds of Cornwall College in Pool, Cornwall and runs on a weekly basis every Saturday. In addition to teaching children the language, Movyans Skolyow Meythrin (MSM) – a Community Interest Company set up to promote Cornish language education in Cornwall – also teaches the parents/carers `Cornish for the Home Environment’, in an adjacent classroom.
SVK initially aimed at attracting children between the ages of 3 and 5 years, but the organisers have now decided to extend the provision to include children from two to 8 years of age. Ten children are currently registered with SVK, but the group now expect more children and their parents to attend. One of the teachers of the Saturday School and a Director of MSM, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, said:
“SVK has been running for a year now and we feel we have successfully met our aims – we tried it out and we have shown it works. We have received terrific support from parents and the wider community and are now keen to further develop our provision. This decision has been made partly in response to the request from parents who want to also bring along older siblings, but also from the general enquiries we have been getting.
“This may require a bit of a different approach, because 8 year old children are not nursery school age and over the next few weeks we will be looking into how this can be accommodated into MSM.”
Esther Johns, who also works at the school, said that she would welcome the addition of older children:
“I am always willing to try out new approaches [in the teaching of Cornish] to see how it works. I have lots of ideas for the teaching of older children and adults.”
The SVK School is open between 1030 and 1230 every Saturday during term time and some Saturdays during the school holidays.
Contact Emilie Champliaud at ebost@… or 07563775678 for more information.
This article prepared for Celtic News by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot General Secretary Celtic League. For follow-up comment or clarification contact:
Tel: 0044 (0)1209315884 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
M: 0044(0)7787318666 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League
01/02/11