- TWO year-old Scousers are being given lessons on how to talk - in SPANISH!
THE TOTS - aged from just two to four - are believed to be the youngest multilinguists in the country.
The toddlers attend the brand-new Sunbeams nursery in Liverpool and are being taught a foreign language in a bid to improve their ability to learn other languages in later
life and the lessons will boost Liverpool's ambition to become Britain's most European city - as it prepares to host the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008.
Spanish teacher Lupee Gomez runs the classes and is delighted with the progress the children are making:- "The nursery has only been open a few months and the children are already reciting nursery rhymes and songs. They love it and have taken to it like a mule takes to the
Pyrenees.
All the children take part, and we use every opportunity throughout the day to teach the youngsters about Spain and its language. We have a Spanish word of the day and even at mealtimes and in the playroom, children are learning the language."
Educational experts believe very young children have a natural ability to learn other languages - and the younger they start the more fluent they will become in later life. The city is leading the country in teaching thousands of primary children from as young as six a European language.
Sunbeams Nursery opened its doors in June and caters for 26 children up to the age of four. It was set up with a £140,000 grant under the city's Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative to employ eight nursery staff. The Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative aims to create more than 700 new childcare places across Liverpool by 2004.
Councillor Jan Clein, assistant executive member with responsibility for early years education, said:- "Sunbeams is doing a fantastic job in providing first-class childcare in an area that desperately needs it. You cannot start too early teaching children a new language. It's a fantastic idea. It will help them as they go through school and college and in their future careers.
A good nursery education will give these youngsters a flying start in life. Good, affordable childcare also allow parents to return to work or undertake training to gain new skills."
Sunbeams Nursery Childcare Co-ordinator Nicola Norris said:- "We are firmly rooted in the local community to provide high-quality childcare for the Netherley Valley area. We also run a mobile creche service, providing fully qualified nursery nurses to local community groups."
The city council has teamed up with a number of voluntary and community organisations to give every child living in areas of the greatest poverty and deprivation a guaranteed high-quality childcare place.
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Liverpool
- Moving, Changing, Growing
A MAJOR public consultation on far-reaching changes on how traffic and pedestrians move around Liverpool City centre is set to start.
The City Centre Movement and Public Realm Strategy is aimed at making the city centre safe, clean, attractive and easy to use whether people are travelling on foot, by bus, rail, ferry or by car and is a key element in the regeneration of Liverpool.
It is planned that the £73 million programme will be completed by 2008 when Liverpool is European Capital of Culture and will provide improved access to the major developments planned for the city centre.
Work has already started on improving the public realm-the outdoor physical environment - by providing far better surfacing to streets and open spaces and improvements to planting, street furniture and lighting. The first phase is currently taking place in Williamson Square, the Cavern Quarter and East Moorfields and other work included in the strategy is scheduled to take place over the next four years.
LIVERPOOL BUSINESSES OFFERED FREE ADVICE TO
SAVE MONEY THROUGH ENERGY EFFICIENCY
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EXPERTS from the energy industry will be providing local businesses with insight into the savings that they can make through energy efficiency at a free half-day seminar on the December 2 at Marriot Hotel South, Liverpool.
The seminar which is organised by the Government Office North West in conjunction with Scottish Power and the Carbon Trust has been organised for businesses in Liverpool and is part of a series of seminars taking place in the North West.
The seminar will explain what the Government's Energy Policy and the Low Carbon Economy will mean for businesses in Liverpool and includes a presentation from Ian
Sibbick, North West Regional Manager for the Carbon Trust, who will highlight the opportunities and support available through Action Energy, the energy efficiency programme run by the Carbon Trust.
Ian Sibbick comments:- "This seminar will help businesses in Liverpool understand their immediate energy challenges, learn about the opportunities for reducing energy bills and the help available through Action Energy. This seminar can literally save you money."
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