The Vietnamese Supplementary School in Deptford, London, along with 12 others in the UK, has been granted a 2013 British Academy Schools Language Award.

The awards recognise the winners’ marked contributions to language learning in the country through adopting imaginative and effective ways of encouraging more learners to take languages to a higher level.

The Vietnamese school, which has been operated by a union of Vietnamese women and families for eight years, is open every Saturday with a view to helping parents and children learn each other’s first language.

In addition to Vietnamese lessons, the classes also design a number of extracurricular activities such as martial arts, painting and cooking contests to help children better understand their original culture.

Speaking at the November 27 award ceremony, Chairman of the Vietnamese Association in the UK Son Thanh said he was proud of the award and hoped the Vietnamese State will support the provision of a Vietnamese syllabus that is suitable to Vietnamese youngsters in the UK.

He also called on Vietnamese agencies, associations and students in the UK to expand Vietnamese classes in the country so that the language can be included in the UK curriculum in the future.-VNA