ESOL WORKSHOPS AT WESTMINSTER KINGSWAY COLLEGE, KINGS CROSS February 2023
Workshops to celebrate three 19th century women who made a contribution in their field with local and national significance led by Laura McFall.
Designed for speakers of other languages (ESOL) to explore the lives of these women and improve speaking and listening skills and confidence.
Eliza Orme – the first woman to gain a law degree in England and Wales from the University of London. Set up a business offering conveyancing but unable to work as a legal practitioner; women unable to qualify as barristers and solicitors until the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919. Eliza Orme – Pascal Theatre Company (pascal-theatre.com)
Fanny Wilkinson – first professional female landscape gardener; trained and qualified despite barriers to women entering the profession, worked demanding equal pay with men when expected as a middle-class woman to volunteer her services. Responsible for the design of many public parks and gardens we now enjoy. Fanny Wilkinson – Pascal Theatre Company (pascal-theatre.com)
Sophia Jex Blake – founder of the London School of Medicine for Women having been forced to go abroad to secure a medical qualification. Sophia Jex Blake – Pascal Theatre Company (pascal-theatre.com)
student feedback:
I learned about three amazing women that changed the view about women and achieved their goal to learn and work.
I would like to have this class once a week.
I enjoyed the workshop because it showed us the real world like a mirror.
We learned a lot of vocabulary, ways of expression and body language.
We were actors for a moment.
Marita, Nayive, Diana, Milagros
Tutor feedback:
The learners enjoyed the workshops. They got them to relax and realise that it was not only about learning something but the pleasure of communicating with each other.