Mothers in Keighley are attending school with their children to take English language lessons.

Twenty parents of pupils at St Andrew's C of E Primary School have signed up to weekly English classes run by volunteers from Soroptomists International, in Keighley.

The women are all from Pakistan and currently know very little English to get by in day to day exchanges or to help their children with homework.

Parental involvement worker at the school, Kabir Raza, said the classes were designed to build confidence and aid community cohesion.

He said: "Some parents do speak English but they are very shy and this will help them not to be. Children currently spend 85 per cent of their life at home and only 15 per cent in school, so if their parents speak English it will help them to learn as well and they can support their children.

"Children feel privileged that their parents are here and learning something in school - they are proud of their school and their parents as well."

Volunteers Shirley Turner and Joyce Greaves, who take the classes, are teaching simple words and phrases to the women.

Mrs Turner said: "We are really teaching them basic English conversational skills that they can use when they go to the doctors or the shop and anything else they have difficulty with.

"We have done food and today we are doing the weather. We are learning from them as well - we see it as a cultural experience.

"Soroptomists International is a women's organisation and we try to help women in other countries and wherever we think we might be able to help, we try to."

Brinam Khatoon, from Highfield, who attends the classes and spoke through an interpreter, Trunem Rehman, said: "When I used to go to the doctors and the hospital, I used to have trouble speaking English so I wanted to learn basic English."

The classes will run for an eight to ten-week term.