The Glasgow school teaching pupils to 'dream in Ukrainian'

BBC News

24-02-2025

Tetiana Prudnykova remembers running between the hospital and her home in Kyiv with her son Mikhailo when the air raid sirens began.Mikhailo, who has cerebral palsy, was suffering from a fever caused by Covid. Tetiana was not feeling well herself.It has been three years since the family fled their homes in the Ukrainian capital during the Russian invasion, but they have since found a new community thousands of miles away in Glasgow's Langside.Mikhailo, 12, nicknamed Misha, is among the weekend pupils at St Mary's Ukrainian School, where children displaced by the conflict can receive an education in their own language.
The classes, which take place on a Saturday, allow youngsters to maintain a cultural connection with their homeland.Tetiana, 49, said it has made life in a new country easier.
She said: "When the war started, Misha was in the first year of school and it's very hard to learn online."That's why we are very glad we have a Ukrainian school here."
After school, pupils can take part in a weekly children's choir.While most are now fluent in English, they sing in Ukrainian.Nataliya Lyalyuk, manager of St Mary's, said it was important to continue their links with home."We help them to speak Ukrainian, we have classes on Ukrainian history, language, literature, geography and music," she said."The aim is to speak, dream and learn Ukrainian, and celebrate its heritage."
Most of the children in St Mary's classes come from Ukraine's south and east - the areas worst affected by the war.Those are areas where Russian was more often spoken before the war, although things are changing, with more people choosing to speak Ukrainian as a direct result of the invasion.In the Glasgow classroom, children as young as seven can speak three languages: Ukrainian, Russian, and English.Liubomyra Malanii, a teacher at the school, said it was vital pupils did not lose a sense of their heritage."It's very important for Ukrainian children," he said."It's very difficult, it's very hard, because every day children are speaking English much more and not using Ukrainian more."
Tetiana and Mikhailo, along with dad Dymytro, initially fled to Western Ukraine to be near to a clinic where he could receive treatment.With war closing in, they moved to Poland. But when it became clear the conflict was continuing to escalate, they were left searching for a longer term home.They arrived in Scotland via the Scottish government's super sponsor visa scheme.More than 12 million people have fled Ukraine, with about 28,000 displaced Ukrainians now living in Scotland.Mikhailo's brother, Oleksander, 21, had to stay behind.At first, they lived in a hotel, sharing a room, before a ground-floor flat in Glasgow meeting Mikhailo's needs became available.
The school is now a weekly highlight, with increasing anxiety over the situation at home.Ukrainian nationals and their families can apply for an extension of their visas to stay in the UK for a further 18 months, but it does not lead to permanent settlement. Talk of a deal between the US and Russia to end the war - over the heads of Ukraine's leaders- has caused worry among those watching on nervously from afar.Tetiana says if that happens, it will leave more questions than answers."Trump says he can stop the war," Tetiana said."Ok, but I don't believe Putin."If I go back and he starts the war again, what should I do?"