Mothers who went back to school to study English and maths were presented certificates at their children's school.

The proud parents studied and completed Level 1 and Level 2 courses at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL).

They were given certificates at Carterhatch Infant School in Enfield at a special assembly led by headteacher Adrienne Barrell, which included a song by the pupils.

Agnieszka Sandak, Hadiyah Alami, Alexandra Kaylan, Ewelina Kurzdym, Semra Aksoy, Hatice Aksoy, Ioana Dae, Ferdese Germizi and Esther Onochie were all commended.

Polish-born Agnieszka, 43, who is mum to Kamil, four, said: “I wanted to improve my English and have more confidence with social interaction with friends, and to help my autistic son.

“The course was amazing and the teacher was perfect and so helpful. My English was already quite good, but it has definitely improved a lot.”

Ewelina, 34, who is also from Poland and mum to Archie, four, said: “I’m very happy I did the course. We had a very good teacher who explained everything very well and always had an answer if we had a problem.

“I never thought I would do maths again in my life. Even in my own country I wasn’t very good, so I never thought I could do it in a different language, but I did it.”

CONEL has been working with the school in Carterhatch Lane for three years to provide English and maths courses following a request by parents.

Jeanette Fuster, family support and outreach worker at the school, said: “CONEL has been brilliant. The courses help parents get back into work, and give them an attitude for learning, which helps them become great role models for their children.

“We’ve helped parents get into work. They say the difference for them is that their children are proud of them and want to learn, because they see them working and also learning.

“I’m really happy for the parents who received their certificates this morning. You could see how proud they were of themselves. It is really important to celebrate their achievements because it encourages them to go further and have that love of lifelong learning.”