Score with Languages
Since September, 2008 Bradford City FC and St Bede’s School have been linked through a Business Champions Language Partnership. This partnership was initially set up to show how languages, sport and business share common skills and aims. From the start it was obvious that there were many projects that could be developed to the benefit of both Club and School. The Club enabled the students to have exclusive interviews, presentations by business leaders, guided tours of the facilities and the opportunity to represent the Club as Ball Boys at the Home games. The school puts on Spanish lessons for the players and staff linked to the Club, has designed a website link about the Club for the Official Bradford Tourism and Culture Board and this summer local primary schools enjoyed a mixture of football coaching and language lessons provided jointly by the Club and the school’s languages department.
It seemed a natural step forwards to support the Club’s efforts to raise more funding for the Burns Unit. As such the year 7 students have worked hard to beat off competition to win a place in the Step Up Market challenge where all the profits from the goods they produce and sell will go to the Burns Unit. They kicked off this project at the Charity Match on Sunday, 9th May making over £100 profit that afternoon. The products are all related to the Club and the boys are working lunchtimes and after school to manufacture the items. The final amount raised for Charity was £750 and the six boys involved presented the cheque to Mr David Baldwin CEO at BCFC. The key stage 4 students also did their bit to raise funds for the Charity by sponsoring a member of staff to complete the Cross Morecambe Bay Walk and a cheque for £623 was presented to Michael Flynn by boys from year 10.
Though the partnership began small it has grown to teach students not only language and enterprise skills but also an understanding of and pride in their Club and their community.
