West Midlands

On 2nd February 2010 King Edwards Camp Hill VI Camp Hill School for Girls played host to a Dragons' Den inspired business event.

Pupils from both the girls' and boys' schools used their entrepreneurial skills to develop and market a Christmas cracker for the French market. During the morning session they learned some valuable French business language and, most importantly, learned how to do business successfully with the French.

In the afternoon they worked in small groups putting their new language and cultural awareness to the test by designing their cracker and a marketing campaign. Each group created a presentation to be delivered to an invited business expert with prizes for the best presentation.

A  teacher pack, so you can hold a similar event in school are coming soon!

The event was one of a series of events funded by Routes into Languages and delivered with support from colleagues at Coventry University, Aston University and King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls. If you would like to host a similar event for schools in your local area, please get in touch at routes@aston.ac.uk

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Language curriculum mapping carried out in the West Midlands by Routes into Languages identified that students in KS3, 4 and 5 are taking an increasingly diverse range of language courses and qualifications within a wide variety of curricum and extra curricular delivery models. This diversity has an impact on both the type and level of accreditation being achieved by learners, and on their experience of language learning.

Universities are also beginning to broaden the range of opportunities for language learning, which potential undergraduates may not be aware of. We feel it is important to ensure that Sixth Formers, and those who advise them, are provided with up to date information on the options available.

The booklet contains an outline of the different options givinging specific examples and illustrative case studies. The Teachers' Notes which accompany the booklet give some ideas about how to use this resource to help communicate the message to Sixth Form students in the process of making their future study choices.

Copies of the booklet and Teachers' Notes are being sent to all schools with Sixth Form and colleges in the West Midlands in early November 2009. You can also download a PDF copy here.

We hope that you and your students find this resource useful, please send any feedback you may have to us at routes@aston.ac.uk

We have been working closely with 10 schools in the region who are involved in our Active Languages project. Each school has designed and developed their own activities combining language learning with sport – some examples include orienteering in German and handball in Spanish. Many of the schools are using students in Year 10 and above as Language and Sport leaders to lead younger students in various activities.

As a celebration for the hard work students and teachers have undertaken so far we welcomed schools back to University of Birmingham’s beautiful Edgbaston campus for an Olympics themed sports day. Pupils took part in Judo in Japanese and had a go at Tag Rugby in Italian during the morning sessions and worked in teams in the afternoon to produce Olympic bids for various French speaking cities around the world.

Routes into Languages Assistant Programme Manager Jess Hawkins was on hand to judge the bids and award bronze, silver and gold medals and other prizes to the top three teams. She said:

“The day I spent in the West Midlands was just brilliant. The young people obviously really enjoyed both the day and learning new languages. Connecting the languages with sports played in those countries was such an effective way of bringing languages to life. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and so much effort went into the fantastic presentations that picking a winner was really tough!”

With the London 2012 Olympics just around the corner, and right on our doorstep, Routes into Languages West Midlands is committed to promoting the link between sport and languages to ensure our students are well equipped for life in an increasingly international world.
 

Coventry University’s Product Design Day in Japanese and Chinese.

On Tuesday 23 June 2009, Year 9 and 10 pupils from three West Midlands secondary schools visited Coventry University for an action packed Product Design Day of Languages and Business.

The pupils used their entrepreneurial skills to develop and market a product suitable for either the Japanese or the Chinese market. In the morning, the pupils spent time with their native-speaker teacher. They acquired some useful business language in either Japanese or Chinese. Most importantly, they learned about ‘how to do business’ successfully in their chosen country. In the afternoon, they worked in small groups to apply their new knowledge and cultural awareness to the design of their product. Finally, each group had to put together a presentation that - at the very end of the day – had to be delivered “Dragons Den style” to an invited business expert. A prize was awarded for the best presentation.

This was one of a series of schools events – fully funded by hefce’s Routes into Languages programme – designed to promote the take-up of Languages in HE, by supporting close collaboration between universities and local schools. At Coventry University, our work with schools has a major focus on enterprise: we have been able to give employment opportunities to many Coventry University language students and many of our schools events have had a strong business/enterprise focus.

The programme for this Product Design Day was jointly developed and delivered by staff from Languages and the Employability and Placements Unit (EPU):

Mie Hayakawa (Japanese teacher)
Tracey Holker (EPU);
Fei Li (Final Year Chinese student; BA English and Economics);
Janet Lewis (Routes into Languages at CU);
Kayleigh Blackstock (undergraduate on placement in the EPU);
Ken McWilliam (Languages Centre);
Hannah Steeples and Jade McGowan (undergraduates studying languages).

Our newsletters are available to download here.

We are now entering the third year of Routes into Languages and here in the West Midlands we are eager to get going! As well as a full calendar of events and activities taking place as in previous years we have also developed some new initiatives starting this year!

For Sixth Form students and teachers we have developed a new Language Shadow scheme which will allow students to spend half a day with a current language undergraduate attending lectures and finding out what life as a language student is really like. Teachers can apply to spend half a day with a language academic attending lectures and discussing current standards, practices and issues. We expect this scheme will be very popular and will help the often difficult transition between school or college and university. We are also currently developing a Guide to Language Learning Opportunities at HE for Students and Parents to help students who are unsure of whether to continue with language study after school or college and to ensure they are well informed about the wide variety of options available to them if they are thinking of keeping up languages but do not wish to study a straight language degree. This guide will be sent to all schools and colleges with a Sixth Form very soon and will be available for download under the Resources section of the Routes West Midlands website.

We are also currently working on an exciting new DVD project which has already received rave reviews in test screenings with Year 9 - 11 classes.

The drama features a teenage boy and girl who dropped languages after GCSE but now have the chance to win a summer Work Experience placement in Paris, Barcelona or Berlin. While the message is familiar – languages are fun, they help you get a job, working at languages brings rewards - the approach is new, and bang up-to-date. There will also be an opportunity to find out ‘what happens next’ and interact with the story on Facebook by viewing more episodes online at home, as the winner takes up their placement abroad.

Copies of the film on DVD and a resource pack for teachers will be sent to schools in the West Midlands soon and will be available for download on the website.

To read more about our exciting developments, have a look at our latest newsletter!
 

15th June saw over 120 Sixth Form students attend a languages in Higher Education awareness day at Aston University.

Representatives from all seven Routes partners took part in the day which included a talk on the many different options for studying languages and a series of lectures and seminars to give the students a taste of what their future studies could be. Students from each university came along to give a student perspective of studying languages and the day ended with a choice of taster sessions in several languages and translation and interpreting. An exhibition at lunchtime took place allowing students the opportunity to speak top staff and collect information from each Routes university.

The event was a great success with excellent feedback from students and teachers alike.

Language
Networks for Excellence, part of Education Partnerships at the University of Wolverhampton, is a partner in the
Routes into Languages West Midlands Consortium. A key objective in the bid from the West
Midlands Consortium was to map and monitor progression routes within the
14-19 sector in support of initiatives to encourage increased take-up in Higher
Education (HE), and to inform and facilitate appropriate adjustments to HE
curricula. To inform and underpin this
understanding curriculum mapping research was carried out by Language Networks
for Excellence to produce a generic curriculum map of language provision in the
West Midlands.

A summary of the report can be downloaded below, or to order the full report please email routes@aston.ac.uk

Following the success of four cultural days held at Aston University, pupils in attendance have been busy making displays back at school for our "Design a Display" competition.

We are happy to announce the winners, who produced some outstanding work, were The International School, Coleshill School and Yardleys School. They are proud winners of £100 European Schoolbooks vouchers and a framed certificate.

 Well done!

El Ministerio de Educación, Política Social y
Deporte is offering grants for teachers to attend CPD at various Spanish Universities during the Summer holidays.

The grant covers the cost of the course, learning materials provided, health insurance, accomodation and meals. Participants must cover their own travel costs.

For further information and details on how to apply please visit www.mepsyd.es/exterior/uk/es/consej/es/formacion/mec.shtml