Language Skills in the Community
You don’t need language skills. Everyone speaks English.
It’s a common misconception that there is no need to learn another language as everyone speaks English. In fact, 75% of the world’s population speaks no English at all.
And did you know that children who speak at least two languages do better at school than those who speak only one. At least according to recent studies.
Project to promote language skills.
Year 9 pupils at the Grove School in Newark know all about the importance of learning a language. Our Education Director, Jo Small, recently launched a project with the school that challenges students to work in teams to promote languages. The aim is to get them thinking about the importance of language skills, and how they can promote this to others in their local community.
Approximately 60 pupils are working in teams to promote the importance of learning languages to their chosen target audience. That audience can be school pupils, local businesses or the general public. They will need to develop a leaflet or poster and give a five-minute presentation.
In the audience will be the Mayor of Newark.
The judging will take place at an event on 15 July. It will be held at Newark Beacon and will be opened by the Mayor of Newark. So, the students will gain an important experience of delivering their presentations in a business setting. The winners will be judged on the level of research demonstrated, audience appeal, creativity and clarity of communication skills.
The judging panel.
The judges are:
- Stef Hanson, Modern Foreign Languages Coordinator from John Hunt Primary School
- Dean Hyde, Chairman of Newark Business Club
- Stephanie Bilton, Magazine Manager of It’s All About You
- Barbara Nielsen, Consultant for Primary Languages, Learning and Achievement Team at Nottingham County Council.
A rewarding experience.
Watch out for the next edition of It’s All About You. The top three groups will have their posters printed in the magazine. The overall winners will receive a voucher to dine out at Via Italiano. Frankie, Manager at Via Italiano, was keen to support the Grove pupils with their language project and said ‘Skills are important – languages are one of the secondary items that you need these days’.
If you would like to talk to Jo about this project or perhaps even help her out, please contact her using the contact form on the website.