Pupils from Small Heath School made languages
their business recently when they visited Aston University to meet
an expert from the international fashion industry.
Kim Knowles MBE, Director of KRK Associates
Ltd, met the pupils at Aston to launch “Fashion International”, a
new project to help students understand the importance of languages
in the world of fashion and encourage them to keep up these skills
to increase their future employability.
Kim explained how he had developed his
language skills at school and by working in France, Germany and
Scandinavia and how these skills had helped to create an exciting
and rewarding career. Pupils then had the chance to put some
challenging questions about a range of current issues facing the
fashion industry, such as the use of low cost manufacturing bases
and child labour.
The students also put their French skills into
action by working in groups with students from two other Birmingham
schools to challenge the perception of stereotypes in the world of
fashion.
The event took place as part of the LinkedUp
Award scheme which promotes an innovative approach to language
learning and encourages more students to continue studying foreign
languages to improve their chances in the workplace.
Kim, who was awarded an MBE by the Queen for
his services to the fashion industry, was delighted with the
response to his presentation and said:
“It was a real
pleasure to be able to talk to the pupils about my real life
experiences and the huge importance that languages play in the
fashion industry. They were all a real credit to the schools
and their teachers and no doubt many have exciting careers ahead of
them.”
Imed Belhouche, French teacher at Small Heath
School, added:
“Both students and staff really enjoyed
the launch of Fashion International and it was excellent
opportunity to meet Kim Knowles and work alongside other local
schools. It was an engaging experience and helped develop our
students’ understanding of the importance of languages in the world
of work.”
For more information on the Business Language
Champions programme in the West Midlands
please visit the RLN website.