Institution: The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College

Introduction
The key objective of this event was to enhance enjoyment and motivation by inviting thirty pupils at the school to participate in a three-day cross-curricular enterprise and languages project. The target groupwas made up of pupils from across the ability range who have opted to take French at GCSE. French and German are totally optional subjects at English Martyrs. Pupils were selected by their French teachers and were chosen because of ability in French, self-confidence, enthusiasm and more.
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Associated video clips

Tom Argument, 14-19 Coordinator, Hartlepool LA: 'This project gives young people not only the opportunity to practise using their language skills but allow them to develop the key qualities of future entrepreneurs which our society requires to keep the country competitive.'

Clip 1- Preparing the Project

This first clip shows the second day of a three-day cross-curricular project focusing on languages and enterprise run by English Martyrs School in Hartlepool.  The 30 Year 9 pupils were put into groups and given the task of designing and creating a game for KS2 pupils to be used as an educational tool to teach languages.

On the first day, the project was launched and, having discussed the nature of languages at KS2, the pupils began planning. During day two, when the clip begins, representatives from each group visited a local feeder primary school to ask questions they had planned in advance about what KS2 pupils would want in a game.
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Clip 2- Developing skills

On the third day, the groups designed the games and gave a presentation to a panel of judges from industry.

The skills the pupils developed were not limited to linguistic skills but the students experienced real business scenarios and had to solve problems, work together, hone their presentation skills and make decisions. The project allows pupils to combine languages with other skills, such as creativity, which has a visible effect on their motivation.

One important aspect of this project is that those chosen to participate were not simply those who were gifted and talented but pupils with a range of abilities in languages, and they all benefited from the skills and confidence they gained from the experience. All the pupils had opted to continue French at KS4 and this was valuable not only in terms of enthusiasm but it also meant that the project could be used as a foundation for a piece of GCSE coursework.

The project was ended with an evaluation booklet, partly in French, to allow the pupils to reflect on the experience and the role they took in it. It also allowed the pupils to see the value of languages in different sectors, which brings renewed enthusiasm for the GCSE course.
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Clip 3

The project has been taken forward already by a group of sixth-form students who, seeing the success of the project last year, decided to create some French games themselves as part of the Young Enterprise Company programme, and they have reached the National Finals with their products. This is another boost to the profile of languages in the school.

This clip shows the LanguAges sixth-form company giving a presentation of their project.  The company comprises sixth-form students some of whom have selected business studies at A level and some of whom are studying languages.  They explain the different roles played by each member of the company, describe the product they produced and how the project has influenced their possible career choices. 
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