Institution: AimHigher Kent and Medway

“Only having one language is useless in everyday life because if you moved away to a foreign country you wouldn’t make any friends and wouldn’t enjoy life!” Year 9 participant in the project

Context 
AimHigher Kent and Medway identified the need to explore the reasons for a fall in the numbers of students choosing languages at GCSE and continuing with them post-16 in the Thames Gateway and the Channel areas. In 2006, the Open University in the South East took the idea forward on behalf of the AimHigher Kent and Medway Office and in collaboration with the University of Kent. 

How the programme was organised
Representatives from local schools and colleges, MFL advisers, Higher Education providers and AimHigher Directors met to discuss the criteria for the languages project and the following were decided upon:

• To target groups of KS3 students in order to increase GCSE intake
• To work with a number of schools and to create local networks, involving specialist and non-specialist schools encouraging collaboration and sharing of resources
• To design a programme of activities and produce resources following themes of the curriculum
• To make use of ICT and online tools to encourage motivation and promote learning
• To give students an experience of Higher Education
• To involve parents and guardians in the process by organising family learning opportunities.

The production of promotional and language learning materials and the dissemination of the outcomes of the project were also part of the principles.

Over two years, 118 Year 9 pupils from 11 secondary schools in Kent and Medway participated in the project. More than 60 workshops and six events were organised. The activities were designed not to focus on one specific language and culture but many, and they do not require any previous level of proficiency in any language. The following were the activities:

Classroom workshops for secondary school pupils
The classroom workshops for secondary school pupils covered the following topics:
Each workshop contained a PowerPoint presentation, worksheet and guide for teachers

Languages in the world
Why study languages?
Careers in languages
Languages and the work environment
Languages at School and beyond
Language and Culture
International Christmas
Your Manga Character

Secondary school participants were also involved in a Languages Day at the University of Kent which gave them the opportunity to experience life in an HE environment. The languages day consisted of a carousel of fun and interactive activities delivered by lecturers, undergraduates, MFL teachers and sixth formers. Participants also had the opportunity to take part in a workshop facilitated by Languages without Frontiers. An adapted version of the CILT/Council of Europe Junior European Languages Portfolio was distributed to all participants on the course. There was also a successful family learning workshop held at the Hundred of Hoo School where participants and their parents, grandparents and siblings were treated to language tasters in French and Spanish delivered by Open Universitt staff and an introduction to Spanish and French cultures through food, music and visual stimuli. 

There was also a Further Education strand of the project as it had been noted that there was limited language provision for students in vocational courses in Kent and Medway. Three out of six FE colleges provided Level 3 language study (mainly French and Spanish at A level).  The others provided evening or Saturday classes in the form of National Open College Network accredited courses. 

Classroom workshops for students in Further Education
Each workshop consisted of various activities ranging from group discussions and roleplays to the design of advertisements. They also allow the development of other skills such as team working, creativity, ICT skills as well as job search and CV writing skills. The workshops aimed to be flexible in terms of delivery and each one comprised as a minimum a PowerPoint, worksheet and guide for teachers. 

Workshop content:

Language Needs awareness
The Languages in the World activity looks at the status in the world of English and other widely spoken languages
Why study languages? Concentrates on reasons why people should study another language, by discussing preconceived ideas (eg everyone speaks English, language learning is difficult)
Foreign Communication encourages participants to make best use of their existing language skills.
Selling your Languages Skills is a practical activity about CV writing and interviews.

Intercultural Awareness
Let’s eat is a gastronomic tour of the world, starting with British food. Click here to download the presenter's PowerPoint (ppt 326KB) and guide (pdf 133 KB) and the students' activity sheet (pdf 151KB) and menu (pdf 65KB).
Etiquette, please concentrates on studying the etiquette to be observed in different situations such as meetings and greetings
24 looks at the differences in daily routine and working life around the world.
World Tour is a general knowledge activity looking at the diversity of cultures across the world.

The whole programme of workshops meet all the criteria needed to complete OCN Units in Language and Cultural Awareness at Entry Level, Level 1 or Level 2. 

Results/effects
“I think the students have enjoyed their AimHigher in languages work and several have opted into GCSE French and Spanish or have chosen to continue with Spanish after school in year 10” Jo Jones, Teacher, Robert Napier School.

• A school resources pack with all the range of materials developed by the project has been produced as well as a separate FE pack aimed at schools and colleges with students on vocational courses
• Six units (2 at Entry Level, 2 at Level 1 and 2 at Level 2) on Language and Cultural Awareness have been created and accredited by the National Open College Network, NOCN, South East. These can be offered by any educational organisation
• The Online Languages project website offers the opportunity to access all of the resources developed by the project as well as to share ideas and good practice through forums
• A total of 11 Sixth form students from Chatham Grammar School for Boys and Rochester Grammar School for Girls who participated in the project as mentors and delivering workshops have been accredited with 5 transferable UCAS points under the Medway Progression Compact
• E-learning network for languages have been established through two VLE portals.  Through these networks the Project has facilitated collaboration among students in seven schools in Medway and an opportunity for teachers to share resources and ideas
• Substantial qualitative and quantitative data has been produced on attitudes towards languages based on the analysis and evaluation of questionnaires carried out by AimHigher Kent & Medway Office. 
  

“It opened my mind to subjects that I might want to take at GCSE.  Now I’m taking French as an option” (Bradley, Chatham South School)

The project has highlighted the importance of languages at school and it has increased motivation. Several students have taken GCSE in Languages as a result of their participation in the project. Students have gained confidence and self-esteem and also had an experience of HE. Cultural perception and knowledge of the world have been widened through thought-provoking activities.
 
Schools have benefited from the ideas developed by the project. For example, the global aspect of languages and the internationalism of work were perceived by teachers as highly relevant to the curriculum. 

Further information
For detailed guidance on the Languages Project and for information and guidance on developing some of the initiatives of the project, please contact Matilde Gallardo or Emeline Eulry, the Open University in the South East. Or visit the Languages Project website.  When accessing the site for the first time, you will need to create your own username and password. For free resources for language learning from the Open University visit the website.