Business Language Champions
The Business Language Champions programme is designed to bridge the gap between school and the workplace and to reverse the recent decline in the take up of modern foreign languages.
What is it?
Business Language Champions is a nationwide programme aiming to encourage exciting and innovative partnerships and showcase best practice.
Typically a school will work with a local company to enable the students - ideally Year 9 who will soon be making options decisions - to see the benefits of languages in the workplace.
Examples of activities
- Business representative visiting school to give talks/presentations on the importance of languages in their organisation and how such skills are used on a day-to-day basis.
- Business hosting visit for small groups of students to visit the workplace and see languages in action.
- Business providing authentic materials (i.e. marketing information) for students to e.g. translate.
- School holding a languages event and getting business involved.
- Business providing existing foreign language materials for school to use as basis of language exercises.
- Business representatives acting as languages mentors to students.
Who co-ordinates it?
Business Language Champions is a programme funded by the Department for Education and Skills and supported by a network of sponsors: BNP Paribas, Goethe-Institut, the National Network of Education and Business Partnerships, Business in the Community and the Comenius Network. It is co-ordinated by the Regional Language Network East Midlands with the support of CILT, The National Centre for Languages.
Benefits to business
Gain a higher media profile, broaden your firm's culture, harness enthusiasm for languages amongst employees and develop your Corporate Social Responsibility Programme.
Benefits to school
Gain access to authentic learning materials, in-school visits from business representatives, media coverage of your school's involvement in the programme and opportunities for work-related learning and student placements.
Current partnerships
Click on the relevant arrows to find out what activities each partnership has been involved in:
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (Ashbourne) and Pachacuti 
Chellaston Foundation School (Derby) and MW Sigma 
Toot Hill School (Bingham) and betterlanguages.com 
Castle Donnington Community College and East Midlands Airport 
Campion School (Bugbrooke) and Alimentar 
English Martyrs R C School (Leicester) and Classic Motos Ltd 
Caistor Yarborough School (Lincs) and JAD Associates 
Brookvale High School (Leics) and Neo Knitting and Trims Company 
Case studies of successful partnerships
Malet Lambert and Strata Broadband (pdf 111 KB)
Nottingham Girls' High School and Qi Concepts (pdf 129 KB)
Lancaster School and David Sly-Jex (pdf 103 KB)
Where to find further information
For more information about the Business Language Champions programme you can download:
Flyer for businesses (pdf 324 KB)
Flyer for schools (pdf 253 KB)
If your school or business would like to become involved in the programme please contact us.
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