An impressive turnout from our annual roadshow of Business Brunch events where we welcomed 787 pupils from S3-S6 across 24 authorities and independent schools to discover the relevance of languages in the business world with the intention of encouraging learners to continue with their language studies into the senior phase of their secondary education, and beyond school.
Hosted by SCILT, in partnership with local Developing the Young Workforce groups and UCML Scotland, these events took place in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness over the course of December 2018 and January 2019.
Pupils were challenged with the task to browse through various marketplace stalls and engage with employers to find out more about local businesses; job opportunities; employability skills and the role that languages play in sectors such as hospitality and tourism, digital technology, international banks, law, engineering, creative arts, healthcare, agriculture and many more.
The day continued with a selection of presentations and interactive sessions where pupils were given the opportunity to hear from inspirational speakers who shared their own experiences about how languages benefitted them both professionally, and personally.
Attending these events provided learners with a golden opportunity to be inspired, communicate directly with local businesses and gain a deeper understanding of how languages can increase employment and also personal opportunities in the future.
Feedback received from participants has shown that the Business Brunches are having a significant impact on pupils’ perceptions of languages in the workplace:
Pupil quote: I didn't know how helpful it was to know a second language. I learnt today how different businesses use languages and why it is beneficial to learn a language at school."
Teacher quote: All my pupils came away from the event with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for languages, and I have had emails from parents commenting how excited and motivated pupils were in sharing their experiences of the event. It is a fantastic opportunity for pupils to be exposed to a range of different people, careers and industries.”
Feedback from Developing the Young Workforce: Giving young people an opportunity to hear directly from businesses across a broad range of sectors highlighted why continuing with languages at school could be so beneficial to opening up a world of opportunities beyond school. With a variety of industry led workshops and exhibitors speaking directly with young people, everyone had opportunities to be informed and inspired. The day was action packed from start to finish and the feedback received from young people and teachers has been so positive.”
As a result, an increase of 23% showed that pupils were more than likely to continue learning a language after attending these events.
Take a look through some of the presentations used at the events and inspiring quotes from businesses to use in your own classroom. These can be accessed via the relevant tab headings above.
Check out our Twitter page to take a look at some of the tweets received from schools who participated @scottishcilt #BB_SCILT Tweets.