Employment

Setting up the project

• Invite businesses to take part by email.
  
• Telephone call to make contact and discuss our project.
• Visits scheduled for Tuesday 27th September.
• Requested our industry visitors to send an example of a job advert for their industry before their visit - better if it’s in French, German or Spanish, but not necessary.  We can translate an English version.

Aims of the project

• To forge links with local industry and provide insight into the workplace.
• To show how useful knowledge about other languages and cultures is in the workplace.
• To understand the qualities required to perform certain jobs.
• To learn about the application process.
• Pupils produce a piece of work in the foreign language to demonstrate what they have learnt. This is shared with the partners.

Steps towards completing the award

• From a list of speakers, pupils select a job they want to learn more about and who they would like to hear speak about their job.
  
• Pupils spend a period researching their chosen company and industry and come up with questions they would like to ask on the day.
• Industry partners talk about their day to day jobs, how languages help them to do their tasks and what qualities are required in order to be successful in their jobs. (40 minute lesson - presentation, time for questions, introduction of task, translate and understand job advert).
• Pupils are given a job advert in the target language for the company they have heard and researched about.
• They have 2 or 3 periods to create a CV for themselves in the target language to respond to the job advert.
• The finished CVs are shown to the business partners who can offer feedback.

Feedback on the project from learners, staff and business partners was all very positive and has led to plans to develop and expand this project to cover other year groups and industry partners.

This is an excellent submission, both in terms of its content and of the way in which it has been presented. The project is clearly very well planned with a strong sense of purpose, collaboration and evaluation throughout. 

The verification team was impressed by a number of elements within the work described here. The business partners selected are varied, relevant and clearly very engaged in working with the school to develop mutually valuable DYW links. We loved the description of their input as a ‘not a breath but a gust of fresh air’! The close involvement of the school’s DYW co-ordinator contributes very positively to the work done here. The tasks undertaken are beautifully integrated to the curriculum and serve to weave Employability seamlessly into the Languages experience of learners at Beeslack. The team also praised the comprehensive (and fascinating!) portfolio of supporting evidence.

In the Evidence Checklist document, the point is made that ‘Making the link between languages and a future career is crucial to the survival of language teaching and language knowledge in Scotland.’ This is at the heart of the aim of the Scottish Languages Employability Award, and it is so encouraging to see it at the heart of the work that is being done in Beeslack Community High School too.

There is evidence of clear planning for legacy and development and the RZSS and other projects planned would give ample evidence for future Silver and Gold Awards. All in all this is an outstanding Bronze award - congratulations!