Travel and Tourism and Spanish

Friday 13th February 2009

Adam Fairclough, a Year 13 Spanish A level student, has been working with Miss Hafford’s 9A1 Spanish class. Adam has been taking small groups of students and setting them language challenges in Spanish. For example, one week the groups had to complete a listening comprehension by listening to a Spanish song about Fernando Torres! Adam hopes to study at University next year, but is keen to continue working with our Spanish students!

Two more of our A level students, Lauren Porter and Adam Yip, attended classes in Liverpool University’s Spanish Department as part of the Aimhigher Undergraduate Student Shadowing Programme. They attended classes in Spanish conversation, translation, Spanish film and had the opportunity to attend a lesson in catalan. They saw the day as a great way to gain an insight into studying Spanish at university!

The Travel and Tourism and Spanish Departments have been delighted to welcome Mr García from the IES Hurtado de Mendoza School,  in Granada, southern Spain. Mr García is at Childwall School until the summer as part of a European Union Exchange programme for teachers. He has already  made a great impact within the departments. Mr García has been holding Spanish conversation classes for Spanish GCSE, NVQ  and  A Level students and has delivered lessons on the future trends of the Spanish tourism industry in A Level Travel and Tourism lessons. Mr García is impressed with the City of Liverpool. He describes the people as warm, welcoming and chatty! He is impressed with how helpful people are. Mr García has commented  on the amount of opportunities available to our students. He plans to travel around the UK during his time with us.

The following pupils, Connor Rowan, Kellie Marshall and Hayley Jones , were presented by Mr Phillips, with gift vouchers for excellence in Spanish and Travel and Tourism. Connor and Hayley came first in a quiz and Kellie was rewarded for her work in her GCSE Travel and Tourism lessons. The prizewinners and members of the Department can be seen in Mr Phillips’ Office for the prize presentation.

Congratulations to Miss Lopez’s Year 10 Spanish GCSE group who achieved the British Airways Language Certificate Award! This is the same examination for BA flightstaff. Years 7 to 9 are currently involved in a competition to design a new logo for the Department and to create a piece of artwork which will be displayed in the corridor, the theme being “ Languages and Business “. The Year 11 Spanish GCSE group finished their course by eating tapas in a local restaurant and have attended taster sessions in A Level Spanish.

British Airways carries around 33 million customers a year to some 140 destinations around the world. 49% of customers are not from a British background. This is why the airline needs people to serve its customers who can speak a range of languages and have an understanding of different cultures.

The Award is designed to promote the learning of languages, and was launched in 1999 as part of the company’s Community Investment Programme. It encourages school students to develop the skills required to work not just for an international airline but in any multilingual, multicultural workplace. It was initially rolled out to schools near Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
The test lasts 15-20 minutes and involves a conversation, reading aloud, role-play as well as listening and interpreting. It mirrors the Flag Test developed for British Airways’ frontline staff and assesses spoken language ability in situations which in most instances are outside the airline and airport environment – for example, a hotel reception desk, the post office or a café. Students taking the Flag Award are always put in the employee’s role, and not given scenarios beforehand to make sure the interaction is natural and spontaneous. The Award is currently offered in 18 languages, including English and a wide range of Community Languages.

The evidence of learning young people acquire through the British Airways Language Flag award can be included in Records of Achievement, and can contribute towards accreditation through qualifications that are approved by the DfES and QCA for the National Qualifications Framework.