FRENCH LESSONS TAKEN ONTO THE FOOTBALL PITCH (St Ives Liberal Democrats)

St Ives Liberal Democrats <trevorandrea131@aol.com>

FRENCH LESSONS TAKEN ONTO THE FOOTBALL PITCH

October 12, 2009 12:00 AM
Originally published by Sir Graham Watson MEP

On Thursday 15 October, football loving-students at the Sir John Colfox School in Bridport will get the chance to improve their French whilst receiving first rate training from Yeovil Town football coaches.

In a scheme being piloted by Yeovil Town Football Club, students will take their French lesson out of the classroom and onto the football pitch. It is based on a programme run by Arsenal FC which gets children using their language skills in a game they enjoy. Organisers are hoping to attract funding to make it a regular feature in the West's schools.

Local Euro-MP and language campaigner Graham Watson has been invited to event and said;

"Having been involved in many language projects over the years, I know how hard it can be to get young people engaged.

"That is why it is so important we get this scheme off the ground, and allow children to use their new skills in an appealing and healthy environment.

"When I heard about the project I was tempted to get my football boots on myself, but I think the day will be so popular amongst the students I won't get the chance!"

Ends.

Notes:

The event will take place at the Sir John Colfox School on Thursday 15 October at 14:30.

The Sir John Colfox School,

The Ridgeway,

Bridport

Dorset,

DT6 3DT

Press are welcome to attend, and there will be opportunities for photographs and interviews.

Graham Watson MEP has campaigned for improved language skills for many years. He set up the Broadening Horizons scheme, now in its fourth year, which places Taiwanese language assistants into a number of South West schools. The Sir John Colfox School knows Graham well, as they have benefited from Broadening Horizons for three years. Graham speaks fluent French, German and Italian, and is currently learning Mandarin.

The new scheme is being piloted by the School, Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust and the Regional Languages network. It is based upon Arsenal FC's "Double Club" programme which uses its foreign stars to inject excitement into learning a foreign language. The Double Club Programme has now grown to include 80 Secondary schools, three different languages and has benefited 1800 children.

On Thursday, pupils will be given a half an hour French lesson with a test at the end where their scores will put them on football league tables. They will then play a football match using the language skills they just learned.

Recent research from Cardiff Business School suggests improving languages could add an extra £21bn to the UK economy and that export businesses that use language skills boost their sales by 45%.

In 1997, 71% of England's GCSE pupils took a foreign language but last year the rate was down to 44%. Exam board Cambridge Assessment said 74% of bright pupils took a language GCSE in 2008 - down from 80% in 2000. Numbers of all pupils taking GCSE languages them rose to an all-time high in 1997 - with 82% of girls and 73% of boys sitting a GCSE. But by 2008 these had dropped to 51% of all girls and 40% of all boys.