Business Language Champions
Business Language Champions is a nationwide programme, supported by the Department for Children, Skills and Families (DCSF), which aims to bridge the gap between school and the workplace and increase foreign languages uptake.
The programme, delivered in the West Midlands by the RLN, aims to:
- Encourage students to continue with their language learning by demonstrating the importance of language skills beyond the classroom environment.
- Help teachers to understand the language needs of businesses.
- Enable businesses to support their local communities through sharing language experience and knowledge with schools in their area.
Who we've helped so far...
2007- 2008 was a fantastic year for the programme in the region, with nine schools increasing or maintaining languages uptake and many more benefiting from the presentations, language quizzes, company visits and authentic language tasks organised as part of the programme.
Twelve schools and businesses are currently signed up to work together in the programme for 2008-09. Some of these partnerships have already held successful events - check out our news pages for the latest updates.
Case studies
Read our Business Language Champions case studies and find out how other schools and businesses have been working together to increase awareness of the importance of language skills.
Press releases
In 2007-08, the RLN secured twenty-five pieces of press coverage detailing the activities and impact of the Business Language Champions programme.
Visit our Business Language Champions press releases page to find out more and read the latest news releases from the 2008-09 programme.
Other examples of best practice
Visit our BLC case studies page to read other examples of successful collaboration between schools and businesses.
Resources
Visit our online Business Language Champions resource bank, where you can expand your knowledge on the programme, download examples of activities and resources used in previous partnerships and find out more about schools and businesses working together.
Reports
The RLN has produced reports detailing the activities that took place in the Business Language Champions programme, the press coverage secured and the impact the activities had on languages uptake within participating schools:
Download 2007-08 BLC one-page overview (pdf 144 KB) 
Download 2007-08 BLC full report (pdf 198 KB)
Want to get involved?
For further information on the programme, including details of the benefits to schools and businesses, you can download the following documents:
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 Frances Pallett, WM BLC Project Manager, on 0121 329 3297.
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