Redditch MD Champions Languages in Schools 28.02.07
Dean Attwell, MD of Redditch-based storage and logistics company, Oakland International Ltd, is going back to the classroom to encourage pupils to broaden their job horizons by increasing their language skills.
Dean Attwell (centre) with Chris Everall (second row, far-right) and Year 9 students at St Augustine’s Catholic High School.
Oakland International, works with a range of manufacturers and retailers worldwide, making it essential they employ staff with multilingual skills and at times, leading the company to look at other nationalities, utilising French employees who speak English.
With an expanding international client portfolio, Dean is passionate this situation is reversed, which is why he is supporting St Augustine’s Catholic High School in Redditch by helping pupils to see the benefits of languages in a business setting. The project reaffirms St Augustine’s commitment to language learning.
The project is part of the Business Language Champions programme, which is co-ordinated by Regional Language Network West Midlands (RLN WM). It is designed to bridge the gap between school and the workplace and to reverse the recent decline in the take up of modern foreign languages. The ‘Champions’ bring language skills alive by highlighting the problems local companies have recruiting staff that can speak more than one language and helping pupils to see how important these skills are in the workplace.
Dean, who conducted his inaugural presentation to the school’s Year 9 pupils on 23rd February, is calling on other companies to highlight the benefits of speaking a foreign language.
He commented: “Other countries, such as China, recognise the importance of having additional languages and are exploiting this opportunity fully. The younger generation in Britain is simply not recognising the importance of having more than one language to assist their employment development for the future.
“I would urge all 14 year old pupils considering their options at the moment, to choose a language as one of these options. As a local employer, we would like to nurture language talent to increase young people’s employability in the competitive international jobs market.”
Chris Everall, RLN WM manager, said: “Although businesses in the West Midlands are increasingly seeking staff with language skills to succeed in international markets, persuading young people to study languages alongside their other subjects can be a challenge.
“Bosses like Dean are a powerful advocate of language learning and place it in a relevant and inspiring context. We are actively looking for more firms in the area to act as Business Language Champions and would love to hear from anyone who is interested.”
Yvonne Brennan, principal at St. Augustine’s Catholic High School added: “Working with Dean will be a brilliant way for us to emphasise the importance of studying foreign languages, which will hopefully motivate pupils to continue their learning.”
If you are interested in becoming involved in the Business Language Champions programme please contact Frances Pallett, Programme Co-ordinator, on 0121 329 3297.
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