The Language Leader Award aims to develop leadership skills in our students. The emphasis will be on developing generic skills, such as organisation, communication and motivation, through the medium of leading basic foreign language activities. The course is also designed to improve students' responsibility, to help them develop a better understanding of the role of the teacher and to understand how other people learn. 

Since last September, 2 year 10 pupils and 8 6th Form students have been training to demonstrate competence in the following 6 units:

• Unit 1 - Planning, preparing and assisting a simple language activity;
• Unit 2 - Communicating and motivating participants in a simple language activity;
• Unit 3 - Cultural understanding of the chosen country's language;
• Unit 4 - Compendium of simple games and activities for the language leader to use with younger learners;
• Unit 5 - Organising and running a language festival for younger pupils;
• Unit 6 - Demonstration of leadership skills in languages.

As part of the award, our students have had to teach primary school pupils and Year 7 pupils. All of our leaders, with the support of Highams Park MFL teachers, were very successful in delivering these lessons.

The Award also aims at encouraging volunteering in communities and at offering the students another qualification, providing them with a stepping stone to employment. As a result, for the last few terms, some of our 6th Form students have been employed by Handsworth Primary School and Thorpe Hall Primary School to run after-school French clubs.  Some of our students have also expressed an interest in continuing with language learning and have now contemplated teaching as a possible profession.

Congratulations to Isobel Jasper, Bethan Lodge, Lilly Pipe, Jarome Gordon, Anna Eleftheriou, Zoe Errington, Isabel Juby, Tane Kinch, Elizabeth May and Iona Primavera.  All have made a very good effort to complete the units and to deliver enjoyable and successful language sessions to younger pupils in our local community.

Mr Bahier

Head of Languages