Young people from ten schools across west of Scotland had the opportunity to engage with local businesses at the University of West of Scotland Paisley Campus on 28 January 2016. 140 learners from S3-S6 heard from a range of business leaders who view language skills as key to the growth and success of their company. The Business Brunch demonstrated the relevance of language skills in a work context and aimed to encourage pupils to continue with their language studies into the senior phase of their secondary education, and beyond school.
A teacher attending said: “The event was very interesting and demonstrated to pupils how languages are used in the workplace. Pupils hadn't made the connection between having a language with the sort of companies represented at the event.”
One of the young people added to this and commented: “I learned lot about how languages are valuable in the world and that learning a second language is of increasing importance.”
Gillian Black, Regional Sales Manager at the Macdonald Crutherland House Hotel, stated in the plenary: “How you interact, how you hold yourself and get to know the culture along with the language is very important in the world of hospitality. We will soon be hosting a group from China and are busy learning phrases in Chinese. I have a range of languages I tap into – it's about building a relationship.”
The event was organised by SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages in partnership with the University Council for Modern Languages (UCML) Scotland. Companies attending included Rolls Royce, Clansman Dynamics and Holiday Inn. Schools represented were Gryffe High School, Renfrew High School, Johnstone High School, Linwood High School, Lourdes Secondary, Bannerman High School, Holyrood Secondary, Balfron High School, Bearsden Academy, Barrhead High School.
Fhiona Fisher, Director of SCILT said: “Events such as these are a really important way of providing young people with high quality careers advice delivered by the business people themselves and of demonstrating to them the value of language skills in our increasingly globalised world”.
Meaningful employer engagement and providing relevant careers advice are both key recommendations of Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy, “Developing the young workforce”. This Business Brunch supported these aims by giving young people the opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the role of languages in the business world.
This collaboration between schools and businesses supported Scotland’s International Policy to equip young people with international communication and employability skills that they will need in our increasingly globalised society and economy.
The event is one of a series of Business Brunches being held across Scotland in January and February 2016 which build on the successful series of Business Breakfasts in January 2015.
More information on SCILT’s 2016 Business Brunches.