Sibford School celebrates International Education Week

12 Dec 2013

Pupils at Sibford School near Banbury have been celebrating International Education Week.

Organised by the British Council, IEW, which ran from 18 – 24 November, promotes the value of international work in encouraging young people to become global citizens, develop language skills and improve their chances of employment in a global economy.

Activities at Sibford included learning how to write in Japanese, a science lesson taught in Cantonese and instructions on how to use foreign keyboard shortcuts and translation tools.

Lunch and dinner menus at the school were translated into different languages including Hindi, Persian, Russian, German and Welsh. There were lessons in international music and Italian drama and pupils were asked to design a logo to identify the week.

The school was visited by Rob Bonassisa, Apprentice Training Advisor at BMW, who spoke about the importance of learning different languages. “If you can speak another language it is one of the things that will help to put you ahead of the competition,” he told students. “Being able to speak other languages isn’t just about being a translator. It’s about being a professional person with a lot of skills to offer.”

Joseph Zetter, language teacher at Sibford School said: “This was the first time that we as a school had celebrated International Education Week.  It offered a wonderful opportunity to promote the importance of building an international dimension into the education of our young people and I was delighted that we were able to offer such a varied programme of activities across the whole curriculum.”

 

Pictured: Joseph Zetter and Rob Bonassisa of BMW with language students Francesca Holland, Hope Finch, Max Ostrand and Michael Burton.