South Ayrshire schools at Prestwick Airport

S5 & S6 pupils studying a language were invited to Prestwick Airport on 28th September for an event organised by South Ayrshire Council and Ayrshire Chamber Of Commerce.
The event aimed to promote the relevance of languages in the workplace, and to encourage pupils to consider studying languages further at school and beyond.
Employers involved included:
• IBM
• NATS (Air Traffic Control)
• PR/Marketing Company – Write2Promote
The day began with an ice-breaker activity where pupils worked in groups and to develop a presentation on why you should visit France or Spain.  Pupils were then given the opportunity to work with an employer on tasks in the language they are studying at school.  These tasks included:
• Role play
• Developing visual media in the language
• ‘Guess who’ and Pictionary
The aim was to develop pupils’ confidence in using the language, as well as to encourage them to see the relevance of learning a language.
Merron Watkins from IBM said they are are big supporters of EDL, and were delighted to be involved in this event.  Languages are crucial in the work they do, supporting customers across Europe.
This is the first event of its kind in South Ayrshire, but organisers hope its success will mean the event can become an annual event.