Calendar

The 23rd October marked our final event in a series of interactions delivered by staff from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures to mark the university’s 60th birthday and the 80th anniversary since the end of World War Two. Our theme of “Language Learners as Peacemakers” linked perfectly to our collaboration with Coventry Cathedral whose motto of peace and reconciliation drives all of their community engagement. We were delighted to produce a booklet of family friendly visitor activities and a tree of peace on this theme for visitors to the Cathedral during the summer holidays, and work with Coventry’s Young Poet Laureate Aamani Kanda from whom we commissioned a special poem “airplane brother” which introduced our schools poetry competition “Mother Tongue Other Tongue” exhibited with all our finalists across primary and secondary schools in the Chapterhouse. Finally, we hosted 2 evening talks delivered by two of our SMLC academics on their research on the Second World War and hosted a school’s event for 60 Year 9 pupils from Coventry schools in October. The students were able to reflect on the themes of peace and reconciliation through language learning with a series of language-based tasks and a creative challenge to propose and design a new piece of artwork to mark the link between Dresden and Coventry.

The event was part of the outreach and widening participation work delivered to local schools by the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. They collaborated on this occasion with Coventry Cathedral to design an event to mark the 80thanniversary since the end of World War Two and Warwick’s 60th birthday. The event took place in the beautiful surroundings of Coventry Cathedral and will allowed pupils to:

• explore how language learning can promote intercultural awareness, empathy and understanding between nations
• be inspired by the Cathedral surroundings to create a piece of artwork

The event challenged pupils in Year 9 to

• use their language skills (content will be accessible in French, Spanish and German)
• use their teamwork and presentation skills
• use their creativity and explore links between curriculum subjects

Our SMLC staff team were supported by our wonderful team of SMLC student ambassadors.

Who was it for?

Local Coventry and Warwickshire schools and those who were part of our Routes into Languages network could apply to attend. Schools were recommend to bring pupils in Year 9 who study French, Spanish or German and have an interest in pursuing languages or who may need just a little push to encourage them to choose them at GCSE! Also pupils who were considering taking History, Art or RE at GCSE as the content covered all these curriculum areas. It was also an ideal enrichment opportunity for students on pupil premium registers. State schools were prioritised who met our widening participation criteria (higher than average % of pupils on free school meals and/or school postcode in lower polar quintile area), then state schools in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. After this, allocation of places was on a first come first served basis.

More information can be found HERE!