150 Year 9 pupils from 30 schools across Coventry and Warwickshire have attended a special conference promoting Modern Foreign Languages.

The one day event, held on our Westwood campus, had a “Media and Celebrities” theme, highlighting well known personalities who owe their high profile jobs in the media to the fact that they have a language degree.

By using these celebrities, it was hoped that the schoolchildren would be inspired to study a modern language at GCSE, and to think about the benefits of further or higher education.

All the pupils were asked to choose one particular language – French, German or Spanish – for the conference, which was jam packed with interactive workshops run by student language teachers studying for the one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). It also included a themed lunch and a special introduction to Italian.

Each group of children was assigned a Student Ambassador to look after them throughout the day and tell them what university life is like.

The conference, the first of its kind in the Midlands, was run by a unique partnership of local organisations – the University’s Institute of Education and Student Recruitment & Admissions Office, Coventry LEA, Aim Higher (Coventry & Warwickshire), the local Learning & Skills Council and the Villiers Park Educational Trust.