VIPS – Vocational International Project Sheffield

VIPS has recently changed its name, and is now called International Business Communications.

Winner of the 2007 Mary Glasgow 14-19 Prize for innovation in the curriculum

Katherine Smith, VIPS Manager, wrote this about the project in 2007:

The Vocational International Project Sheffield (VIPS) now in its fifth year, delivers courses in Business Communication, teaching French, Italian, German or Spanish. There is also a course in English for students for whom this is not their mother tongue. The language component enables the students to undertake vocational language units mainly in key stage 4 – but the qualification can be delivered at all levels thus ensuring progression routes from key stage 3 to university level.

What does the vocational part mean for students?

National vocational qualifications are the qualifications of the workplace – employees further their careers via this route.

This route has many advantages.  It begins the preparation of students for the world of work,  and for the possibility of international work. It familiarises school-aged students with portfolio building, with the portfolios themselves providing a useful tool for them to access when they leave school. It gives them the opportunity to see at first hand that languages are used in the workplace through the business visit programme, and demonstrates and emphasises the need for language skills in the workplace.

Since the qualification is portfolio based, it is not subject to the exam timetable prescribed by GCSE and it therefore enables students to work at their own pace, fitting with a more personalised learning agenda. It is an entirely business-focused qualification designed to equip students with language and work place skills. It is cross-curricular, linking in with business and ICT, and encouraging the important skills of independent learning and student accountability.

What does the course involve?

At level 1 the scheme of work includes greetings, introductions, arranging meetings, sending faxes and emails, answering the phone and dealing with visitors to a company. Throughout the course there is an emphasis on the cultural aspects of doing business with France, Spain, Italy or Germany and how to respect business cultures. Many students are surprised for example that French business people spend half an hour a day shaking hands.

Level 1 assessments are based around these skills and include reading emails, arranging meetings with business colleagues and listening to information relating to orders.

At level 2 the course has been developed around work experience in the country of study and is designed specifically to equip students with the skills to undertake this.  They write a CV and letter of application, go for an interview, look for accommodation, visit the company and design a product.

Level 2 assessments are varied and wide-ranging – one of the speaking tasks at level 2 is to deliver a power point presentation to their new workforce describing a product of their design in the target language.  This clearly involves skills for the workplace as well as providing the opportunity to use ICT skills and creative skills through the medium of the foreign language.

How successful is VIPS?

The course has proved motivating for students, especially boys who historically have challenged the need for languages. They do not challenge the need for business language:

“In our school, sir, languages are cool!”

“ The helpful thing is knowing that what we are learning will be useful to us in business later.”

More importantly the qualification sets students up to achieve.  It has support built into it in the form of practice assessments. Students can have access to model texts and vocabulary lists as they would in the workplace. It is not a test of memory but rather a test of analytical skills and a degree of thinking on ones feet to meet the challenge of a task.  It encourages students to find information for themselves through reference materials and develops skills of logic rather than rote learning, as students must adapt what they know to fulfil the assessment tasks they are given. The focus for improvement is through feedback and target setting, methods that have a proven track record of success.

In Sheffield, where the project originated, the NVQ language entries now represent over a quarter of all the entries for languages. There has been a marked improvement in results, with, on average, a 2-grade improvement since the course was introduced.

The qualification

The qualification tests all 4 language skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing). Students doing the level 1 units work at the level of a D/E at GCSE; those doing level 2 units work at the level of a B at GCSE. It is also worth noting that 2 units at level 2 are equivalent to half a GCSE.

As winners of the Mary Glasgow 14-19 Prize, we are delighted to be able to move forward with development for NVQ level 3 materials as a result of the generous prize money given by the Mary Glasgow Trust.

The business visit

To reinforce the language learning that takes place in the classroom, all students on the Sheffield programme are taken on a business visit. There are twenty businesses in the region involved in this programme and a designated worker accompanies the students. They are given a tour of the company and a chance to practise in the workplace the language they have learned in the classroom.  They introduce themselves, ask questions about the company and have the opportunity to carry out language tasks such as ordering materials and sending faxes. This is beneficial to the student for a number of reasons. It allowsexposure to a work situation where languages are vital to the company, and in a climate in which the student’s knowledge of the language is valued and encouraged.  It gives an opportunity to practise the language outside the classroom, to hear about the career paths of employees, work experience placements, and apprenticeships in the company.

Feedback from the students on this experience has been unequivocally favourable:

“The trips I was taken on helped me to see how I could use this course in my future career”

“ I also enjoyed French visits to the factories – it gave me an idea of working in a French environment”.

Motivation for work in the classroom increases after these visits as students clearly relate what they are learning to possible job opportunities.

A different approach

As languages are increasingly under threat in schools across the country as a result of the decision to take languages out of the compulsory curriculum it seems that the time has now come for a different approach to languages in schools. Linking languages to business and ICT, and teaching business skills through the medium of a foreign language may be a more productive way to move forward.

The project has a dedicated website and course materials for NVQ level 1 and 2 in French German and Spanish.  Please go to www.sheffieldvips.com for more information, including sample resources.

Katherine Smith, VIPS Manager

November 2007

Please note: VIPS has now changed its name to International Business Communications and has begun to move its website to http://ibc-nvq.com