The Mary Glasgow 14-19 Curriculum Prize 2008

The Hotel Work Related Project is a unit of work for use in Key Stage 4 which is based around a local vocational context.  It has been designed in Suffolk by Gill Ramage and her team to fit in with a number of different qualifications, including GCSE, the pilot Applied GCSE, OCR’s Certificate in Business Language Competence, NVQ and Asset Languages. It also has the potential to fit in with the new specialist diplomas, depending on how these evolve.

In terms of teaching and learning, the project incorporates some key features related to personalising learning:

  1. Thinking skills and problem solving
  2. Group and team work
  3. Peer and self assessment
  4. Reflection and learning to learn
  5. Communication skills


Rationale

  • Many schools are investigating or beginning to implement alternatives to GCSE for languages in Key Stage 4.
  • Within the current languages GCSE, there is scope for work related learning which is largely  untapped.
  • There is a need to ensure that teaching and learning at Key Stage 4 under the new qualifications are not merely “more of the same” in a different context.
  • There are few appropriate work related learning MFL resources currently available, and of those that are, many are focused on lower attaining students.
  • Other vocational subject areas work on locally based case studies, and students find this motivating.


Nine steps to setting up the project

  • Gill and her team of teachers began by identifying common objectives in various KS4 qualifications by trawling through the specifications for the qualifications mentioned above.
  • They then agreed a context in which they could deliver these objectives. They wanted a context in which the work undertaken was transferable to another situation. They finally agreed on a hotel context, as the best way of meeting their needs, and focused in on two local hotels:
  1. Novotel Ipswich – as they knew them to be part of an international company, based in France. The manager there was keen to be involved when approached.
  2. The Ramada Hotel in Bury St Edmunds was also approached and agreed to provide some very helpful resources.
  • They agreed that their project would involve enough to stretch the most able candidates as well as weaker students. Teachers therefore need to make use of the resources and the supporting material as best suits their individual students.
  • The objectives from the different specifications are task-based in nature. They therefore agreed some linguistic objectives and skills-based objectives.
  • As the members of the team specialised in either French or German, they decided to produce resources in both languages.
  • They agreed that the project would be ICT-based but also printable if necessary.
  • Having agreed their objectives, they discussed an overall approach and came up with some broad headings for three mini-units of work. The project would take the form of a hotel training manual.
  • They then separated into teams to devise the specific teaching and learning ideas for the different mini-units. They subsequently produced the associated resources, agreed how they would be presented, and made the relevant videos, recordings, and other resources, using foreign language assistants, native speakers and Novotel staff.
  • Finally, the project was edited into its final form and distributed to schools.


Feedback from the teachers is very positive. Students like the approach, too, being able to learn more independently. They say they find it motivating to work more things out for themselves. Teachers find their role has changed and that they are able to interact more with the students as individuals. The initial feedback indicates that the impact on students’ learning is positive.