Cactus Language Training and the Diploma in Languages

Monday, 6th April 2009

Germaine Broadbent, sales director at Cactus, tells us about her involvement in developing the Diploma in Languages and International Communication, and why she thinks it represents a change for the better.

I attended the steering group meeting for the Diploma in Languages…which has now been renamed the Diploma in Languages & International Communication - a big improvement in my opinion.

The Diplomas are supposed to be seen as a ‘preparation for life’ and are much more of a vocational type of qualification for teenagers. We know that this qualification will need a strong sell with both teachers and children as it will be in competition with ‘fun’ subjects such as media or P.E.

I have been on the steering group for approximately 6 months and my purpose there is to represent an employer in the private sector and of people with language skills. Given that Cactus is so prominent within commercial education, I can also offer insight into what post-school adults are asking for, which evening courses prove popular, how languages are viewed within the corporate sector and knowledge gained from our b2b tailormade sector of Cactus.

The content of this Diploma is what impresses me most. If teachers can inspire students to really see why it is important to have language skills in our global world then that in itself will be a huge cultural shift for the youth of the UK. What young people seem to not grasp is that when they say ‘I don’t need to learn French/Spanish/Italian etc. everyone speaks English’ is that they are correct. Everyone does speak English….but they also speak other languages and we live in a free market system. This means that by not learning a second language you are therefore disadvantaged in the global workforce. Jack Garrigan from Tideway school attended the meeting with me. Jack was on a weeks work experience with Cactus arranged by Education Business Partnership who have the contract from East Sussex County Council to provide the Education Business Link for all 14-19 schools. He has written an article for Cactus, which you can read here. I was excited to see that the Diploma website also has a link to it too! Well done Jack!

I think this was an eye-opening experience for Jack to attend this meeting. Lots may have gone over his head - and mine too – when it comes to the huge machine that is called the process of creating a new qualification for children but what I am learning, and I hope he learnt from this experience, is how much time, thought and effort from a multitude of education professionals goes into making a qualification that these experts really believe in. It is admirable really. The next stage of the development is the consultation process. Stakeholders in business, schools, higher education, further education, awarding bodies and elsewhere have an opportunity to feed back on the proposed Line of Learning Criteria for the Diploma in Languages and International Communication.

Consultation event information can be found here. The registration deadline for April events is 15 April, and 1 May for May events.

21 April 09 - North East - Radisson SAS Durham Hotel
23 April 09 - North West - Radisson SAS Manchester Airport Hotel
28 April 09 - London - Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel
07 May 09 - Yorkshire - The Queens Hotel, Leeds
12 May 09 - South East - Barcelo Basingstoke Country Hotel
14 May 09 - South West - Mercure Holland House Bristol
19 May 09 - East of England - Trinity Park Conference Centre, Ipswich
28 May 09 - East Midlands - Nottingham Conference Centre
29 May 09 - West Midlands - Crowne Plaza NEC Birmingham

More about Tideway school in Newhaven

More about the National Education Business Partnership Award

More about the Diploma in languages

More about Cactus kids’ courses

More about school groups abroad

More about juniors’ language courses abroad

Tags: spanish, french, german, languages, cactus kids, diploma, secondary education, kids, junior language courses, foreign languages