Portland Spa Hotel champions school's language competition

5 March 2009

The Royal Manor Arts College at Portland is at the centre of an initiative developed by RLN SW and the Portland Spa Hotel to provide the warmest of welcome to overseas visitors to the Island and Royal Manor of Portland.

left to right , Luke Savage, Jo Atwell (RLN volunteer assistant),
Pauline Duncan (Portland Spa Receptionist), Joe Dallison

Two “Welcome to Weymouth and Portland” competitions are giving the school’s students the chance to get involved with local business language champions and use their foreign language skills to enhance the welcome to overseas visitors.

15 year old students in Year 10 at the Royal Manor Arts College are competing as tour guides to welcome and greet overseas guests to the luxury Portland Spa Hotel and Conference Centre in French, German and Spanish. Members of the RLN SW Volunteer Languages Register will act as overseas guests and help the judging.

The teams of two to three pupils will also have to produce a leaflet about Portland in these languages. The winning team will be offered work experience at the Portland Spa Hotel at Southwell Park and given tickets to the Sea Life Centre and the Bovington Tank Museum local attractions.

Younger Year 7-8 pupils aged 12 to 13, are competing to design a “Welcome to Weymouth and Portland” poster in a minimum of three languages to be used at prominent, local visitor attractions. The winning entry will win £25 and the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in developing their design idea to a professional standard. Two runners up will win £15 each.

Some forty plus entries are likely to prove a hard task for business judges Helen Bramah from Dean and Readyhoff Marinas, Ray Bulpit from the Portland Spa Hotel and Conference Centre and Jackie Gisborne from Weymouth & Portland Borough Council.

James Piriou, RLN SW business adviser explained how the competitions came about. “The RLN SW has been working for sometime with public and private sector partners to enhance the warmth of hospitality and welcome offered to visitors from Northern Europe through the use of language and cultural understanding.

“The “Welcome to Weymouth & Portland” competitions aim to develop closer links between Royal Manor Arts College and local employers and to raise pupil aspirations as to local work opportunities where language skills are an advantage, especially with the London 2012 Olympics in mind.”

Ray Bulpit, Portland Spa Hotel director commented: “The students entered into these exercises with confidence and enthusiasm. This practical experience sets their learning in context and they will be well placed to maximise on future job opportunities.

“It is really great what the RLN SW has been doing to grow awareness locally of the importance of being able to meet and greet people in their own language. We ourselves are taking this message on board at the Portland Spa Hotel in our own staff recruitment and training and so we have been pleased to support this community project with Royal Manor Arts College.”

Sue Young, head of modern foreign languages at the College believes it is vital for the future health of the economy that the linguistic potential of the students is developed.

She said: “The Southwell Business Park venture has helped our students to realise the importance of their contribution to an expanding world. They have developed their self-confidence and had fun along the way and we are extremely proud of the quality of their work."