Paradise Park -
Hayle Community College
Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary, based in Hayle in Cornwall, incorporates the World Parrot Trust and is the country’s leading centre for the promotion of parrot welfare both in the wild and captivity. The Park is the base for the World Parrot Trust, a world-wide charity raising funds and awareness.
Hayle Community College and Paradise Park were one of the last of our Business Champions to join the pilot project, but this did not stop them from coming up with some of the most innovative ideas in no time at all. With the wildlife park having worldwide links due to its international breeding programmes, the partnership was well placed to take advantage of the opportunities this gave the students.
No English? No problem!
Plans were drawn up to produce a foreign language version of the park’s World Explorer quiz sheet, in French and Spanish with the possibility of German at a later stage. With so many foreign children visiting the park every year, the students hoped they could make the visit more educational and interesting for their visitors if they could only discover the park in their own language.
It was also decided that to record a CD Rom which would provide an audio tour for Spanish visitors to the park. Equipment would be loaned to the visitors upon entry to the park so that they could listen comfortably. Scripted, translated and read by the students, this would aid overseas visitors entering the park.
Other ideas discussed include the translation of signage at the park, the production of species specific leaflets aimed at primary school children and questionnaires designed to find out more about their foreign language speaking visitors.
Conservation offers opportunities for linguists
As a school governor himself, David Woolcock from the Wildlife Sanctuary, was already very aware of the extent of current language use within local schools, but said that the park was, ‘glad to have the opportunity to influence young people through the project, strengthen their connection with the local school and to reinforce the message that there are opportunities to use languages in the fields of conservation and animal husbandry too. He is also pleased that being involved is ‘further developing the use of language in new areas in the park and providing a better visitor experience for our overseas guests.’
John Topham, Deputy Head from Hayle Community College spoke at the Gala Dinner which was held to celebrate the close of the Business Language Champions pilot phase in June. He conveyed passionately to the audience how being involved had, ‘enhanced the relevance of learning languages for the pupils involved at Hayle Community College, and that they now had a much deeper understanding of the value business attributes to these skills.’ Seeing foreign languages used in a ‘real’ context via the project had allowed students to see how even local businesses have international links and that they themselves may be involved in the future.
Staff gain international skills
Since taking on the project eleven staff at the wildlife sanctuary have decided to attend a one day Welcome International course, run by South West Tourism, in the autumn. The course will give staff the ability to meet and greet international visitors in up to nine different languages and give them a thorough introduction to cultural issues in each country.
