Binlingual students help tourists

9:24am Friday 10th November 2006

BILINGUAL pupils have used their skills to strengthen the French connection with South Lakeland by helping tourists to find out more about the area.

Since September, a group of 40 year 10 students from Ulverston Victoria High School has been working on producing holiday brochures for the Lakeside Hotel and Newby Bridge Hotel.

The group was divided in half and students worked in pairs on their brochures, which will be judged by the hotels at the end of November before the winning entry is printed and sent out to French tourists who make inquiries about staying at the hotels and request further information.

It is all part of the school's voluntary Enterprise scheme, which runs across all school subjects and encourages youngsters to broaden their knowledge through extra curricular practical learning.

Juliet Duncan, head of modern languages at UVHS, said: "It has been quite challenging for the pupils but they have really enjoyed it. They had to look at French websites and brochures, and they have really worked hard.

"They have been working for a real purpose rather than just staying in the classroom. It is really interesting and it shows them how they can use their French in different ways."

General manager at Newby Bridge Hotel Kim Niemand said: "The overall behaviour was really good and we were impressed by the students. They were very intuitive."