Last week St Bart’s was one of numerous schools to take part in the prestigious #ShoutOutForGerman campaign, a week-long, national celebration of German language in the UK.

Organised by the German Embassy, the Goethe-Institut UK and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the campaign aims to pay tribute to “all the schools, teachers and champions of German inside and outside of classrooms who work tirelessly to encourage and strengthen the case for language learning”. It is part of the embassy’s wider work, making the case for German.

The German department at St Bart’s organised a myriad of engaging activities, including visiting speakers, competitions, clubs and films. Events took place in lessons, activities times, and after-school throughout the week. German books were also available in the library, and the canteen laid on German delicacies including Bratwurst and Strudel at lunchtime.

The school was lucky enough to host a number of top-class guest speakers. A highlight was a visit from senior figures at the German Embassy and the Goethe-Institut UK to see how we were celebrating all things German. On Thursday, Susanne Frane, Head of Culture and Education at the German Embassy, and Andrea Pfeil, Deputy Director and Head of Language Department, North West Europe at the Goethe-Institut London, met the headteacher, Dr Fitter. They also visited a Year 12 German class, and joined Year 9s completing a German quiz around the MFL department.

Other speakers included Dr Ian Ellison, a post- doctoral researcher on the Kafka’s Transformative Communities Project at the University of Oxford and a Visiting Fellow at Wadham College; Wayne Morse, a recruitment specialist from BMW; Gregor Kleinknecht, founder partner at MEUM Law in London; and Anna Bawden, Health and Social Affairs Correspondent at the Guardian.

On Monday, Dr Ellison spent the day speaking to German classes from Year 7 to Year 13 about Franz Kafka; why his writing is so accessible, how to discover more about his stories and how to read and translate from German into English. On Tuesday, Year 10 had an online webinar with the British Council on the theme of ‘Where can languages take me?’, as well as a video message from Joel Douglas, former head student and alumnus, who is studying a German and History degree at the University of Exeter and is currently in Mainz on placement as a language assistant.

On Wednesday we were joined by Gregor Kleinknecht, a dual qualified German and English lawyer, who spoke with our Year 9, 10 and 12 about the importance of German and languages for business and in the recruitment process at law firms. On Friday students from Years 8, 9 and 10 were joined by Wayne Morse, who spoke about how BMW as a global car brand recruits apprentices and graduates in the UK and Anna Bawden, health and social affairs correspondent at the Guardian, who is a fluent German, French and Italian speaker. Mr Morse gave a short presentation to several classes about the apprenticeships, intern and graduate employment opportunities available for German speakers at BMW and why languages are helpful, and Ms Bawden spoke about why speaking German and other languages are good for many different careers.

“We have always been proud of the importance Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) plays in our curriculum,” said Dr Fitter. “Speaking more than one language helps build a sense of global citizenship as well as opening up future employment opportunities.” Research has shown that by studying a foreign language students will enhance their grammar skills and improve their analytic and interpretive capacities in English too. We hope that an added bonus of taking part in this prestigious week will encourage many more students to consider choosing German as an A Level option.  “We are determined to continue to raise the profile of the benefits of learning German,’’ Dr Fitter said.

The MFL department offers French, German, and Spanish to students, from Year 7 up to A Level. Students can also take GCSE Mandarin and Latin, with lessons taking place through an after-school club. In addition to language lessons, St Bart’s also provides many other language related activities, including foreign exchange trips, an annual foreign language Karaoke competition, a national translation competition, and a cultural poster contest.

Mrs Tucker, Head of German said: “I would really like to thank all students, colleagues, volunteers and visiting guest speakers who have fully supported the German department in backing the German Embassy’s aim to ‘Shout Out for German’ in the UK. In our increasingly competitive job market, it is not only important that students understand the value that employers place upon the skill of being able to speak another language but that they also become aware of the number of German companies in the UK who are looking to recruit German speakers. Our aim this week was to ‘shout out for German’ to students across the whole school. The vibrant atmosphere and enthusiasm of our students has been amazing!”