26 May 2016
Students heading off on school trips over the summer have the opportunity to get ahead with the language skills thanks to a unique offer.
School trip company, Diverse School Travel, and language resources company, FlashSticks, have teamed up to offer schools a great opportunity for their students. Schools that book a language related trip abroad with Diverse School Travel will be provided with free FlashSticks language resources worth over £6,000 for the students and teaching team attending the trip.
This new package enables pupils to really get ahead with their language skills before adventuring into a new country and culture, helping them get the very most out of their trip abroad.
Latest school examination data shows that while almost half of schools (42 per cent) have increased resources available to them, more can still be done to encourage pupils to study languages in school. The authors of the report by the British Council and Education Development Trust also said far more young people, not fewer, need to be learning languages in schools if the UK is to remain competitive on the international stage.
Both companies, based in Birmingham, have received significant investment from Midven, venture capital specialists also based in the city. Surjit Kooner, investment director at Midven, said: “It is great see two of Midven’s portfolio companies collaborating in order to provide an innovative yet practical approach for schoolchildren and students to learn a language and experience another country. At Midven we’re always looking to see if and how our companies can work together.”
Diverse School Travel is a leader in educational travel, helping schools to take students’ learning beyond the classroom. By teaming up with FlashSticks, this is now being taken a step further. With FlashSticks, students will now have award winning printed language Post-it Notes to help them learn, together with a state-of-the-art mobile App. The App is already being used by schools across the country and includes the world’s first object translator, which can scan any object and provide an instant translation into over 40 languages.
Jamie Gardiner, of Diverse School Travel , explained: “We’re very proud of our reputation for providing schools with inspirational and highly memorable experiences. We know how much students look forward to getting away on a trip and that’s why we’ve teamed up with FlashSticks. We’ve seen how much students love their resources and it gives them a fun way to immerse themselves in language learning before and throughout their time abroad.”
Each pupil attending a trip receives a free FlashSticks language Box Set and unlimited access to the mobile App, a package worth £66 per student. Using the App’s leaderboard, classmates can even compete to see who can learn the most foreign words before they travel.
Veejay Lingiah, CEO of FlashSticks, commented: “Immersion is such an important part of learning a new language and we hope that our work with Diverse School Travel will enable students to be as well equipped as possible before their experience abroad, helping them to have the confidence to interact even more when they’re out there too. The FlashSticks App contains over 10,000 words and phrases to learn per language, with thousands of native speaker videos too, so it represents a great way for students to learn independently and really explore their potential.”
Schools interested in this offer can learn more by visiting: www.diverseschooltravel.co.uk
www.flashsticks.com/diversetravel