Pupils from senior schools across Solihull, Birmingham and Warwickshire - and as far afield as Leicester and Norwich - will descend on Solihull School on Saturday 22 March for a day-long festival designed to inspire more young people to study a Modern Foreign Language.

During the day, which is being offered at no cost to local schools, Europe’s leading language organisations, including Alliance Française, Instituto Cervantes and the Oxford German Network, will be leading innovative workshop sessions exploring key A Level themes in French, German and Spanish, while native speakers from within Solihull School will be offering short taster sessions in a range of languages, including Urdu, Welsh, Mandarin and Arabic.

In addition, leading academics from Oxford, Cambridge, University of Warwick, UCL, University of Birmingham and others will be sharing their insights into the study of languages at GCSE and beyond, as well as the wide range of careers they make possible.

The day will end with a flamenco performance from some of Solihull School’s A Level Dance students, choreographed by a professional flamenco dancer.

Charles Fillingham, Executive Headmaster of Solihull School and a teacher of French and German, believes that languages have a unique ability to expand the outlook, ambition, and empathy of young people and that it is a tragedy that the number of young people studying languages in the UK continues to fall.

“At a time when employers are actively seeking employees with language skills to remain competitive in the global market, and there is an urgent and fundamental need for the people of the world to understand each other better to calm global tensions, the study of languages at school offers a chance to teach young people far more than simply how to make polite conversation with someone from another country,” he said.

“Our view is that languages encourage young people to lift their eyes above their immediate environment and to explore new horizons. We call this a ‘New Spirit of Internationalism’; this mindset is good for individuals and good for Great Britain too. We are encouraging the next generation to imagine themselves in a global future.

“It is incumbent upon us as educators to make languages thrilling – a window into another culture, a puzzle to be solved, a skill to be acquired. They offer an opportunity to explore the world from the classroom, to understand different cultures and feel at home in the global community. That’s the purpose of the festival, for pupils who attend to have an inspiring and enjoyable day - whether they are still considering languages as an option, or their heart is already set on pursuing them at university and beyond.”

At Solihull School, the study of languages remains a fundamental part of the curriculum. All pupils study at least one of three Modern Foreign Languages offered to GCSE level with more than 90 percent achieving grades 9-5. At A Level, more than 80 percent of language students achieve grades A*-B. All year 7 pupils learn Latin to explore the origins of European languages and enthusiastic linguists can pursue both Latin and Ancient Greek to GCSE and A Level. The school also offers both French, German and Spanish exchange programmes and short immersion trips to all three countries to encourage the practising of languages.

The Festival of Languages is free for schools to attend and includes lunch and welcome refreshments (snacks also available to purchase). Visiting pupils from other schools who are year 11 or below must be accompanied by a teacher or parent/carer (this does not apply to Solihull School pupils, although parents and carers are very welcome to attend). Booking for external visitors/schools is now closed for 2025, we hope to see you at the next event!