LONDON CITY AIRPORT AWARDS FOREIGN LANGUAGE HIGH FLYER!

London City Airport has presented its award for achievement in Modern Foreign Languages to Isriyapol Petdee from Portway Primary School, Plaistow. Now in its third year, the award recognises and encourages the distinct employment and life advantages students achieve through learning a new language.  

Isriyapol, 11 years old from Plaistow, was presented with a personalised shield by the airport’s Community Team at the school’s annual end of term achievement assembly. Isriyapol, who is now fluent in both Thai and English, moved to the UK aged 5 and was selected by Portway School teachers for his hard work, effort and keen interest in learning a second language.

London City Airport was introduced to Portway Primary School in 2008 and now works in partnership with the school on a number of programmes including tours to the airport, its beacon Barnaby Bear geography programme and support for the modern foreign languages programme. The award forms part of the airport’s Education Excellence Programme aimed at raising aspiration and attainment levels of young people in the borough.

Maggie Van Load, Head Teacher at the school said ‘“Our link with London City Airport provides real encouragement for our young people, and supports their enthusiasm for language learning. The presentation of the annual LCA Award for Modern Foreign Languages at Portway is one of the high points of the school year, in recognising our children’s achievements, and is eagerly looked forward to by the whole school community.”

Isriyapol said of the award ‘I was very proud to receive the London City Airport Award for Modern Foreign Languages and I hope to do well in languages in my new secondary school’.

In addition to the schedule set out in the National Curriculum, Portway School specialises in languages and each month focuses on a different dialect. Pupils are encouraged to learn basic conversational skills and gain an understanding of the regions where the languages are spoken.