Mother frustrated by decline in modern language learning sets up own foreign exchange programme
Rachel Athey was so dismayed by the lack of immersive language opportunities for her daughter she decided to set up her own business
When Rachel Athey decided to send her child on an exchange programme abroad she was dismayed by the lack of suitable options.
So the mother - who has no teaching or languages experience - decided to set up her own.
This summer Mrs Athey launches Athena Language Camps sending its first cohort on a fully immerse experience in Spain.
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She said: “I'm not a linguist, I'm not a teacher, I’m a mum who wants that for my child.”
Mrs Athey, head of commercial services at Queen Margaret University (QMU), has been working on the programme for more than two years.
QMU works with an English language school that brings European teenagers to the UK on summer study trips.
“I love that you can watch them develop in front of your eyes, their confidence grows and they become louder - they’re just having the best time,” Mrs Athey said.
“I think it's really important our young people are connected to the world, that they see other cultures, that they understand their place in the world.”
In looking for opportunities for her daughter, she realised she could send her child to a centre overseas but preferred for her to travel with a Scottish cohort.
Teenagers taking part in the Athena programme travel with a guardian and stay in student accommodation.
Language exchanges organised by schools have declined since the 1990s, in part because of the safeguarding concerns around homestays.
Over the past decade, modern language uptake has declined in Scottish schools with Higher PE now more popular that French or Spanish.
The Scottish government has previously promoted its “1+2” language policy, aimed at ensuring pupils learn two languages in addition to their mother tongue.
However, uptake at exam level has not kept pace with early years participation.
Mrs Athey said: “The decline in language learning can be linked to the decline in exchange trips - as a teenager you’re not learning how to swear from French teenagers and getting that real life, full experience.”
The trips include 18 hours of Spanish lessons, which is an average of half a school term’s worth of lessons.
Athena Language Camps are targeting the affluent Edinburgh area, where parents are most prone to financial investment in their child’s education.
However, Mrs Athey is aware of accessibility for families from less wealthy backgrounds.
She said: “I was concerned about that but I thought, I can’t make any difference at all unless I start.”
She is hoping this year will be success enough that she can secure corporate sponsor to offer scholarship-style free or supported placements to families who can’t afford the trip.
With a background working in the charity sector, she added: “It's all about kind of global citizenship, widening of horizons and access to all sorts of kids with different types of backgrounds and abilities.”
Eventually she would like to expand the scheme to include German and Arabic.
She said, speaking to schools, there is a frustration that competing priorities mean immersive trips are often not an option.
Mrs Athey hopes to fill a gap in the market. The first trip will run this summer to Spain and will expand to include France in 2027.
Eventually she would like to include German and Arabic.
“As AI becomes ever more present in our life, I think about my child, who's 11, and there’s nothing I can control for her,” she added.
“I think what you need now is to be able to communicate, make friendships and network because I think it's these really innate human skills that we need to provide our young people with.”
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