I had heard that Shireland Language College was doing wonderful things in languages and had come to see for myself. What I found was something that goes far beyond mastery of syntax or vocabulary acquisition. Situated in multi-ethnic Smethwick, West Midlands, it serves an area of social deprivation and high unemployment. On the face of it, this would seem to be a potential breeding ground for disaffection and underachievement. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The tone was set from the moment I arrived and was ushered inside by 15-year-olds Khalid Azmi and Nisha Devi. Both are bilingual in a community language and English and have added several more languages to their repertoire. They are also highly ICT literate. Above all, they have a quiet self-confidence that belies their tender years.

“We get lots of visitors so they are used to being ambassadors,” says headteacher Mark Grundy. With such a powerful combination of skills, they are set up for life.

It could, of course, have been a clever piece of public relations. They are head boy and head girl, so I was meeting the cr me de la cr me. But as the day went by, my first impression was confirmed. I watched a group of bright Year 11 students concentrate intently as they grappled with the unfamiliar sounds of Japanese. I saw a mixed-ability class of the same age focus equally single-mindedly in a Panjabi lesson. It was the same story in the school’s Tandberg-equipped multimedia centre (www.tandberg.co.uk), where key stage 3 students were eager to show me what they were doing in French, German, Urdu and Panjabi. And again when I was treated to an impressive multimedia presentation by the school’s star poets, who recently won second prize in a national competition.

“Where is that familiar teenage shrug of the shoulders, the deliberate slouch, the insolent stare?” I asked Mark Grundy at the end of my visit. “We do see it, but not too often,” he conceded with a modest smile.

The quality of the learning environment is reflected in GCSE results. Four years ago 26 per cent of students gained five or more A*-C grades. Last year the figure was 45 per cent, and 50 per cent achieved a C grade or higher in a modern language. Not bad for a school where 60 per cent of pupils are on the special needs register and almost 50 per cent qualify for free school meals. So what is the secret?

“We build on our students’ strengths,” says linguist and assistant headteacher Lesley Hagger-Vaughan. “The area may be poor in the material sense, but in terms of cultural and linguistic diversity it is very rich. Bilingual children are not afraid of having a go at a language and speak with confidence. Where we do have to work hard is on reading and writing, as literacy skills are often weak.”

Some pupils get their first taste of languages at primary school, thanks to Shireland’s involvement in the National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning (NACELL) Good Practice Project. All spend the early weeks of Year 7 trying out French, German, Urdu and Panjabi, before pursuing the language of their choice. Later they will choose a second from a wider range, including Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, while those who are willing to attend after-school classes and Saturday school can even study a third.

“Our motto is ‘Languages for Life’,” says Lesley Hagger-Vaughan. “It’s about creativity, languages for a purpose, cultural awareness and celebrating diversity. The international dimension goes right across the curriculum.”

This was evident as Khalid and Nisha showed me round the school. It was present in the maths corridor, where the story of numbers is told in different languages from ancient Egyptian to Arabic. And in the stairwell, where stained glass windows pick up foreign themes. International artwork spills out of the classrooms into the corridors, the science area boasts a display on the composition of foreign foods. The music curriculum includes modules on world music, and the school is proud of its Steel Pans and Bhangra bands. Even PE becomes international when students compete in games from around the globe at their annual multilingual Olympics.

Since becoming a language college in 1998, Shireland has invested heavily in ICT, not only for the benefit of its own pupils, but for those of neighbouring primary schools and members of the wider community. The state-of-the-art Tandberg system “Divace” provides opportunities for independent learning, while the electronic whiteboard is a versatile tool which offers lots of scope for pupil interactivity.

The latest initiative is the Smethwick Learning Network, an ambitious project which links schools around the area, giving students access to a shared curriculum and internet resources. Piloted last year, it is about to expand into 27 venues, including schools, libraries and places of worship. The eventual aim is to provide a resource for the whole community, covering everything from literacy and foreign languages to adult education and vocational training.

Unique in the UK, it was designed by Mark Grundy, an expert in the field. He is also a dab hand at securing sponsorship and approaches everyone from businesses, local authorities and regeneration schemes to FE and HE institutions and community groups. “You have to demonstrate that what you want to do fulfils a real need and convince people that you can deliver,” he explains. “It’s about mutual support and working in partnership.”

The principle of forging partnerships and bringing different communities together is fundamental to the school’s approach. One of its long-standing friends is local engineering firm Metsec, which was recently taken over by an Austrian parent company. Last year several students divided their Year 10 work experience between the West Midlands and Austria, concluding with a bilingual presentation to the board comparing work practices in the two countries. Administrative manager Marie Sandel believes passionately in the value of businessschool links. She is also becoming a linguist herself. Who better to teach her to converse with her new bosses than Shireland’s Lesley Hagger-Vaughan?

Tucked away among the densely-packed red brick houses of a neighbouring street is a little corner of Austria and another friend of the school. This is Franzl’s restaurant, which each year invites a group of Year 9 students to come and learn the art of strudel-making before returning to Shireland to bake their own and set up an Austrian cafe for the staff.

Cultural projects of this kind are an important feature of the curriculum and six days are set aside every year for activities with international themes. But perhaps the school’s ethos is most powerfully encapsulated by the achievements of Shireland Voices, a group of around 30 students from different ethnic backgrounds whose aim is to promote cultural awareness within and beyond the school walls. It all began two years ago when teachers acknowledged that they did not fully understand the beliefs and lifestyles of the pupils in their charge. Volunteers were enlisted to put matters right, and had such a dramatic impact that word got out and the telephone started ringing. Since then they have run training sessions for various prestigious organisations, including a firm of solicitors and BBC Pebble Mill.

My visit was made in the week after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, and the Asian community had become a target of abuse based on ignorance and fear. The contrast with these articulate, broad-minded students was poignant. It was a privilege to meet them.