Supporting other areas of the curriculum

14-19 Agenda

Through our Enterprise in Education project, TEDCO enables young people to learn about employment and enterprise as proposed and outlined in 14-19 Opportunity and Excellence. The principles that underpin Enterprise Education encourage young people to develop the skills, aspirations and confidence they need to become successful in their working lives, while the flexibility in the curriculum that the government is encouraging enables young people to be engaged in an appropriate curriculum that prepares them for life and work in the 21st century.

TEDCO provides challenges for young people in the 14-19 age group by:

• Offering them the chance to adopt a spirit of enterprise as an attitude of mind;
• Developing creativity by providing opportunities for them to become creative in daily life;
• Working alongside professional artists, writers and business professionals;
• Becoming involved in business projects that develop entrepreneurial attitudes;
• Involving young people in teamwork and decision making;
• Supporting and bridging the 14-16 and 16-19 vocation and academic choices available.

Working Together To Enhance the Student 14-19 Curriculum Experience - Mortimer Comprehensive School

We are in this business to enable young people to fulfil ambitions, achieve their potential and have the where-with-all to go and be successful in their future lives, wherever that might lead them. Young people, today, have many choices facing them after they leave school, but few face the luxury of a job for life. They have to have the skills and flexibility to adapt to new work conditions and new situations. Therefore it is vital that their curriculum experience is one suited to their particular strengths but, at the same time, is broad based, developing young people in terms of academic, vocational and generic need. This is the philosophy of Mortimer Comprehensive; it is about ‘making a positive difference’.

So it was with this philosophy in mind, that we approached Liz White at TEDCO and Mike Hamilton at the City Learning Centre, to set up a partnership to deliver an aspect of the 14-19 curriculum for a target group of students. The vision was to design an ICT course that did so much more than word documents or spreadsheets, that revealed the true and full potential of modern technology to young people and that enabled students to work on real briefs with professionals in the field. Together we explored the many and seemingly endless possibilities that could be offered to the students. From this extensive list we narrowed it down to a number of projects extending over a two-year course.

Emma Armstrong, from TEDCO and James Boyle, from Mortimer work closely with Mortimer Comprehensive students and the ‘professional’ facilitators to deliver an exciting and dynamic curriculum. Some of the many projects students have participated in are

• Working with James De Marco to film, edit and produce a promotional DVD for the school – and I have to say the final result was magnificent!
• Working with Steve Donalds designing and producing a comic for new students to the school.
• Marketing and organising the launch of their DVD
• Working with Dave Nicholson on a radio broadcast
  

So what do the students think? “Wicked!” to quote one. They are proud of their work. Their self-esteem and confidence have shot through the roof! They are excited by what they are experiencing. It is helping them formulate their own plans, post 16. In short - they are successful!
This is a curriculum we could not have offered the students, if we had not had the opportunity and good fortune to work with TEDCO. Many thanks from the team at Mortimer and particularly from the students.

Claire Mullane
Headteacher
Mortimer Comprehensive School

Citizenship

Citizenship provides an excellent vehicle for developing the enterprising skills of pupils as well as providing them with the life skills that will enable them to become active and responsible adults, aware and confident of the positive difference they can make in their community.

Involving pupils in Enterprise Education projects helps them to learn in a variety of ways, in a real life context that adds real value and relevance to people living in the community and is a powerful tool in preparing young people for the world beyond school.  Enterprise in Education activities also support delivery of key Citizenship targets including:

• Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities
• Developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people
• Developing knowledge, skills and understanding by making real choices and decisions about options for their future, based on their own research and career portfolios

Enterprise and Employability

In today’s world of employment people need to know how to be pro-active, to work in teams, to be flexible and to have the confidence to make mistakes, because it is only by making mistakes that we can learn new things. TEDCO’s Enterprise in Education programme gives young people the chance to develop in this way in a supportive learning environment. Through this they learn the value of an ‘I can’ culture which leads them towards making realistic and achievable choices on their employment or self-employment. Young people are encouraged to be more confident and to build their self-esteem.

Projects are designed to enable young people to gain skills that will be needed in employment situations. An example of a project activity is ‘Marketing Ourselves’ in which young people explore specific employability skills. These include communication skills, problem solving, assessing risk, budgeting, planning and coping with change.

Financial Capability

As part of Enterprise in Education programmes within schools, projects and events have been designed to encourage young people to work with real-life financial practitioners.  Programmes developed introduce students to the world of finance and to raise awareness of the importance of personal budgeting. Students gain insight into the various aspects of personal finance they will encounter during their adult their lives, creating a better understanding of the kinds of decisions that need to be made when saving or borrowing money. Programmes are designed to include activities which are hands on and inspirational, giving a feel for the whole range of financial issues involved in life in the real world, at the same time as giving the students the opportunity to develop their key skills, including: communication, teamwork and problem solving.

Case Study - The Earning Game Personal Finance Programme - St. Robert of Newminister Catholic Secondary School

In September 2004 TEDCO Enterprise in Education met with representatives from St Robert of Newminster Catholic Secondary School, Washington, Tyne & Wear, to discuss the delivery of a personal finance programme to their post 16 students. The staff recognised the importance of giving the students an overall view of personal money management as well as looking at student finance for further and higher education.

With this in mind, Enterprise in Education developed a financial programme which gave the students an insight into various aspects of personal finance, which they would encounter during their adult lives.

The Earning Game – Personal Finance Programme was delivered to 218 students, in two, one day events, which took place in December 2004, at the Riverside Suite of the Durham County Cricket Club, Chester le Street.

Teachers’ feedback was very positive and in particular when asked if they felt the sessions were beneficial to the students they commented as follows:

“It was targeted very clearly at the students, with relevance and of interest to them. They were on task, motivated and interested throughout”

“Made them aware about finance and the costs”

“Finance is all too easily overlooked. This encourages students to look at these issues”

“Social involvement between students was really nice to see and the design of the day helped develop co-operation, communication and problem solving. A very valuable day”.

“Made them extremely aware of financial costs in their everyday lives”.

"Pace was rapid without being too intense and this helped maintain interest and motivation”.

Comments from students on the day:

‘We looked at five different areas of finance and did various activities related to them’

‘I learnt about finance, mortgages and how to keep a budget’

‘We did many different tasks to help us develop money management skills’

‘Learnt that we need to manage and deal with our finances correctly’

‘Learnt about student life, money and how to manage it’

‘Learnt about budgeting and insurance’

Although the programme was aimed at Year 12 pupils, Enterprise in Education is keen to customise all its programmes to meet the needs of individual schools and pupils, regardless of age or ability.  The activities in this programme can be run as a one day event or as individual activities which can be delivered in school within a ½ hour to an hour period.

If you would like further information or would like to discuss how the Enterprise in Education team can offer support to help deliver personal finance activities in your school please call (0191) 428 3392 or email youngpeople@tedco.org

Putting the World into Enterprise Education

International Strategy

On 15th November, 2004, Charles Clarke MP, launched the DfES International Strategy for Education, Skills and Children’s Services in England. It sets out plans to ensure an international dimension across our education system, the exchanging of ideas, and to offer support to developing nations. He recommended that all schools throughout the UK should have an international link by 2010, in order to maximise UK contribution to future overseas trade and investment, and secure a competitive home market. An International Schools Award has been created, to highlight best practice in International Education.

Creating Enterprising Young People, in a global society and global economy – the Trans-national Enterprise Programme.

In line with this new DfES strategy for schools, TEDCO have developed trans-national Enterprise Education programmes, in order to ensure young people are fully equipped for life in a global society and work in a global economy, and to encourage young people to be responsible and pro-active citizens in an increasingly complex and interdependent world.

Programmes meet not only Enterprise targets, in Business and Economic Understanding, Financial Literacy and Enterprise Capability across the curriculum, but additionally enhance numerous learning objectives in all subject areas.

If you are interested in developing an international dimension into your enterprise education planning, contact us on (0191) 428 3392 or email youngpeople@tedco.org for further information.

Work Related Learning

In order to meet the challenge of creating a more creative and enterprising workforce of the future, students need to be encouraged to do more to develop their own strengths and learning needs. We need to put the development of enterprise skills as a priority to prepare the young for the challenges they will face in the rapidly changing world.

Students should have the opportunity to gain the qualifications, skills and attitudes they need to improve their employability, and develop a knowledge and understanding of the world of work and its demands.

Enterprise in Education programmes support work related learning by involving real-life professionals as facilitators in project work. Through project activity young people gain first hand practical experience of business/professional situations and tasks. Developed to meet the needs of schools, programmes support delivery of  key elements of provision for all students in the Key Stage 4 Work-Related Learning Framework including:-

• Recognising, developing and applying skills for enterprise and employability
• Relating abilities, attributes and achievements to career intentions and make informed choices based on an understanding of the alternatives
• Learning from contact with personnel from different employment sectors
• Engaging with ideas, challenges and applications from the business world

With guidance all students can learn from their experiences in the world or work to develop their key competencies and skills and enhance their employability. Partnerships between employers and education are valuable in promoting work-related learning and improving the quality and quantity of such experiences.

For further information on work related learning, contact us on (0191) 428 3392 or email youngpeople@tedco.org for further information.