Sponsored

Best Practice

Embedding enterprise education across curriculum subjects

Curriculum Extra curricular
With specific workplace skills in high demand, the time has come for applied learning to be embedded across the curriculum. The programmes, resources and expertise of Young Enterprise are showing schools how...
Image: Young Enterprise

The need to cover a breadth of knowledge and content in the secondary curriculum means that the task of preparing young people for the world of work can often be forgotten.

At the same time, students often fail to see the relevance of what they are learning and how this will be useful to them in the future.

But by taking a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, young people can be better prepared for life beyond school.

“The workplace is completely different from being in education,” Sharon Davies, chief executive of Young Enterprise told SecEd. “But we have to use those school years to provide our children and young people with the windows of opportunity to see and experience the skills they will need for the future.”

 

High-impact enterprise programmes

Young Enterprise offers a number of enterprise programmes, initiatives, and expert advice to schools – all aimed at developing more enterprising mindsets, teaching key workplace skills, and giving young people a taste of the workplace. The charity is celebrating its 60th anniversary of transforming young people’s futures.

One of the most popular programmes is the Company Programme, which empowers young people to set up and run a student company with the support of a business volunteer. Students make all the decisions – from deciding on the company name, managing the finances, and selling to the public.

Also popular is its well-known 10X Challenge, in which young people aged 11 to 19 have four weeks to research, create, plan, and run their own business with a £10 pledge. It is a highly interactive programme offering first-hand experience and crucial enterprise skills.

Meanwhile, the Learn to Earn programme provides an opportunity for young people to understand the full range of opportunities available to them and to learn from employers about work and the skills that are valued in the workplace.

Young Enterprise also offers support and training helping schoolsto develop and deliver high-quality enterprise education.

And via its Young Money brand, Young Enterprise provides resources and training to anyone teaching young people money management skills.

Among the financial packages for schools is Your Money Matters, a financial education textbook developed in partnership with Martin Lewis. Aimed at 14 to 19-year-olds, it provides a wealth of information, activities and case studies covering financial topics relevant to the young people. There is also a teacher guide that sits alongside the textbook to help make relevant curriculum links and explore opportunities to embed and extend learning.

 

It's not just entrepreneurship

Ms Davies urges caution against conflating the concept of enterprise with entrepreneurship.

“An enterprising mindset is really important, but people often think this means you have to be an entrepreneur, which just isn’t the case,” she continued.

“Having an enterprising mindset means you can see opportunities in challenge and be flexible, adaptable, responsive, and resilient. It can lead to entrepreneurship, but not necessarily.

“It is a growth mindset, where you never stop learning. This generation of young people will probably be working well into their 60s and beyond, so being able to be flexible, adaptable, and resilient is very important.

“Often these traits are referred to as ‘soft skills’ but they aren’t soft at all. Empathy, communication, team-work, problem-solving, and self-efficacy enable you to work with others and independently and allow you to navigate the fast-changing world of work.

“Our partners in industry often tell us they can teach technical skills, but they need people who are resourceful, can use their initiative to problem-solve, and have a willingness to change and learn.

“Relevant and relatable role-models are an important aspect of our programmes, so students can find out more about the breadth of opportunities within different industries.”

 

Applied learning in practice

Young Enterprise’s recent report What applied learning really looks like (Howes, 2022), outlines how schools can use real-life experiences and activities to prepare young people for work, but also to make what they are learning at school feel relevant to them.

The study found that the biggest impact came not through extra-curricular activities, but when applied learning was embedded across the curriculum. In some cases, it even changed the entire culture of the school – often where schools used limited time and financial resources creatively.

Implementing enterprise education into the timetable can be achieved in most subjects.

 

  • An English language lesson could involve putting together a CV and covering letter to a prospective employer – an exercise that tests writing skills and focuses students’ minds on what a job application might look like.
  • Running a lunchtime tuck shop can aid mental arithmetic as students calculate costs and give change for payments – not to mention stock-taking.
  • For older pupils, discussing personal finance, taxation, mortgages, and pensions as part of PSHE or citizenship lessons helps to develop ideas of responsibility for oneself, as well as exploring some of the considerations around employing staff.
  • Greetings cards, postcards or coasters can be made in an art or design and technology lesson and then sold as part of an enterprise project to boost school funds or support a charity.
  • A history lesson on iconic leaders could involve inviting a guest speaker from industry to discuss with students what specific attributes and characteristics contribute to effective leadership.

 

Key skills: More scenes from the Young Enterprise Trade Fair 2023 at Spitalfields in London when student companies put their products and business acumen on show (Images: Young Enterprise)

 

Denbigh High School

At Denbigh High School in Luton there are plans to implement a new timetabled enterprise session once a week for year 7 students. This will be rolled out gradually across the whole school as students progress through their education.

The lessons will be based around Young Enterprise programmes like Money Matters and the Company Programme, though some may be adapted to suit the students’ ages.

Headteacher Donna Neely-Hayes said staff had to think creatively about how to make time for the lesson in an otherwise tight schedule, and this involved shortening the lunchbreak once a week and starting the school day earlier.

She explained: “We already use various programmes from Young Enterprise across different age groups to try to embed strategies and initiatives both within and beyond the curriculum, but the new sessions are a departure for us and demonstrate the value we place on enterprise education.”

Currently, the school uses the Company Programme for targeted groups in years 10 and 11, some of whom volunteer because of their own personal interests. It is also targeted at young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, those who are not regular school attenders, or those at risk of exclusion.

“For me it is a non-negotiable aspect of school,” Ms Neely-Hayes said. “Yes, you must have the core subjects, but for some pupils you also have to focus equally on the personal development that will impact their future life chances. We want to develop them to be good citizens, excellent role-models, and ready for the world of work.”

Among the students targeted for enterprise learning are those with special needs: “We have developed a bespoke programme for them as they move into adulthood. They learn, for example, how to get on a bus to the shop with a list of ingredients, to manage their money, and to post a letter.”

The impact, she said, has been marked: “The pupils feel a real sense of success and like they have ownership of something that they have created. They become visibly more grown-up and in control of their lives, and understand the opportunities and options open to them that don’t necessary involve going to university, as this wouldn’t be the right route for all of them.

“This is particularly important when children come from families counting the pennies. Managing money is vital for these children. We know how things can go horribly wrong when young people get hooked into ways and means of earning money quickly, which can then lead to criminality and exploitation. That, for us, is part of the fire in our bellies to make a difference.”

Ms Neely-Hayes said that attendance among the targeted groups has improved, and students now display better oracy, literacy, and numeracy skills too.

It is feedback that Ms Davies hears regularly from participating schools: “I spoke to the mother of one young woman, who did not attend school regularly. She participated in the Company Programme at her school and was its managing director.

“Her mum told me that the days her daughter did Young Enterprise were the ones she actually managed to get her into school successfully, because she could see the relevance of what she was learning.

“She went on to do a Duke of Edinburgh Award and gained some qualifications. Enterprise education showed her a pathway to build her future where she had previously struggled to make those connections.”

Ms Davies believes it now needs policy-makers to engage and change their mindset about the power of enterprise education.

“We’re not suggesting everyone needs to be an entrepreneur, but we know there is a productivity issue in the UK and we need workers within all industries to have the right attributes and attitudes.

“So, I’m saying to policy-makers: look at the opportunities to embed applied learning across the whole curriculum, so we can build self-efficacy, resilience and confidence and develop a generation of lifelong learners and an enterprising workforce for the future.”

 

Further information & resources

Knowledge Bank

This article has been published by SecEd with sponsorship from Young Enterprise. It has been written and produced to a brief agreed in advance with Young Enterprise.