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Fylde & Wyre

 WORK RELATED LEARNING THROUGH EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT

All students are entitled to experience Work-Related Learning between the ages of 14 to 16 at Key Stage 4. The 14-19 reforms build on this legal requirement by extending links between employers and educators in order to better provide Work-Related Learning for those students who choose it. From this come the three parts of the Key Stage 4 legal requirement, which states that every young person should be able to:


• Learn through work by direct experiences, such as a part-time job or work experience;
• Learn about work by providing opportunities for students to develop their knowledge and understanding, for example through vocational courses and careers education;
• Learn for work by developing employability skills, such as mock interviews and work simulations


Working with Travel to Learn areas the Partnership Delivery model supports the Work-related Learning curriculum, Employer Engagement Implementation plans, 14-19 reforms and Partnership Employer Engagement strategy. Lancashire Education Business Partnership supports Lead Groups and individual schools to provide a flexible and creative model of delivery which is a relevant, personalised and suitable route for every young person enabling them to progress and achieve.

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Developing enterprising skills in young people is important preparation for work and life and is valuable in both school and community settings. Empowering young people to take up a self-determining approach to achieve their goals is essential to navigate the numerous opportunities in front of them.
Ambassadors support enterprise by offering their expertise in business. Ambassadors ‘up-skill’ students and give a real life insight into the world of work, why thinking enterprisingly is important to business and Intrapreneurship is a valuable attitude to have.

Lancashire Education Business Partnership have co-ordinated and delivered a series of enterprise challenges where students form a whole year group formed companies and went through the motions of a business. Their challenge was to produce marketing material for an educational event for Year 9 students taking place in the local area. The winning team would the form a working business to design and produce the material for the event planned for January 2011. The students will win the opportunity to work alongside Lancashire Education Business Partnership’s marketing team and gain the experience and knowledge of business marketing. The Lead Group identified year 10 as an age group which would benefit from this challenge. The challenge included students producing finances, marketing, research, and advertising. Activities aimed to encourage students to ask questions and to get a taste of the world of work and also encouraged teamwork, problem solving, communication skills and to develop and utilise work ready skills such as; leadership, confidence, organisational skills, time management, creativity and design. Employers from a creative and media background have supported the event by offering their knowledge and experience to the students. The events were also a good opportunity for schools to sustain a relationship with the employers in attendance, as all employers were from the local area.

Over 980 students will have attended and engaged in the Enterprise-Work Related Learning Day, between the months of July-October, meeting over 15 employers.

Schools in attendance included Carr Hill High School, Cardinal Allen Catholic High School and Lytham St Anne’s Technology College.

Schools with events scheduled in October include Millfield Performing Arts College, Fleetwood Sports College and St Bedes Catholic High School.

Organisations that have supported the events include WRT Group, British Transport Police, Talking News Studio, Preston Police, Wyre Borough Council, UCLAN, 2AM Designs, BAE Systems, Irun Solutions, EDS, Springfield Fuels, Mitie PS, HT Forrest Construction, NHS, Astrazeneca, KPMG, Lancashire Fire and Rescue, Library Services and STEMNET
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The aims of the Enterprise Days were to raise aspirations, creativity and entrepreneurial skills in KS4 students and to link employers with young people through Work Related Learning. Employers supported the days by interacting with students, giving them helpful hints and tips on their business plans and successful teamworking. Students felt that the employers were inspirational role models who helped them to reach their full potential in this challenge. Students were motivated and keen to proceed through the challenge. The prospect of acting and devising jingles proved to be a hit with the students.

Overall the Enterprise Challenge was a success. The schools were proactive to get the challenge into their diaries and the students on a whole were fantastic. Many of the schools mentioned that they would welcome the opportunity for another challenge to be delivered into school again. They felt that the challenge benefited the students in particular areas such as; team working skills, problem solving skills and most importantly confidence. Not only did the challenge encourage students to utilise these skills, but it also gave them an insight into the world of business.

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Within Lancashire Education Business Partnership we have many strong relationships with hundreds of employers. MITIE, The Army, KPMG are just a few of the companies which are part of our ‘Pledge’. This scheme is to recognise the support and dedication these companies have for schools across Lancashire and to formally get a commitment from the employers. We had a varied number of employers which took part in this programme. The employers enjoyed working with these schools and the feedback from them has been very positive.