Schools At Work Week
Over 2,000 students in Knowsley secondary and special schools are about to take part in an enterprising initiative - the borough’s pioneering Schools@Work Week.
The aim of the event is to help foster the next generation of entrepreneurs and lateral thinkers, who will hopefully play a part in developing the local and possibly even the global economy.
Every Year 10 student will be getting the chance to pick the brains of local business people to give them a better understanding of how the world of work quite literally works! A series of events and workshops will help them identify the skills and qualities they will need for a successful working life – either with an existing local company or, for the more adventurous entrepreneur, even by setting up one of their own.
One group of students will be thrown in at the deep end, when they become junior managers with the luxury car manufacturer, Jaguar. Elsewhere, the internationally renowned economist, Prof Tom Cannon, will deliver a business enterprise masterclass to students, while others will be embarking on their own enterprising schemes, such as how to stage a ‘pamper party’.
Schools@Work is being organised by Ruffwood Comprehensive School, which recently secured a major slice of funding from the DfES, along with Enterprise Pathfinder status, to run the two-year programme.
A whole host of local, national and international businesses have already pledged their support to the event, including: National Westminster Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Jaguar Education Centre, Knowsley Education Business Partnership, Knowsley Community College, Knowsley City Learning Centre, Knowsley Chamber of Commerce, Young Enterprise, Knowsley 14-19 Collegiate, Knowsley Enterprise Academy, Northwood SRB and locally based, Mojo Theatre
Project leader, Kathy Upfold from Ruffwood, said: “Over the past few years we have developed a strong education enterprise culture, linking in to the national curriculum and the development of the Schoools@Work event is a natural progression of that. Schools@Work is one of the first schemes of its kind and the results of this will eventually inform national guidelines and the delivery of enterprise education across the country.”
Cabinet member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Larry Nolan, commented on the value of the event: “This event comes at a crucial time for year ten students as they prepare for their GCSE’s and are starting to consider their future options. Not only will it encourage them to think about the contribution they can make to their local communities and economy after their studies but it also gives employers the chance to help develop their future workforce as well. We hope to see this event grow from strength to strength over the coming years.”
