Tag Archives: financial education

Lochend Community High School: Developing the Young Workforce⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

At Lochend Community High school they strive to open up opportunities for all of young people regardless of ability or background. They have a strong focus on Developing the Young Workforce across the whole school and through their links with colleges, universities, employers, local business and other organisations. They want to embed work related learning opportunities across the whole school. They continue to expand and develop skills through a range of activities in and out of the classroom with a particular focus on ‘closing the gap’. They are empowering young people to develop their skills for Life, Learning and Work. This strategy involves establishing ever-increasing local, regional, national and global partnerships to support all curricular areas to provide real- life contexts for learning.

How have they done this?

Working with young people and partners to embed opportunities and developing skills across the curriculum.

Enhance young peoples understanding of different career routes ,offering curricular programmes and regular engagement with employers.

Actively collaborate with partners to develop and deliver a curriculum that supports the development of young peoples employability and career management skills.

Reviewing the work placement model in line with the ‘Work Placement Standard’,creating bespoke opportunities tailored to the needs of all young people.

Careers Events
Allowing  young people to find out about potential employers. Young people have the opportunity to talk directly with representatives from industry and education.

HE/FE Fairs
Partnerships with City of Glasgow, Glasgow Clyde, Glasgow Kelvin, West College Scotland, GCU, UWS, UoG, Strathclyde, Stirling and Glasgow School of Art. Each year group has a short presentation and an opportunity to meet with the Further and Higher Education representatives to ask  questions about courses, entry requirements and education beyond school in general.  Parents of senior phase young people are invited to attend.

Mock Interviews
All young people are given interview skills training and mock interviews from their business partners.

Salters Chemistry Festival
In partnership with University of Glasgow, Salters Chemistry and Royal Society of Chemistry, young people are given experience of working in a working laboratory carrying out investigations and experiments.

Chemistry Careers Event
In partnership with Glasgow Science Centre, UWS and Royal Society of Chemistry young people learn about laboratory techniques, discuss career pathways and alternative routes into careers in Chemistry

STEM Glasgow/Jacobs Engineering Challenge
In partnership with DYW Glasgow, West Partnership, Glasgow City Council and Jacobs Engineering young people are involved in real life engineering challenges. Working  with partners to create a solution to plastic pollution while investigating and learning about careers in the sector.

Go4Set
Young people have the opportunity to develop skills, inform subject choice and change perceptions about STEM, raising awareness of how studying STEM related subjects can lead to rewarding careers.

SmartSTEMs
In partnership with Glasgow Kelvin College young people explore STEM related careers with input from various organisations. Young people take part in practical activities to enhance skills and knowledge of STEM based careers.

Science Club
In partnership with STEM Ambassadors S1 young people are involved in weekly activities which promote learning and careers in STEM.  Links are made to STEM careers and young people are encouraged to explore and research  career pathways.

Numeracy Week
Making links between numeracy used in subjects across the school and how numeracy is used in the world of work. Using partners such as credit unions, Barclays Bank, Santander, Mott McDonald, NHS, Marks and Spencer to showcase Maths in the world of work.

Apprenticeship Tests
Young people have the opportunity to learn and practice numeracy tests for apprenticeships, colleges and universities.

P7 Maths Challenge
Young people work in teams to learn about Maths in the world of work.

ScotBeef/Aldi 
Young people working collaboratively,  researching existing products and designing a new product to present as part of the competition. The winners will have their product marketed, displayed and sold in Aldi stores across the country.

Quality Meat Scotland Chef Visit
Chef visit to work with S2 young people, demonstrating and embedding skills as well as sharing their experience of working in the hospitality industry

ZooLab Junk Bus
Delivered in partnership with Zoolab Junk Bus young people learn about the production of some of our favourite foods.

GHA/ Loretto Afternoon Tea
Partnership with Glasgow Housing Association and Loretto Housing allowed young people to work with local partners  and allowed an opportunity to experience working in this sector.

Future Textiles
Developing an understanding of the textile industry and the available progressions pathways.

Marks and Spencer – Work Placement Programme.
The partnership was set up to strengthen the link between employers and young people, building  confidence and supporting the transition between school and the workplace.

30 young people have had the opportunity to apply and experience a work placement in the retail sector. Many young people have secured part time jobs as a result of the experience.

Glasgow Kelvin College Pathway
As part of the S2 options process, young people will be offered the opportunity to attend Kelvin College for one afternoon per week throughout the school session. This partnership programme allows young people to participate in a college based course alongside their school studies. This will not only enrich their learning experiences but will provide them with qualifications in the form of SCQF Level 4 units. Young people enrolled in these courses will also be considered as an internal applicant for any further courses.

RUTS
RUTS aims to equip young people with the confidence and skills, raising their aspirations. RUTS are currently delivering a bespoke personal development/employability, this is achieved through motorcycle and bicycle based programmes tailored to the individual needs of the young people.

NHS @ Work
Young people S1-S6 have the opportunity to attend an NHS@Work Event showcasing the careers available within the NHS, dispelling some of the myths about working in the NHS.

Widening Participation
Educational support and guidance programme designed to widen access to higher education.

FARE
FARE are a voluntary organisation based in Easterhouse . They work with communities to improve the lives of children and families. FARE are employed within the school, engaging with a number of projects and programmes that link to the DYW agenda.

Young Enterprise Company Programme –
The Company Programme is the ultimate business experience for S5 and S6 young people. They set up and run their own company and develop a range of skills throughout this entrepreneurial experience.

Career Ready
Career Ready is a programme that prepares young people for the world of work. The model links young people to employers through master classes, mentoring, workplace visits and internships.

EY Foundation partnership
EY Foundation is a charity that works directly with disadvantaged young people,employers and social entrepreneurs to create and support routes into education, employment and enterprise. They support the school in world of work events, mock interviews and industry presentations. They also have a paid work experience programme called Smart Futures.

Skills Academy
Working with a range of business partners, young people who are studying less than two National 5 qualifications are invited to attend a programme that helps develop crucial knowledge and understanding of the world of work.

Flexible Work Placement Model
Lochend  offer a flexible approach to work placements, encouraging and supporting young people to source and secure their own work placement . There are also targeted placement opportunities available on WorkIT and via our business partners which are available to all young people.

Departmental DYW displays 
Displaying potential careers and pathways relevant to their own curricular area. The Pupil Leadership Team have created a number of notice boards around the school to promote the DYW agenda. The boards also include live job/apprenticeship and work placement opportunities.

Lochend CHS Skills Framework
They established a systematic and progressive skills development framework that will be used across learning. Young people will have the opportunity to reflect on these on an on-going basis and incorporate them into their profiling activities. The Skills Framework will be displayed throughout the school.

During the academic year all staff took part in CLPL around the DYW agenda.  Staff received an introduction to the Career Education Standards and an introduction to labour market Information.

Social Media
All information relating to DYW and employability is advertised on Facebook and the DYW Twitter page. Parents engaged regularly with posts on Facebook which ensured that parents/carers/guardians were more aware of the range of opportunities and supports available.

Work Inspiration Visits
Young people have has the opportunity to experience the world of work and to find out more about career pathways:

Art Galleries Hilton Hotel Group IBIS Hotel Group
UK parliament Engie GHA
Auchenlea Building Site TIGERS Construction Training STV
Glasgow Film Theatre National Theatre of Scotland Platform @ The Bridge
Emirates Arena Braehead Shopping Centre BBC Scotland
Glasgow Fort Marks and Spencer Glasgow Kelvin College
City of Glasgow College Glasgow Caledonian University FARE
Glasgow Life

Next Steps
Increase the number of MWOW ambassadors

Engage in  more profiling support

Recording achievements using My World of Work

DYW newsletter

Parental Engagement

Quotation
“I developed so much confidence from taking part in a lot of these activities. I have met so many great people who have helped nurture me and give me the platform to learn. I have so many more contacts now than I did before.”
Young Person

Bo’ness Academy-Partners and the Community⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Bo’ness has designed a clear strategy and has well-established approaches to developing in its young people skills for learning, life and work. The strategy involves establishing local, regional and partnerships to provide real- life contexts for learning. Curriculum leaders are using partners to provide a context to the learning and an insight of the working environment. Young people find this to be motivational and are enjoying the skills led curriculum.

Click to view slideshow.

Bo’ness are using their expanding partners to meet the needs of all learners and to prepare young people for the pathways which are likely to exist for them in the future. The curriculum has had a complete overhaul to establish a more wide ranging approach to the skills agenda.

The partnership and community approach at Bo’ness Academy is a key strategy for promoting skills development across all curriculum areas. The school is using a wide range of partners and community based projects to promote the importance of the skills agenda. Bo’ness Academy are using the skills agenda to push attainment and to foster a community approach throughout the school.  Bo’ness Academy are using their expanding partners to provide a curriculum that provides a framework to support all young people.

Community Café
This is a project that has been used effectively to support young people who are disengaged. The project is now well established and is supporting the local community. The school has fostered links with local partners to provide the school and the local community with a fully functioning and efficient café. The young people involved are provided with the opportunity to learn new skills relevant to the workplace and qualifications that are recognised in the sector(Health & Hygiene)

YPI
This is targeted at the S4 cohort and has been very successful at engaging the young people at the school. The groups use their own unique skillset to produce a presentation on their agreed research topic. The young people felt that their skills for work, life and learning had improved and in particular they had more confidence in making informed decisions. The groups have used local community as their focus and had fostered links with the local charities such as the Bo’ness Storehouse food bank.

Children’s University
This was another established partnership link that been very successful, the young people believed it had motivated them across the whole school. They spoke of the skills that they had developed during the programme. The school have developed their strategy this year to include the P6 cohort in their local feeder Primary schools. They felt that this approach would further develop their strong links with the local community and give the P6 another opportunity to work with the school. The school use the profiling tool developed by Children’s University but also feed the information into the existing profiling model in the school. The school have used PEF to support the course and target the participants through SIMD. The project has further developed links with INEOS, they have provided Inspiration visits to their workplace and are now working closely with the school on a sustainability project around the plastic journey which will be used as IDL across the school curriculum areas.

STEM@Helix
This was a targeted programme organised through the DYW Forth Valley group which provided the young people with the opportunity to work with others. They worked in teams to develop a model display. The young people felt that it allowed them to have more focus on STEM and to work in a real-life context. The young people also go the opportunity to meet the Queen at the award ceremony which gave them a real sense of achievement.

Forth Ports Discovery Week
This was a targeted programme but was very successful. The young people had the opportunity to visit a local employer and spend a week working with a wide range of departments. The programme was activity focused and the young people had the opportunity to work with some of the technical equipment. They had the opportunity to discuss the workplace with Modern Apprentices which they said helped to provide an overview to the wide range of different career pathways. The young people were surprised by the sheer size of the company and the opportunities that they could provide.

School/College Partnership
The school has long-standing partnerships with the local college. The school has a SCOTS course which offers young people a taster course, this allows the young people to experience a wide range of different areas before they take an extra block in their chosen field. This along with the introduction of the Foundation Apprenticeship programme are providing the young people with an opportunity to experience college. The school will begin to provide the FA programme for Business and Accounts at the school in the new academic year.

Balfour Beatty(STEM)
This a targeted programme to encourage young people to look at STEM as a possible career pathways. The young people were tasked with designing a building that maintained heat. They had a mentor and visited buildings and structures to understand the project context. The culmination of the project was a presentation to explain their design. The young people involved felt that the experience had given them a real insight into the careers available in the STEM sector.

Young people are experiencing a curriculum in which they are developing more career related skills and learning more about growth sectors and the career pathways that may be available to them post-school. The use of career pathways and partners are ensuring that the young people are motivated and have the skills required to make informed career choices which is improving the positive destinations.

Staff are able to use their own expertise to help the young people make these informed decisions.  We have found that by providing young people with more opportunities to work with partners that they have more motivation to look at their long term career pathways. Partners are able to use a real context to show how important the skills that we introduce in school are in progressing a career journey.

Involving partners in the school community has highlighted a range of career pathways that our young people were not aware existed. Having DYW as a focus for staff Career Long Professional Learning has helped to highlight across the whole school community of the importance of introducing young people early to skills for work, life and learning.

Our curriculum review meetings have an important role to play in the development of our young people. The review allows young people to discuss their career pathway with a wide range of different of inputs including parents/carers. This wide ranging approach gives the young person to reflect on their learning, achievements and future career pathways

We focused on local partners as this allowed us to foster a community approach which we believe is the best way forward for the school. We are superbly supported by DYW Forth Valley.
Our next step is to provide more opportunities within the existing school timetable that allows all of the learners the opportunity to undertake a wider range of skills. This will include the FA programmes that our own staff will lead in the new academic year

Quotes
‘The importance of DYW cannot be underestimated as it’s vital that we prepare and equip our young people with the skills for life, learning and work. Within our school all young people have opportunities for appropriate work placements during their time at Bo’ness Academy. This has to be both “real” and appropriate in order for our young people to gain maximum benefit from these opportunities.’ Head Teacher Steve Dougan

‘Moving forward our focus is to continue exploring opportunities for pupils and ensuring we have a curriculum in place that best supports the needs of Bo’ness Academy pupils. We aim to continue forging links with local employers and continuing to strengthen the partnership with DYW Forth Valley. An emphasis will be placed on the consistent delivery across the school of the career education standard and how pupils identify and record the skills they develop across the school.’ DYW Lead Ross Latimer

‘Encourages me to do more outside of school’
Hannah Waugh S2

‘I didn’t know there was so many different jobs’
Jay Brown S5

Young Enterprise ‘Tenner Programme’ contributes to SQA Personal Development Awards⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

SQA and Young Enterprise Scotland have been working together to demonstrate how the Tenner Challenge could generate evidence that meets the assessment standards of some SQA units.

Young Enterprise Scotland’s Tenner Challenge, in which participants make as much profit as possible from £10, provides an interactive way for learners to develop employability skills. The Tenner Challenge helps learners to develop skills including creativity, resilience and problem solving.

This document and case study outline how the Tenner Challenge could generate evidence that meets the assessment standards for the SQA units Personal Development: Self and Work (H18P 44) and Enterprise Activity (D36N 10).

Once evidence has been gathered via the Tenner Challenge, centres will have to check learners’ work against the Assessment Standards for the SQA units. The examples provided here illustrate the type of activities and evidence that are likely to generate appropriate evidence.

The contribution that Young Enterprise’s Tenner Challenge offers, in terms of evidence, will also depend on the range of activities that are being undertaken.

All evidence must be subject to rigorous assessment procedures and internal verification.

Boosting young people’s employability through LifeSkills⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

‘LifeSkills created with Barclays’ is a free employability programme for 11-24 year olds and we’re thrilled that, to date, we’ve had 5 million young people participate in the programme. Now we’re excited to announce two new initiatives that celebrate the achievements of young people, schools and colleges in their bids to boost career prospects.

What is LifeSkills?
Back in 2013, LifeSkills was launched to support educators address the growing skills gap amongst their students and face the youth employability challenge head on. Developed with educators across all four nations, LifeSkills strives to support educators develop young people’s employability skills through free, curriculum linked education content.
Through lesson plans, interactive challenges, videos and quick-fire activities, as well as student work placements opportunities and sending Barclays volunteers into the classroom, we want to help to bring  career education to life.

What does LifeSkills deliver?                                                                                    LifeSkills covers a range of different themes that all support young people get the skills they need to move forward from education into the 21st century workplace, including building resilience, learning to be a problem solving pro, becoming an expert communicator and mastering money management.

LifeSkills and the Career Education Standard
To make teachers’ lives as easy as possible, we ensure our content is aligned with the Career Education Standard’s goal of improving ‘young people’s ability to make informed decisions about future pathways’.   In particular, throughout the resources we look at how we can fulfil the following criteria highlighted within the standard:

• engage young people in meaningful discussion about their skills development
• develop their understanding of the responsibilities and duties placed on employers and employees
• facilitate young people’s learning and their ability to engage with a rapidly developing landscape of work/career and learning opportunities

Greg Leighton, an employability support officer in Glasgow and member of the LifeSkills Educator Advisory Council is passionate about the programme, stating ‘It’s no longer just about qualifications. Young people now, more than ever, need softer skills like confidence and communication, alongside relevant experience, to meet the demands of a changing world of work. LifeSkills resources are comprehensive, easy to use and essential in helping young people to realise and fulfil their true potential.’
But it doesn’t end there. Now we’re taking the programme to the next level.

LifeSkills Champions
Launched in October, LifeSkills Champions offers young people the chance to gain valuable recognition for boosting their own and their peers’ employability skills through LifeSkills. If you work in education, you can nominate anyone aged 14-19 to become a LifeSkills Champion.
Once nominated, young people are tasked with delivering a series of LifeSkills sessions to their peers. From CV writing to interview preparation, networking best practice and more, the sessions cover core skills and competencies that are essential to employers. What’s more, they’ll be supported along the way with a toolkit, packed full of tips and videos from LifeSkills Ambassadors. When their designated activities have been completed and approved, they’ll receive a ‘LifeSkills created with Barclays’ digital badge to help demonstrate to prospective employers that they’ve got the skills to take on new challenges, act as a leader and motivate others.

The LifeSkills Award
Going hand in hand with LifeSkills Champions is the LifeSkills Award. This recognises schools and colleges which are going above and beyond to support their students to gain the skills they need for better futures using LifeSkills. We know there are so many schools and colleges out there doing amazing work to set their students up for success by embedding LifeSkills across their whole institution, and we want to make sure they’re getting the recognition they deserve. Successful applicants will receive certification that demonstrates their institution’s commitment to championing young people’s employability locally and nationally, as well as to regulators and parents.
You can find out more about these two initiatives, alongside a wealth of free employability skills resources, at barclayslifeskills.com/teachers.

FUTURE AS5ET: Calling all S5 girls who know they can change the world, and just as importantly, those who don’t⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

FUTURE AS5ET – A one day free conference for S5 schoolgirls, open to all secondary schools in Scotland.

22 September 2017,  Edinburgh International Conference Centre

The organisers, financial education charity Didasko and various investment management firms coordinated by Stewart Investors, are especially keen to encourage attendance of schools from outside Edinburgh,.  They are offering generous financial contributions towards travel for schools based outside of Midlothian area, and accommodation for those located more than 100 miles away.

The conference programme offers a wide range of seminars and key note presentation from inspirational speakers all around career opportunities in the financial sector.

Access the  programme here.

For more information please contact:

Ania Lewandowska, Senior Associate, Charlotte Street Partners

www.charlottestpartners.co.uk   @cstreetpartners

0 787211 8175

 

Govan High School Marks £2 Million Milestone For Youth & Philanthropy Initiative Scotland⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

yipThe Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) in Scotland has announced that a total of £2 million has now been awarded to local grassroots charities since the programme was first introduced in Scotland by The Wood Foundation in 2008. This year alone a total of 210 Scottish secondary schools will participate in YPI, actively engaging over 26,500 students in a hands on experience of social action and philanthropy.  The latest £3000 grant will be awarded at Govan High School’s YPI Final on Friday 18th November, marking a significant milestone for the YPI programme.

Commenting on Govan High School’s YPI Final and hitting the £2 million milestone, Sir Ian Wood, Chairman of The Wood Foundation said, “YPI is by far The Wood Foundation’s most successful philanthropic initiative in Scotland.  Beyond the grants YPI has awarded to local charities, the programme most significantly impacts upon young people, not only providing a valuable experience of philanthropy but also nurturing critical employability and enterprise skill development.  We are proud that today’s YPI celebration event at Govan High School marks a total of £2 million invested in local communities across Scotland through the programme.  This is a remarkable milestone, made possible through the dedication of our participating schools and charities, the support of our programme funding partners, and the enthusiasm of all participating students.”

Govan High School has now participated in YPI Scotland for two yip-govan-hsyears, delivering the programme across their full S2 cohort as part of the school’s Wider Achievement Programme. Through YPI, Govan High School students are encouraged to draw upon their strengths and learning from across the school, and look beyond the classroom in order to link closely with the wider school community.  Teachers at Govan High have noted a massive impact on their learners through the development of vital skills including research, communication and team work, and students have also demonstrated real commitment to the programme, with many dedicating their own time to visit local charities, as they address local social issues.

Nancy Belford, Head Teacher of Govan High School, commented, “As a school we strive to create a caring, inclusive and happy learning community and the whole ethos behind the YPI Programme helps to enhance this vision. YPI encourages our young people to care about their community through identifying a social issue that is important to them; it builds links between people and organisations in the wider community as students explore and visit charities; and it helps to promote inclusion as our young people come to understand what is happening on their own doorstep and what it is they can do to help some of the most vulnerable groups within the local community.”

The YPI programme is now delivered across 31 local authority areas throughout Scotland and over half of all secondary schools in the Glasgow City area are now actively involved in the programme.

Maureen McKenna, Director of Education at Glasgow City Council and guest judge at Govan High School’s YPI Final stated, “YPI is proving to be a highly effective framework through which students can broker and establish meaningful partnerships across their school community, develop essential skills for learning, life & work, and directly support local people & groups most in need.  This in itself encapsulates what Curriculum for Excellence is all about.  I am very proud of the involvement of schools in our area and that Govan High School’s 2016 YPI Final also recognises a total of £2 million invested in local Scottish charities through YPI.”

Bonhill Primary School: A whole school approach to enterprise and employability education⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

bonhillFinalist at this years’ Scottish Education Awards in the category ‘Enterprise and employability ‘ Bonhill Primary School’s approach to enterprise education has permeated learning across the curriculum and beyond.  Driven by a real vision for future pathways of learners, head teacher Maria Seery has galvanised staff, parents and businesses to provide exciting, wide-ranging opportunities for learners  to develop enterprising  and  entrepreneurial mind sets.

The school is a hive of activities that allow children and young people across all stage to enhance their skills for learning , life and work.   These include a school uniform recycling scheme,  the design of the school’s own  tartan and the production of a tartan school uniform (young enterprise activity), a ‘Buds’ project that sells home-grown produce to the community, a stationary tuck shop, work placements in the school canteen, an ‘egg production’ from their school hens including an advertising campaign developed in conjunction with Radio Clyde/Bauer Media and many more initiatives .

This enterprise-assembly from the Scotland’s Enterprising School (SES) event in October ’16 summarises the schools’ main activities in this area.

The following  initiatives are showcased on Scotland’s Enterprising Schools website:

 

Making connections: Numeracy & Mathematics and the world of work⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

The following materials will be of interest to anyone who would like to explore connections between numeracy/mathematics and the world of work. It includes an interactive financial education resource, Money Talks, an article on how mathematics is used in the workplace from the Mathematics Association of America and Citizen Maths, a site for people who want to become more confident in using maths at work and in life.     There are also links to the National Numeracy and Mathematics Hub, a virtual learning environment for all practitioners and a copy of the latest Numeracy and Mathematics Resource Guide.

 

Making connections: Numeracy & Mathematics and the world of work⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

The following materials will be of interest to anyone who would like to explore connections between numeracy/mathematics and the world of work. It includes an interactive financial education resource, Money Talks, an article on how mathematics is used in the workplace from the Mathematics Association of America and Citizen Maths, a site for people who want to become more confident in using maths at work and in life.     There are also links to the National Numeracy and Mathematics Hub, a virtual learning environment for all practitioners and a copy of the latest Numeracy and Mathematics Resource Guide.

 

Scottish Education Awards 2016: ‘Enterprise and Employability’ winners⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Here are the winners and finalists for this years Scottish Education Awards in the category ‘Enterprise and Employability across Learning’:

Early Years and Primary

  • Winner:  Ferguslie Pre-Five Centre 
  • Finalists:   Bonhill Primary School and Cargenbridge Primary School

Secondary

  • Winner:  Braeview Academy    
  • Finalists:  Ellon Academy and Linwood High School

Here is a brief description of the schools’  achievements:

Ferguslie Pre-Five Centre, Renfrewshire

PWP_2897One example of the ways in which Ferguslie Pre- five Centre in Paisley has taught enterprise to its children is through creative play. The centre’s pupils were asked to build a “dog house” using large blocks. They researched the design of the dog house using iPads but couldn’t find a way to get the triangular roof to stay up. The children asked the local high school pupils if they could help them out with their design problem. They used Google Earth to plot their route to the high school and then one of the children led their peers and staff to the high school using their map.  The high school built the roof for the children, who voted on which colour it should be painted. They continue to use the dog house in their creative play.  Other inspirational initiatives include a community café co-run by the children for the wider community, managing a community plot project, growing and selling food, running their own newspaper, making and selling craft items in the café etc. .

Bonhill Primary School, West Dunbartonshire

Bonhill Primary School in West Dunbartonshire has been awarded three Social Enterprise Awards. One was given for its Bonhill Buds project, which sells home-grown produce to the community; one for its Malawi Rice Challenge, through which rice is sold to help farmers in Malawi and develop the school’s Fairtrade philosophy; and one for 2nd Time Around, the school’s recycled uniform shop, which supports families within its community and generates revenue to fund a weekly dance class and parent café. The school plans to apply for a fourth award for its Hens Project, through which it sells eggs to support the local community. The school’s enterprise company has also developed its own  tartan.

Cargenbridge Primary School, Dumfries and Galloway

To teach pupils about enterprise, Cargenbridge Primary School near Dumfries has teamed up with DuPont Teijin Films, a manufacturer of polyester film that employs around 230 people at its site in Dumfries. Over the past four years, the factory has worked with the school to celebrate World Quality Day. Each class is set a challenge to produce quality work by using creativity and problem solving such as creating an outfit from recycled material, including polyester film. This year’s focus was on food and health and included staff from DuPont Teijin working with pupils to teach them about the “plan, do, review” strategy, which is a transferable skill that can be applied across the curriculum

Braeview Academy, Dundee

At Braeview Academy in Dundee, developing skills for employment is embedded into the curriculum. Careers education includes each department delivering presentations on the pathways available through their subject, while local business people visit the school to talk about their areas of work. Braeview is also an early demonstrator school for Skills Development Scotland’s enhanced offer. The school has links with Dundee & Angus College which delivers cosmetology lessons in the school’s hairdressing salon, employability skills for S4 and S5, mechanics lessons and construction and motor vehicle maintenance lessons for S3 pupils identified as requiring additional support and motivation.

Ellon Academy, Aberdeenshire

Ellon Academy in Aberdeenshire took part in the compilation of the Wood Report and was recognised by one of its authors, Alison MacLachlan, for being “excellent in improving outcomes for pupils in relation to enterprise and employability skills”. Every pupil undertakes annual enterprise and employability-focused enrichment programmes, which are delivered by mixed-faculty teams and partner employers. S6 pupils complete a Be All You Can Be day with the RAF, inspirational speakers and other partners while S5 classes engage in a Business Challenge Day with 25 advisors from industry at the University of Aberdeen as students for the day, and all S4 pupils undertake work experience.

Lindwood High School, Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire’s Linwood High School introduced a “whole school employability programme” following an audit in 2013. The programme develops each pupils’ skills from S1 through to S6 and includes a focus on local careers and the chance to work with local business partners. Pupils develop skills such as communication and teamwork through inter-disciplinary learning projects, which include raising money for charities. These achievements are recorded in the My Merit system, which then feeds into each pupils’ application forms and CV during their senior years at school. Linwood also works with Skills Development Scotland and takes pupils on visits to the science centre at the West College Scotland and the University of the West of Scotland.

 

Find out more about all other Education Award winners and finalists here.