ENTERPRISE EDUCATION CASE STUDY

							ENTERPRISE EDUCATION CASE STUDY
FOR HASTINGSBURY UPPER SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY
COLLEGE

A case study of how a lead school in an enterprise pathfinder project has
successfully supported the introduction of enterprise programmes into partner
schools using ideas and strategies piloted at an earlier stage.

Introduction
Hastingsbury is a comprehensive community school for 13-19 year-olds in
Kempston, a suburb on the western outskirt of Bedford. It has 1,000 pupils on
roll including 230 in the sixth form. It is a designated school in the local
education authority for pupils with physical disability and dyslexia, and
receives a number with educational and behaviourial difficulties. Pupils are
mainly drawn from areas in which there are high levels of social disadvantage;
and the proportion eligible for free school meals is above average. The school
specialises in Business and Enterprise. The school was the first in the country
to have a shared headteacher role.

The pathfinder proposal was a collaborative bid with a cluster of schools
representing all the 13-19 state upper schools in Bedford. There are five
schools, two within an Education Action Zone. The schools were at different
levels of development as far as enterprise and work-related learning were
concerned. Hastingsbury Upper School was the designated lead school. The
objective for all the schools involved was to develop enterprise courses
through the school curriculum, particularly in key stage 4.

Overall Approach to Enterprise Education
Previous to the enterprise pathfinder project bid, Hastingsbury Upper School
already had a strong commitment to developing enterprise skills, activities and
experiences. The school had already secured funding from the East of
England Development Agency (£225,000) to build an Enterprise Centre on
the school site and funding from the European Social Fund to fund the post of
an Enterprise Adviser. The school was also bidding to become a Business
and Enterprise specialist school, at this time, and successfully accomplished
this in early 2005.

Hastingsbury was the first school in the country to have an Advanced Skills
Teacher for Enterprise Education. Working with the school’s Enterprise
Adviser and supported by the senior management team, and other key
members of staff, work commenced to identify the main elements of an
enterprise programme for the school. In the initial stages the Ofsted Report
‘Learning to be Enterprising‟ proved to be a useful template. It helped the
school to define for itself what enterprise was and what it entailed:

“In order to promote enterprise throughout the school we wished to develop
„enterprise skills‟ in the young people we worked with. These skills are
transferable and we believe that they would support teaching and learning in
the school as well as preparing students for the world of work and general
social interaction. There are clear and deliberate links to many aspects of
education including key skills, healthy schools, student voice and building
resilience to name but a few. The skills that we sought to develop included:
risk taking; innovation; flexibility; creativity; team work; decision making;
leadership and problem solving.” (AST for Enterprise Education)

There were two distinct but integral aspects in the bid for Enterprise
Pathfinder status. One was the experiences of students and the other was
teacher collaboration and professional study. Both went hand in hand. In
2004/5 the plan was for a number of enterprise experiences for students at
Hastingsbury or as part of a programme of enterprise activities for Year 10 in
partner schools. Alongside this it was planned to develop a professional study
group of teachers within each school and within the cluster and to work
collaboratively and disseminate good practice.

The school was also determined to bring industry and business into the
school and to get their inputs into subject schemes of work. One of the job
tasks of the school’s Enterprise Adviser was to go out into the community and
enlist more organisations to the ‘Friends of Hastingsbury Upper School’.
Again, it was recognised that there was a training need to ensure that
teachers worked effectively with them and encouraged their presence in the
classroom.

“We see enterprise as part of a strategy for school improvement. Enterprise
is a way of teaching that can be embedded into the curriculum where
enterprising teachers provide opportunities for students to practice and
develop life skills that will prepare them for the future. Building effective
partnerships between education and business is essential to success.” (Joint
Headteacher, Hastingsbury Upper School).

Leadership and Management of Enterprise Education
Each school in the enterprise project nominated key enterprise leaders, all
senior members of staff, to champion enterprise education within their own
schools and to be a member of the steering group which monitored and
reviewed the project’s progress. This gave all partners equal ownership of the
project. As all schools are different it helped to give the project schools
opportunities to share views and to build in flexibility to the programme.
Regular monthly meetings were held by the group.

Each school set up its own enterprise group with the aim of developing and
sharing a common understanding of enterprise within each school. A member
of each school enterprise group joined with colleagues from all the secondary
schools in Bedford at a Forum to share good practice and to promote ideas
for enabling an enterprise ethos to permeate teaching and learning across the
curriculum. The main objectives of the Bedford Enterprise Education Forum
(BEEF) were to:
     link enterprise learning to a coherent programme of vocational learning
     define enterprise learning for the pathfinder and ensure that it was
       understood by staff, students and stakeholders
     identify learning outcomes for the different stages of the curriculum
     develop new learning and teaching styles
      develop effective methods of assessing enterprise learning
      provide opportunities for professional networking and staff
       development
      promote Ofsted recommendations

Hastingsbury Upper School had been working towards modifications of its
curriculum to introduce more enterprise education up to three years before the
commencement of the pathfinder project. It had already trialled many of the
activities proposed in the pathfinder project bid and considered itself to be well
placed to help partner schools introduce similar activities at key stage 4.
From the outset, it was considered essential to provide strong project
leadership in order to get the maximum benefit. This was provided by Brian
Roberts, AST for Enterprise Education and Ian Campbell, Enterprise Adviser
for Bedfordshire and Luton, both of whom were based at the Enterprise
Centre at Hastingsbury Upper School. The Centre was developed for use by
all schools in Bedfordshire and Luton, not just by Hastingsbury Upper School.
The Enterprise Adviser’s role has been to work with the pathfinder schools,
make links and contacts with in the community especially business partners
and to work for the Chamber of Commerce supporting new business start-
ups.

The Steering Group was responsible for ensuring an external evaluation of
the project took place and an external assessor was appointed from De
Montfort University. Their general findings were fed into the Bedfordshire
Schools Improvement Partnership group for county-wide dissemination. The
Bedfordshire School Improvement Group is an independent body set up to
promote continuous improvement in Bedfordshire schools through practitioner
based action research

Teaching and Learning
The aims of the enterprise pathfinder bid were to develop several enterprise
strands:

   1. A live simulation that placed teams against other teams, not always in
      the same school but, in partner schools, nationally and internationally,
      and involved local business people in the role of e-mentors
   2. Visits to local businesses where students had the opportunity to
      experience the world of work at first hand. This was intended to support
      their work-related learning.
   3. An active team building session developing a wide range of enterprise
      skills including decision-making, leadership , risk management etc

Opportunities to be enterprising were designed to place young people in real
situations which were both challenging and stimulating. They included
Enterprise in Action (Young Enterprise programme); Change U (Team
Building programme) and industry visits as part of vocational courses e.g.
Leisure & Tourism

   1. Enterprise in Action: seven elements were run over 10 weeks at
      Hastingsbury in Year 9 enterprise courses or as a 2-day Year 10
      programme in the other pathfinder partner schools. The course was
      linked to the Enterprise in Action website and at the end of each
      session students updated company’s on-line record of progress,
      developing their IT skills. It also included a global dimension. Thirty
      teachers, six from each pathfinder school were trained by Young
      Enterprise. Each teacher worked in the classroom with a business
      partner. The students had hands-on experience of working in a team to
      design, develop, construct a model for, and promote a product.

      The seven sessions of Enterprise in Action are:
      - What does it mean to be enterprising?
      - Creative thinking and planning
      - Customer focus, research and design
      - Costing, pricing and quality
      - Building the product prototype model
      - Advertising and promotion
      - Review and competition.

   2. Change U: this is a simulation based on a creative approach
      demonstrating how initiative and courage can make the difference
      between success and failure. It is run by an outside organisation with
      specialist knowledge and skills. The whole year group is involved –
      working in teams of 6-8. They worked on either Marooned - on a desert
      island, when a plane crashes and there are no adult survivors, students
      have to come up with survival and rescue plans, design and build a
      model raft. Or, they worked on Tower designing and building a water
      tower with straws and pins. The teamwork and decision-making
      required places individuals in a real industry based activity. The tallest
      tower which will support a small tank of water is the winner. At the
      conclusion of either exercise they make a presentation. The
      performance of each team is analysed. The main focus is on how
      teams plan, organise, motivate and control their activities.

   3. Industry Visits: enterprise learning is seen as an essential element of
      vocational and work-related learning. The visits are organised and
      facilitated by Enterprise Advisers working with the local Chamber
      Business, EBP and ‘Friends of Hastingsbury’. Visits are arranged for
      students in courses covering GCSEs in Business Studies, Leisure &
      Tourism, Health & Social Care, Media, ICT, Art and Science

The Deputy Headteacher of Hastingsbury, who was the Global Learning Area
Co-ordinator, worked with Young Enterprise to add a global dimension to the
‘Enterprise in Action’ programme – something not done before. ‘Get Global’, a
skills based awareness programme, offered students the opportunity to lead a
session and to choose issues that they considered important, locally and
globally, and to compare the two. This also offered the opportunity to work
with link schools in Cyprus, Ukraine, Germany, India and Holland.

The school piloted an American programme ‘Destination and Imagination’
which followed a similar skills based programme but basically promoted
creativity through using one’s imagination. It is a competition; schools were
given products to make creatively, in a team situation. They competed against
other teams on a Saturday with the winner getting the chance to compete with
schools in America. Hastingsbury Upper School was not placed this year but
hopes to do better in the future.

Most of the current enterprise developments have been on providing
enterprise activities for students to participate in. Assessment has been built
into all student enterprise activities based on student self-evaluation of their
own competence in the identified enterprise skills. However, how we accredit
the learning has not been significantly addressed. There are opportunities to
develop assignments for GCSEs, some teacher assessment are made of
activities such as presentations which promote key skills. Certificates for
completing ‘Enterprise in Action’ are given out at a ‘Celebration of Success’
evening for students and their parents.

Professional Development to Support Enterprise Education
The project managers of the Pathfinder project recognised that it would not be
successful without both staff and curriculum development alongside the
student activities. Therefore, a programme of in-school and in-partnership
opportunities was set up for coaching, the dissemination of good practice,
evaluation and review. This involved the Bedfordshire Schools Improvement
Partnership (BSIP). As part of their role they ran academic professional study
groups which were helpful in developing the logistics of organising the
Bedford Enterprise Education Forum.

“We are working through a process whereby the first thing we‟re doing is
establishing a clear definition of what is enterprise learning … getting teachers
to clearly define what it is and make sure that all staff and the students and
other interested stakeholders understand how we are defining it, so that‟s
been an important first step.” (AST for Enterprise)

Within each project a small professional group of staff were formed. These
were staff who were “….. going to be acceptable to the ideas and could be
persuaded to come on board and try out the activities.” But there was also a
strategy in place for teachers who were not enthusiastic about the changes
“… for the ones who had several doubts, but were needed on board, we let
them watch enterprise activities, see how students realise their potential then
they become converts.”

Opportunities were also available to teachers to participate in professional
development visits to industry and to attend enterprise conference and
workshops in the region. Networking took place with the Bedfordshire & Luton
Enterprise Centre in Luton.

Working with Partners
The project proposal outlined the importance of working with partner schools
to develop a shared understanding of enterprise education and having a co-
ordinated approach to local businesses. The Pathfinder project has delivered
on both. The four partner schools – John Bunyan School, Mark Rutherford
School, St Thomas More School and Biddenham School - have benefited
from the experience and curriculum expertise developed earlier by
Hastigsbury School. Many of these activities were piloted in Year 9 by
Hastingsbury but have been updated for use in Year 10 by the partner
schools. The development of these activities has been built on the shared
understanding of enterprise education by the cluster schools. The support
given by Hastingsbury to the cluster has contributed to its receiving Business
and Enterprise specialist school status.

Links with industry have become an integral element of the work-related
learning entitlement in all five schools and more links have been facilitated by
Enterprise Advisers working with Chamber Business, Bedfordshire & Luton
EBP and ‘Friends of Hastingsbury’ – local organisations who have affiliated to
the school. They have helped provide placement visits for over 900 students
in the last year. Each visit has clear learning outcomes identified, a briefing
and introductory talk on health and safety, a tour of a relevant work area
(linked to vocational courses undertaken by students), an opportunity to meet
and discuss career options with a young employee and take-home information
packs. Companies like the structured way that the visits are organised and
are willing to undertake relevant risk assessments. Besides the visits some
companies release employees to work alongside teachers in the classroom
running Young Enterprise.

One local business partner was Unipath Ltd, an American based company,
and one of the world’s leading women’s health diagnostics and health
products companies. The company is keen to promote knowledge and
understanding about the range of jobs on offer in the industry and how
science contributes as well as encouraging young people to be enterprising.
They are keen to promote the ‘American brand of enterprise’ which
emphasises a ‘can do’ attitude.

“ Enterprise fits well with our organisational culture and the fact that we are
quite innovative in our technology … in terms of our organisation strategy we
actually look to people who like competition and actually go into the markets
other people shy at … we want to employ people who have creativity and are
„achievers‟, have passion and are interested.” (Head of Human Resources,
Unipath Ltd, Bedford)

Successes to Date
‘Enterprise in Action’ has been successfully introduced into all partner
schools. It is very adaptable and can be quite easily used as part of five days
of enterprise entitlement. The schools have worked well with Young
Enterprise to train the teachers to deliver the programme. The project has
“…covered a lot of ground. In terms of student numbers, it has given an
enterprising opportunity to 1,250 students, which is basically a full year group
from all the participating schools.” (AST for Enterprise Education)

The partner schools have worked well together. The project relies on the
relationships that have developed between local businesses, social enterprise
providers and the schools. The project findings have given some clear
messages: effective provision requires a strong commitment from senior
managers and a management structure to support enterprise learning, and
schools need to make good use of local businesses and the wider community
to engage pupils in real issues and to support enterprise learning more
generally.

The project findings have also led to key recommendations being made to
ensure the successful implementation of an enterprise education programme:
    Develop enterprise learning as part of vocational and work-related
      learning
    Establish a clear definition of enterprise learning and ensure it is
      understood by staff, pupils and other stakeholders
    Identify the learning outcomes pupils are expected to gain from
      enterprise activities
    Recognise that enterprise learning has implications for teaching and
      learning styles
    Develop effective methods of assessing learning
    Ensure systems are in place for evaluating any developments

Issues and how they are being tackled
“In the beginning an early issue was getting the other schools on board. The
minutes of the meeting show that many people initially signed up for things in
theory but there was some reluctance to get into the nitty gritty in terms of
discussions about planning, then the implementation then the feedback.”
(Joint Headteacher, Hastingsbury Upper School).

Giving people time to view enterprise activities for themselves, receiving
support and training from outside agencies and projects and time to meet to
share current and best practice helped the project schools to move the staff
forwards.

Another issue was the view taken by some teachers that enterprise was the
responsibility of the business studies teacher. They equated enterprise with
business.

“Teachers have a critical role to play. I think the challenge in what we are
addressing is to embed enterprise across the curriculum and getting an
understanding from the teachers that it applies equally, whether you‟re talking
about geography, history or French” (Enterprise Adviser)

Future Plans
By sharing good practice and information about the developments that take
place, all schools in the cluster will be able to develop an innovative and
challenging set of courses for both key stage 3 and 4 students for the
following years. It is the intention of the schools to integrate enterprise far
more into the school curriculum, into every subject area if possible. Enterprise
teaching will come within the remit of the majority rather than the minority of
teachers.