ENTERPRISE EDUCATION
Angela
Wright won
the 2009
Queen’s Award
Promoting
for Enterprise Promotion
in recognition of her
dedication to instilling
enterprise
entrepreneurial skills in
today’s young people.
Here she writes about her
work and receiving this
prestigious royal award
AM THRILLED to be receiving the Queen’s
I
Award for Enterprise Promotion. For the last
25 years I have been persuading businesses to
invest their time and expertise in working with
schools and in particular young people living
in disadvantaged communities.
Sometimes it has felt like an uphill struggle
– not all businesses can see the benefit of investing in
tomorrow’s workforce, nor do they always think it is Hands-on: Young mechanics
their job! get the chance for some crucial
Perhaps that is why the award is so special to me work-related learning as part
because it was a consortium of businesses, led by the of the Southampton and South
Southampton Economic Development team, which West Hampshire Education
nominated me for this award. Business Partnership
It has been quite a journey. I reluctantly set up Solent
Skill Quest as an independent not-for-profit Education
Business Partnership (EBP) covering Southampton and and Vocational Education Initiatives) were still in I built an army of business volunteers who worked secure part-time jobs, and are even known to receive
South West Hampshire in 1999. Reluctant because I operation in one of the boroughs and the consortium with schools in a variety of ways, offering work offers of permanent employment when they finish their
became a redundant local authority employee saying manager constantly challenged the value that business experience, work-shadowing, business mentoring, exams.
goodbye to a final salary pension scheme, with the can contribute to academic institutions. workplace visits and tours, school industry days and Three years ago and in response to local demand
prospect of a vulnerable small business with no capital Never one put off by a challenge, I set about proving simulations, business-based projects, and preparation from schools, we set up two “skill centres” on the
start up money and a £40,000 project budget. the importance of employer involvement and the impact for employment programmes. We had a ball! east and west of the city. These provide vocationally
My arrival as a new EBP manager was not totally this has on students’ motivation, self-esteem, appropriate Mentoring became extremely successful with over related accredited training in craft skills, such as
welcomed either. The remnants of TVEI (Technical preparation for work, and the increase in attainment. 500 students benefiting from a business hero. One construction trades (bricklaying, plastering, painting
school participated in a Warwick University evaluation and decorating, carpentry and plumbing), motor
study and learnt that students involved in the business vehicle, hairdressing and beauty, retailing, business
Maths focus: NCETM
mentoring scheme had improved their GCSE grades admin and IT, to challenging students at risk of
by a whole grade, not to mention the valuable support exclusion.
the students obtained with their communication, time- Each year around 200 key stage 4 students
Testing, testing 1, 2, 3…
management and organisational skills. benefit from the courses and at the end of their
Some of the business mentors were simply amazing. two-year programme, successfully transfer to college,
I recall one student had never been diagnosed with employment or work-based training courses and
dyslexia. Not only did the mentor pay for a diagnosis Apprenticeships.
Do you remember
up at the start of key stage 3. to be undertaken, but then she arranged for her student These days, the EBP team is 35 strong, and they
• Strengthening the quality of teacher assessment. to have specialist help for the remainder of his school all share the same passion that I have about the
where you were
• The School Report Card. career. She really turned that young man’s life around impact employers can have on preparing young people
• Changing assessment at key stage 2. – he went from disenfranchised adolescent to focused for adult life and work. Today, like many other
• Reporting to parents. student who did well in his GCSE exams and secured a EBPs across the country, I am tied into 14 to 19
when key stage
• National sample testing at key stage 3 to monitor place in Hampshire’s Agricultural College. consortia, working alongside local authorities, schools
standards over time. The relationship between the consortium and my and colleges to implement the 14 to 19 reforms. The
3 SATs were axed. Steve
It may be necessary to go to the report and read EBP grew from strength to strength. Together we tackled priorities identified by employers are associated with
around these recommendations yourself, but isn’t it the need for an alternative key stage 4 curriculum long young people developing employability skills and for
Humble does
nice to see learning and teaching as a key focus of the before government relaxed the statutory rules. Colleges me, making sure they are equipped with the skills that
first purpose. It is what our job is about – providing led “increased flexibility” programmes and around 140 make them recession proof.
experiences which allow high quality learning to take year 10 students started their NVQ programmes in I am constantly amazed at the support that employers
THERE IS something in our culture that makes us place. construction skills, motor vehicle, hairdressing, beauty, give to these schemes with no obvious recompense
want to remember where we were or what we were What do you do when a new report is published? If retailing, sports, catering and tourism. from the government. Each year in my area alone,
doing when certain iconic events occurred. this was a magazine quiz, you may have some different The programme was sustainable too – every year employers enable over 18,000 students to have a work-
So where were you when: Kennedy was options: some 200 youngsters are involved in link programmes, related curriculum and contribute to developing the
assassinated; man first walked on the moon; England • A: Put your head in the sand and ignore it – if I Young Apprenticeships and now construction and enterprising capability of the Southampton city region’s
won the World Cup; or Elvis Presley died? can’t see ‘it’, ‘it’ can’t see me. engineering Diplomas. youth. Students access a rich programme that involves
And what about a recent event – where were you • B: Memorise it and quote large chunks in the We also struck lucky about the same time securing employers from the public, private and voluntary
when key stage 3 SATs were abolished? staffroom. a new government contract called New Start. Although sectors of industry and across all sectors.
I was driving home from work when I heard the • C: Find a middle way. the contract value was only £50,000, we achieved so It continues to be a fabulous journey and I still love
announcement by Ed Balls on October 14, 2008, and So how would you score? much by working together. At risk students were given every second of it. Three years ago I was appointed
I immediately began thinking about the prospect of a A? You would get an accusation of being an IAG (information, advice and guidance) interviews chairwoman of the National EBP Network and have
five-year curriculum, unmarked by an external test. ostrich. B? Perhaps you should get out more? and an individually tailored programme of support was worked with colleagues from across the country
I can’t remember where I was when the report of C? Well, what about this middle way? agreed and put into place. establishing quality accreditation programmes. At
the Expert Group on Assessment was published in How do we engage with the findings, consider Counselling, anger-management, employability Christmas I stood down from this role and was delighted
May 2009. The group was set up to “provide advice the opportunities they may create in our classrooms, training and other workshops and support activities to hand over the chair to the highly professional hands
on a range of aspects of assessment” as part of Ed and start to take small steps to accommodate the were made available. The mentoring programme was of Shan Jones of Staffordshire EBP.
Balls’ announcement. You can download the report principles of the report in our working practice? adapted to include peer mentoring involving hundreds It is hard to believe I left school at 15 with no
online (see further information). Why not add your comments on APP in our of Southampton University and Southampton Institute qualifications and that today I would be classified as
The report defines four purposes of assessment: Assessment for Learning community (see below). students as peer mentors working in schools across the a NEET (not in employment, education or training).
• To optimise the effectiveness of pupils’ learning I look forward to hearing what you think. city region. The thing that drives me the most is meeting young
and teachers’ teaching. I do smile to myself now when I consider what we people who, just like me at 15, believe they have failed
• To hold individual schools accountable for their • Steve Humble specialises in secondary mathematics achieved with our £50,000 and how these activities at education.
performance. at the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching became the precursor to much larger government It tears at my heart to think that a young person
• To provide parents with information about their of Mathematics. initiatives such as Connexions and Aimhigher. with so much to live for is willing to accept failure
child’s progress. We have always been involved in providing students before they have learnt the most important lesson of all
• To provide reliable information about national
Further information
with work experience and, in particular, working with with hard work everyone has the potential to achieve
standards over time. Expert Group on Assessment report: http:// at-risk students to identify longer-term placements. anything they want. SecEd
It makes nine recommendations in the areas of: publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction Today, my team organises over 7,500 two-week block
• Continued availability of key stage 3 tests and =productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductI placements each year and over 500 extended placements, • Angela Wright is a 2009 recipient of The Queen’s Award
promoting Assessment for Learning including d=DCSF-00532-2009 many of which take place over one, two or three days. for Enterprise Promotion, a prestigious royal award for
the use of Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP). Community for Assessment for Learning: www. We are fortunate to benefit from the support of over individuals who inspire tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.
• Cross key stage moderation of teacher assessment ncetm.org.uk/community/281 9,000 large and small to medium employers, although
to improve reliability and trust. For more on teaching secondary mathematics and this year so far has been particularly tough with many
Further information
• Improving transition from key stage 2 to 3. useful resources to help you, go to www.ncetm.org. pulling out because of their own economic situation. Nominations for the 2010 Queen’s Awards must be
• Ensuring that lower attainers at key stage 2 catch uk/secondarymagazine I still marvel at the ingenuity of some young people received by October 31. Visit www.queensawards.org.
who are able to capitalise on their experience of work, uk/individual or call 020 7222 2277.
16 SecEd • July 2 2009
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