July 2007
 Children
as young as 11 are showing a clear understanding of
what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, according
to the education delegates who visited Rotherham last
week.
Following the success of last year’s visit to Glasgow to
see how the ‘Determined to Succeed’ programme was making
strides in developing enterprising school students, the Academy
of Enterprise organised a similar trip to South Yorkshire, giving
Rotherham Ready an opportunity to share their achievements and
future plans.
Rotherham Ready, the Yorkshire Forward funded programme for enterprise
education, targets young people aged four to 19-years-old and involves
all Rotherham schools and colleges, together with a large range
of business partners, many of whom contributed to the programme.
Delegates arrived at Hellaby Hall and the two-day event began with
an introduction by Rotherham Ready manager, Mike Garnock-Jones.
After presentations from School Improvement Advisor, Karen Borthwick
and Rotherham Ready School Liaison Officer, Catherine Brentnall,
delegates had an opportunity to see examples of enterprise strategy
and activities going on in a range of Rotherham schools. Firstly,
Year 6’s from St Mary’s Catholic Primary school in
Herringthorpe demonstrated their understanding of what qualities
it takes to be successful, including team work and creativity.
One delegate said, “I particularly enjoyed hearing the young
people talk about how their confidence has grown and many were
very clear on the different strands of enterprise. The children
at St. Mary’s had organised me effectively into a team activity,
which showed evidence of an enterprising attitude.”
In the afternoon, the group moved on to Wales High School, a specialist
college for Business and Enterprise (B&E), and were welcomed
by the headteacher, Lawrence Morton and met B&E Manager, Adrian
Smith and Young Chamber members, which was of particular interest
to Mike Phillips, a music teacher and enterprise co-ordinator from
Leventhorpe School in Hertfordshire, who said, “We have just
started the Young Chamber and so this event has been fantastic,
especially speaking to all the different people and learning about
how they started their Young Chamber.”
“The main thing is the enthusiasm, the hope and the positive attitude we
have picked up, it’s infectious.”
The Delegation dinner at Rother Valley Campus that evening was
a great opportunity not only for networking between delegates and
partners but, “a good chance to say thank you to some of
the many enterprise drivers who have played such a key role throughout
this year”, said Mike Garnock-Jones.
Day two of the event saw a visit to Clifton Comprehensive School,
where the group met Head teacher, Patrick Daley, School Enterprise
Champion, Keeley Baldwin, and the Young Chamber, allowing delegates
to get a sense of how enterprise is also thriving in areas that
face high levels of deprivation. Isla McCrone, a Senior Advisor
for Determined to Succeed, within the Scottish Executive said, “I
have seen clear examples of cross curricular enterprise. It is
achievable to embed enterprise in education and this was evident
at Clifton.”
Comparing ‘Determined to Succeed’, a national strategy
with massive investment, to Rotherham Ready, which operates on
a borough level, Isla said, “It’s enlightening to hear
enterprise being understood in the same way as ‘Determined
to Succeed’, there are potential synergies.”
“Rotherham Ready compares very favourably and is very well lead, very visual-we
certainly got a sense of how it works.”
Alastair Falk, from the Academy of Enterprise, which was founded
by successful entrepreneur Alec Reed and aims to promote the teaching
of enterprise throughout the UK, thought the school visits had
highlighted positive behaviour not only in the children, but in
the adults involved and said, “They were excited about what
was happening. It reminded me of inner city school mentoring; they
had such a strong sense of commitment.”
“Rotherham Ready makes enterprise education achievable and I got a strong
sense of a can-do attitude.”
Alastair pointed to the strides Rotherham Ready is making in going
beyond enterprise activities and fostering young people’s
involvement in their own learning, saying, “Enterprise raises
the bigger picture questions in schools. Pupils are beginning to
understand that what they do in school will link to getting a job
and will shape their future.”
The final session of the event involved a range of partners looking
at employer engagement and new developments with regards Young
Entrepreneurs and the Young Chamber, presented by Andy Pickles
from The Music Factory.
Malcolm Hoare co-ordinates Centre for Education and Industry (CEI)
support for schools aiming to achieve the Excellence in Enterprise
Education award and said, “The event was an excellent opportunity
to showcase the achievements of Rotherham Ready and to explore
the opportunities for replicating the initiative in other English
regions.”
Rotherham Ready Manager, Mike Garnock-Jones also felt the event
was a success and said, “People were clearly inspired. We
achieved what we set out to do and that was to present the strong
partnership of Rotherham Ready.”
Vic Chivers, Her Majesty’s Inspector, who attended the event,
described Rotherham Ready’s ongoing work in a letter to the
Academy of Enterprise as, “innovative and groundbreaking”.
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