Specialist School Status
We have been a Business and Enterprise College (BEC) since September 2005. Whilst our 3 key subject areas are Business Studies, ICT and Mathematics, Enterprise activities take place in all subject areas and also in PSHCEE. There are 3 key strands to Enterprise Education:
- Enterprise Capability where we encourage pupils to develop a range of key skills including being creative, innovative, managing risk, problem solving, decision-making etc
- Business and Economic Understanding where local companies provide staff to support our lessons and pupils have the benefits of visits to companies within the local community
- Financial Literacy where we strive to increase pupils’ awareness of how to effectively manage their money and to consider the key decisions to be made in the future. Support is provided by a number of companies including NatWest (RBS), pfeg and the local Citizens Advice Bureau.
Whilst Enterprise activities are embedded within the curriculum, a wide range of Enterprise activities also take place at different times of the year and are often included within PSHCEE time:
- In National Enterprise Week, all of our curriculum subject areas have visitors from local industry supporting the delivery of lessons and increasing pupil awareness of the role of local industries in our community. Also during the week pupils work in small groups (mini enterprise) to raise funds for charities – last year £1400 was given to ‘Children in Need’.
- Enterprise Morning where all Year 9 groups participate in Enterprise related activities:
- Year 7 design and make a rollercoaster from straws and glue working in small groups
- Year 8 design and make a product working with staff from both Young Enterprise and the local community
- Year 9 have a Business Day working with ‘Young Biz’ planning a Business related activity
- Year 10 participate in a problem solving morning with visiting groups such as the Armed Services whilst others in the same year group visit local industries to gain a better awareness of the role of the company in the local community and potential career opportunities
- Year 11 do their final preparation for a relatively new vocational course – ‘Certificate in Preparation for Working Life’ where last year 90% of our pupils achieved level II – equivalent to ½ GCSE grade A*-C
We also work with Young Enterprise with 25 of our Year 10 pupils in ‘Company Enterprise’ – pupils gain real business experience with designated roles in a company which designs, makes, markets and sells a product. This has been a very successful project and the pupils also have the opportunity to take a GCSE in ‘Enterprise’ where their project work relates to their practical activities.
We are also an Enterprise ‘Spoke’ School working with a small number of other schools across Humberside where a key focus is to provide training resources and events for relevant staff in all Humberside schools.
Staffing is a key part in the success of our Business and Enterprise Activities. Planning and Implementation is very much a team effort with a number of staff playing key roles to ensure the implementation of Enterprise related activities and whole school objectives across all curriculum areas. The team includes:
- Specialist School Manager
- Website Development Manager
- Heads of Department in Business Studies,
- ICT and Mathematics
- Community Manager
- Enterprise Coordinator
- Lead Learners in Business Studies, ICT (x2) and Mathematics
- Network Manager
A key feature of our specialist school status is provision for the local community. Our Community Manager (Sarah Mallinson) liaises with different organisations within the community to determine their needs. Courses may be provided for adults or our local primary and secondary school partners. A new ECDL course for adults has proved to be very popular and successful whilst a wide range of activities have taken place with 7 of our primary school partners (see gallery of pictures) including:
- Year 5 Enterprise Challenge in
- ‘Health and Safety’
- ‘Our World’
- Year 6 ICT Challenge – developing a range of ICT related skills
- Year 6 ‘Real Maths’ looking at the applications of Mathematics in everyday life
- Year 6 Mathematics for the Gifted and Talented
A wide range of courses are on offer to adults in the local community including:
- Website development
- Family History research
- Buying and Selling on eBay
- Community First Aid
- Computers for the ‘confused’
- Archaeology
- Digital Imaging
- Basic French
- Business support forum
- ICT – ME – for grandparent/parent and child
We also work closely with our Post 16 Colleges looking at how we might work together for the benefit of our pupils, one example being the provision of 3 sessions for Gifted and Talented pupils in ICT at John Leggott College on a Saturday!
We also have good links with providers in Higher Education, particularly Hull University and St John’s College, York who provide support both in school and through visits.
A number of our staff have had short secondments into local industries – Eggborough Power Station, Arcadia, Drax Power Station and ‘Language is Everything’ have provided a unique experience for our staff which inevitably will be beneficial in the classroom. In a similar manner staff from Croda, D.S. Smith and Arcadia have provided mentoring support for a number of our Year 11 pupils as they move towards their GCSE examinations.
Specialist School status has also enabled us to introduce some new courses into our curriculum
- KS4 ICT – AIDA, CIDA, DIDA
- Certificate in Preparation for Working Life
- Money Management
- Business and Communications
- BTec in Engineering
- BTec in Sport
- Post 16 Colleges link courses eg. Engineering and Hairdressing
Looking forward we hope that all our partners in the local community will establish links with our website development team to ensure that the local community is aware of the full range of opportunities available.
Mr J Maycock - Specialist School Manager