About Enterprise

Young Enterprise Company Programme

Fundraising activities

Vision Aid Overseas & Guide Dogs for the Blinds

Gardening

Fair Trade

Work experience

PHSE Citizenship & Work Related Learning

About Enterprise

The Enterprise Initiative is of fundamental importance to the development of Saint Paul's Academy. As the Academy develops, so does the National Enterprise Initiative, putting increasing emphasis on economic and business understanding as well as financial literacy. Opportunities provided in school can lead to increased self esteem, greater confidence and better preparation for the world of work which will hopefully lead to greater economic prosperity in later life. The aim is to create a 'can do' attitude rather than a passive learning environment.

Although the concept of Enterprise, and indeed Work Related Learning, suggests initially extra curricular activities, the aim is to embed the ideology and the practicalities in the taught curriculum and thus involve all members of staff. There are numerous and obvious links between WRL and Enterprise Citizenship and PSHE but all other areas of the curriculum should contribute.

Enterprise will have two distinct strands; one will focus on business management and seek to draw on the expertise of a wide range of London businesses. Secondly, the focus will look at social and ethical issues and will involve fund raising and Fair Trade.

Putting into practice some of these ideas will be quite straight forward while others will be more complex. One of the more important factors will be the establishment of a stronger 'student voice' and this will be done through setting up 'Year Councils'. These will consist of a boy and a girl from each class who will meet with the Head of Learning Zone, or a designated teacher within the Learning Zone, to discuss an agenda compiled by the students and staff. These meetings will take place during curriculum time at least twice every half-term and more often when necessary. Minutes, compiled by the students, will be passed on to Ms Stevenson who will oversee the process.

From the Year Council, two members, a boy and a girl will serve on the whole School Student Forum, which will be chaired by Mr Winston or his representative. It is hoped that this system will increase both staff and student awareness in Enterprise and other whole school initiatives. Students through this system will be asked to tackle a problem or a need, plan to deal with it, implement a strategy to achieve their goal and evaluate the success of the project. These projects could be either Citizenship or Enterprise or a combination of the two, but the emphasis must be on enjoyment and student autonomy. It is inevitable that mistakes will be made. These are acceptable, and as long as lessons are learnt and projects evaluated properly they may even be beneficial.

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