Determined to Succeed national update - February '10

Welcome to the first Determined to Succeed National Update of 2010!

We have decided to slightly restructure the format of the National Update to focus on activity to support local delivery and, more specifically, the six key themes of Determined to Succeed. We are, of course, continuing to include the case studies of local authority activity to ensure we help to disseminate this good practice as widely as possible.

In this issue we have included a review of our three-day Excellence through Enterprise International Conference, which was held in November last year. More than 100 delegates from all over the world attended to hear about Scotland’s comprehensive approach to enterprise in education. The conference was set within our broader, month-long Celebration of Scotland’s Enterprising Young People, during which a number of events were held across Scotland.

We are embarking on an exciting new partnership with the General Teaching Council this year, to offer a reception and award-giving ceremony to all teachers who have successfully gained their Professional Certificate of Recognition in Enterprise in Education.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Isla McCrone Head of Determined to Succeed

 

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Contents

Local authority support

Business meeting for strategic leaders

A business meeting for all Determined to Succeed local authority strategic leaders has been arranged for 5 March 2010 in Europa Building in Glasgow.

Further information from: Jean MacMillan or SG Comms (local authorities only)

Progress reporting

A summary of all 32 local authority (plus Jordanhill School) progress reports for 2008-09 has now been published and sent to all local authorities via SG Comms. Copies will also be circulated more widely.

The reporting template for the Progress Update 2009-10 is now with local authorities. Reporting has been supported by streamlining the form and providing a separate form for data collection. Please contact your senior adviser should you require any support or simply to discuss.

Further information from: Jean MacMillan

Scottish Education Awards

This year's Scottish Education Awards were launched by Mike Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, at Mearns Primary School, winners of last year's ‘Most Enterprising Primary School’. The awards are about celebrating the great things happening in our schools and the excellence of our teaching and support staff. They recognise the achievements of schools and individuals who dedicate their lives to education and deliver opportunities for all our young people to succeed in life. The previous four enterprise education categories have been realigned to Curriculum for Excellence and consolidated into three: Enterprise and Employability Across Learning - primary and early years; Enterprise and Employability Across Learning - secondary; and Entrepreneurial Learning. There are 15 categories this year and full details can be found on the Learning and Teaching Scotland website.

Nominations can be made by pupils, teachers, support staff, parents, employers - anyone connected to the school who feels they should be recognised in this way. Please encourage your schools, your business contacts and parents within your own organisation to consider nominating a school or individual for an award. Nominations close on 5 March 2010.

Further information from: Sandra Ewen

The 2010 Scottish School Magazine Competition

The Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) is once again giving schools and pupils the opportunity to participate in the Scottish School Magazine Competition. Open to every school in Scotland, the competition aims to encourage and enthuse pupils to get together as a team to create something that they and their school will be proud of. Pupils will experience the thrill and satisfaction of seeing their work in print or online. Designs can be simple or flamboyant - the pupils decide. By participating in the competition they will have the opportunity to gain an insight into the exciting world of publishing and may even consider or be considering the magazine industry as a future career. Pupils are encouraged to work across departments involving IT, English, Art and Design, Business Studies - it’s up to them. Details have already been issued to schools and you can find out more on the PPA website. Please encourage your schools to consider registering to take part in the competition. Closing date for entries is 30 April 2010.

Further information from: Bob McGowan

Partnering with General Teaching Council

We are working in partnership with the General Teaching Council to offer a reception and award ceremony to all teachers who have successfully gained their Professional Certificate of Recognition in Enterprise in Education. The event will be held in the Scottish Parliament in May. We are encouraging local authorities to support at least three individuals to apply for Recognition (primary, secondary and special education).

Further information from: Jean MacMillan

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Supporting the development of skills for life, skills for work

Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 4: Skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work

'Building the Curriculum 4: Skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work' was published in October 2009. The Determined to Succeed team has been working in partnership with Learning Directorate (formerly Schools Directorate) colleagues to develop an engagement strategy which will be initiated with a series of area-based events scheduled for March 2010.

Further information from: Bob McGowan

Work Experience Review implementation

A strategic local authority group will be consulted on the development of new National Guidance for Work Experience, taking account of the review recommendations as well as updating the guidance in the context of Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 4. This group emerged from an ‘open session’ at the Local Authority National Gathering held in October.

Further information from: Bob McGowan

Virtual Work Experience

The Virtual Work Experience Board will be considering the conclusions of the recently produced research report and developing recommendations for the way forward. It is anticipated that consideration will be given to integrating Virtual Work Experience (World of Work Online) processes and resources with other aspects of vocational learning and Building the Curriculum 4.

Further information from: Bob McGowan

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Engaging Employers

The Gathering 2010

Determined to Succeed will once again exhibit at The Gathering, which is being held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 18 and 19 February, to raise awareness of the enterprise and employability for young people agenda and aim to engage the third sector as employers (as opposed to service providers). The Gathering is Scotland’s largest annual charity, social enterprise and voluntary sector event and will include seminars and workshops in addition to exhibition space.

Further information from: Sandra Bell

Institute of Directors’ Director Award for Developing Young People

The judging panel met on 4 February to review the shortlist of nominees and determine the winner of each category in the Institute of Directors in Scotland Annual Awards. The winners will be announced at the Award Ceremony on 18 March at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh.

The Determined to Succeed sponsored award recognises the director (working in the public, private or voluntary sector) who has contributed significantly in helping develop and prepare young people for work and life beyond the classroom. We would like to thank everyone who has submitted a nomination.

Further information from: Sandra Bell

Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI): Annual Forum

The 39th Annual SCDI Forum takes place on 11 and 12 March 2010 at the Fairmont St Andrews Hotel. Determined to Succeed will once again exhibit at the event and facilitate a conference workshop, giving us the opportunity to meet and speak to key influencers within private, public and third sector organisations.

The Forum’s focus this year is ‘Re:Wiring Scotland’ and will include keynote speeches from the First Minister and Jim Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Scotland. Moreover, the Forum will launch Scotland’s first Scot10 Panel, bringing together key business and public sector leaders, trade unions, third sector and academics for a high-level debate on the way forward for Scotland.

Further information from: Sandra Bell

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Broadening the reach of Determined to Succeed

Recent national activity with colleges; early years and non-mainstream education

We have been working with Scotland's Colleges on a project to support the encouragement of enterprising learning and teaching approaches through self-evaluation; understanding of enterprise in the curriculum for early years practitioner education; and the exemplification of enterprising learning and teaching in the college sector.

We have also been working with the Secure Accommodation Network (Scotland) and others to support and exemplify enterprising learning and teaching in the secure and residential sector, and, separately, with the Support Training Action Group (STAG) and the Scottish Training Federation (STF) to support their membership to understand and deliver enterprise within Curriculum for Excellence to young people, in particular Get Ready for Work.

The Learning and Teaching Scotland web pages for enterprise are being updated to include examples of enterprising learning and teaching from college, early years and non-mainstream settings.

Further information from: Gordon Brown 

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Embedding enterprise in the curriculum

A Celebration of Scotland's Enterprising Young People 2009

Schools across the country supported last November’s Celebration of Scotland’s Enterprising Young People 2009, which marked the enterprising activities that schools, local authorities, employers and the community are involved in throughout the year. The month-long celebration focused on four themed weeks - Communication, Science and Technology, Global Entrepreneurship and Scotland’s Heritage and Culture and, as well as the national events led by Determined to Succeed, schools from across all 32 local authorities organised their own enterprising activities to celebrate their year round commitment to enterprise education. As in previous years, the success of our celebrations is down to the hard work of the local authority Determined to Succeed teams and the schools themselves.

Transform

The latest Transform project was Transform Glasgow: Smiler. It was co-created with Glasgow East, school students from Lochend High School and Smithycroft and Whitehill Secondary Schools. The project also involved students from Coatbridge College and local community participants. The ‘shadowing and mentoring’ element of Transform developed through each Transform project and allowed the pupils and young people opportunities to see the many varied roles and careers available within the theatre industry, such as stage management, lighting design, technical and marketing.

Following an exciting programme of workshops led by the National Theatre of Scotland’s Creative Team, the project culminated in a freshly-minted theatre event entitled Smiler. The performance, involving drama, Gaelic singing, rapping and physical theatre, followed the story of Smiler - a teenage boy who ‘disnae smile much’ and whose world is turned upside down as his family life starts to fall apart. Six hundred people attended performances of the event at Platform, the Bridge, Easterhouse from 11 to 13 November 2009 and the event was deemed a great success.

The next Transform project will be Transform Aberdeen. It has already had some national coverage in The Scotsman.

The creation of Transform Aberdeen began in September 2009 with a series of taster workshops and engagement activities for all third to sixth year pupils at Dyce Academy. These included disciplines such as music, creative writing, puppetry and physical theatre, and concluded with a sharing of work presented to the rest of the school and teachers. Work is continuing with the pupils and community groups as they create Transform Aberdeen and includes the ‘shadowing and mentoring’ element which is an integral part of the Transform experience.

Transform Aberdeen is directed by Paddy Cunneen, who is joined by puppeteer Ailie Cohan and writer Lewis Hetherington. The final Transform Aberdeen performances will take place on 17-19 March at the Forum, an old cabaret/dance venue in the heart of Aberdeen.

Further information from: Gordon Brown

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Building capacity

Enterprising initial teacher education

Enterprise development officers from Learning and Teaching Scotland have been proactive in developing an understanding of enterprise and how it sits within Curriculum for Excellence and Building the Curriculum 4 with a series of lectures and follow-up workshops at both Jordanhill and Moray House teacher training establishments.

At Moray House in November and December, each year group of primary students attended an introductory lecture introducing and developing an understanding of enterprise. The presentations were followed by workshops where, supported by a number of Learning and Teaching Curriculum for Excellence development officers, students had a hands-on opportunity to work together to plan and develop experiences and outcomes within subject areas and through an interdisciplinary approach. Student groups discussed, developed and shared ideas on enterprising approaches to learning and teaching, incorporating entrepreneurial learning, linking to skills for learning, life and work and building in opportunities for employer engagement to support learning linked to the world of work and real-life experiences.

PGDE (primary) students at Jordanhill about to embark on an early years placement considered enterprise in an early years setting and with the support of ‘Supporting the Early Level’ Curriculum for Excellence resource pack, will be involved in feeding back their experiences and observations after their placement, contributing to a picture of enterprise in early years for further developments.

The ITE network group continues to meet regularly and has suggested a one-day conference where deans, heads of department, course directors and module leaders would be invited. Input will be received from Determined to Succeed, Learning and Teaching Scotland, HMIE and possibly the General Teaching Council. It is hoped this will take place in March 2010.

Further information from: Kirsty Blair

Partnership with Employers Online Resource

The next stage of filming is under way and we are intending to capture case studies of Partnerships with Employers that exemplify interesting practice in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) industries.

Please contact Jean MacMillan to discuss any work currently happening in your schools that we could feature.

National training programme for employer engagement

A training company is about to be appointed to deliver training in the form of Learning Communities for Partnership with Employers. This free training will be offered to all local authorities.

Further information from: Jean MacMillan

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Enhancing our international profile

Excellence through Enterprise - three-day International Conference

The Excellence through Enterprise International Conference took place in November at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Edinburgh. Feedback gathered throughout the event together with the evaluations confirmed the event was a great success: thoroughly enjoyed by delegates and all who participated. We successfully demonstrated Scotland’s comprehensive 3 to 18 approach and showed that it better prepares our young people for life in a 21st-century global economy.

The conference report will shortly be sent to local authorities and a range of other stakeholders but in the meantime, please keep an eye on the Determined to Succeed website and the Enterprise in Education area of the Learning and Teaching Scotland website to get the latest feedback on the conference.

On behalf of the National Determined to Succeed Team thank you again for your support: the local authority visits were such a critical aspect to the conference’s success.

Further information from: Kirsty Blair

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General

Entrepreneurial learning

The National Gathering raised a number of questions around entrepreneurial learning: do we need to look at entrepreneurial skills separately from the business model? How do we make it easier for teachers to access entrepreneurial learning information? We had already formed an Entrepreneurial Focus Group (EFG) involving, amongst others, the Co-operative Education Trust Scotland (CETS), the Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) and the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) and it has been decided to expand this further and involve a number of other stakeholders as well as volunteers from local authorities. The EFG had already suggested improvements to the entrepreneurial pages of the enterprise area within the Learning and Teaching Scotland website and it is hoped these changes will be completed soon.

Further information from: Kirsty Blair

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Pupils in Falkirk challenged to work in a global marketplace

Pupils at Grangemouth High School will be given a taste of working in a global marketplace this month through a challenge set by Forth Ports Authority at Falkirk for Business.

Over the course of two days, pupils will be given the opportunity to plot their own route to bring cargo across the world, develop a shipping label and produce a shipping note. To help them develop the route, the pupils will view a video of a sofa making a journey from India to Grangemouth and will be asked to work in groups to identify the amount and diversity of jobs involved in ensuring the safe delivery of the product.

As part of the challenge the pupils will be dealing with different shipping agents and will be expected to gain crucial information from agents who will be using French, German and Spanish to communicate with them. Pupils will then be expected to give feedback on their experience using a PowerPoint presentation.

The challenge will give the pupils involved a good insight into the careers available through working in the logistics industry and it aims to increase their appreciation of the need for local businesses to speak modern languages.

Throughout January teachers have been working within the curriculum to prepare young people for the experience and develop their skills in this area. In addition, through the event Forth Ports Authority will have an opportunity to increase public understanding of the scale of work undertaken by the firm, in addition to engaging with potential future employees, whilst providing Continuing Professional Development opportunities for their own staff.

Further information from: Lynne Lauder

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Frankie and Benny’s cooking challenge set for Ayrshire pupils

Following on from last year’s successful competition, New York Italian restaurant chain Frankie and Benny’s is once again challenging pupils at secondary schools in South Ayrshire to design a pizza or pasta dish for sale in its Ayr restaurant.

Four schools have entered the competition, Belmont Academy, Kyle Academy, Prestwick Academy and Queen Margaret’s Academy, and will be presenting their ideas to a panel in March with a ‘cook off’ taking place at Frankie and Benny’s on 16 March.

Last year’s winners, S2 pupils at Queen Margaret Academy, created a pizza called Mediterranean Madness, which counted olives, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni among its ingredients. Beating 18 other teams to win the competition, the pupils’ pizza was sold in the Ayr Frankie and Benny’s restaurant for a week in April 2009.

Siobhan Douglas, Principal Teacher of Home Economics at Queen Margaret Academy, claimed the challenge had provided the pupils with an opportunity to further develop their problem solving, creative, communication, presentation and team skills.

Further information from: C Baird

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East Renfrewshire schools Co-operate to Succeed

A visit from the Director of the Co-operative Education Trust Scotland (CETS) to four different secondary schools in East Renfrewshire has resulted in all four schools setting up Young Co-operative projects within their schools.

CETS provides a wide range of resources and support to those interested in exploring the benefits of adopting the co-operative approach for use in schools-based education. Determined to Succeed has given its full backing to CETS and its unique service to schools in Scotland, called Co-operate to Succeed (CtS), which aims to bring the unique attributes of the co-operative approach to enterprise in education.

Eastwood High School, St Luke’s High School, St Ninian’s High School and Woodfarm High School will all work with CETS on a business plan and setting up the bona fide companies, which will include a director and manager as well as other positions. The project is linked to an inter-authority Global Citizenship project in which four secondary schools will work alongside Glasgow schools and will participate in a two-week work experience programme in Malawi in June/July 2010.

Through the project the pupils will be able to understand how a co-operative enterprise differs from a regularly run business and this will give them a greater understanding of the world of work and entrepreneurship with an ethical approach to business.

Further information from: Alison Mitchell

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Ayrshire pupils tasked to design social housing

Around 150 pupils at Irvine Royal Academy in Ayrshire have been invited to research, design and present their ideas for social housing to a panel of experts, including local house-builder Billy Kirkwood of Ryan Homes, who has agreed to incorporate appropriate elements into his housing designs.

The pupils will work through different areas of the curriculum for the project. For example, the theme will be used in modern studies to learn about social housing; in ICT to create databases and spreadsheets; in maths to carry out calculations for costing and design; in technology and art and design pupils will learn how to design suitable models and products; and in science they will relate their learning about environmental issues to housing.

Further information from: C Baird

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A G Barr challenges East Dunbartonshire pupils to create Scottish menu

The company behind Scotland’s iconic soft drink Irn Bru, A G Barr, challenged pupils at Lenzie Academy at the end of 2009 to produce a Scottish themed menu to be sold at A G Barr’s staff restaurant and head office in Cumbernauld.

Pupils were given a six-week lead-up to the challenge, which was launched in October 2009, and then given one day to prepare their menu. The 240 S1 pupils were divided into teams of four to produce a soup and main course with a Scottish theme from a list of ingredients. The interdisciplinary challenge involved four departments: Home Economics; Business Education; Maths and Computing. On the challenge day, pupils prepared their chosen main course in the Home Economics department and in Maths they calculated the manufacturing cost of making the meal and used special dietary scales to calculate the fat, salt and calorie content of the meal. In Business Management they produced a logo and poster to advertise the meal and in Computing they produced an A4 leaflet with the menu and details about their team.

The winning teams were selected by the pupils themselves and each winning team from each of the 12 classes set up a trade stand and were then judged by representatives from A G Barr and the school canteen. The winning team will be attending A G Barr’s head office in Cumbernauld, where they will be assisting in the making of the soup and main course in the staff restaurant.

In addition, all the winning recipes will be showcased and on sale in the canteen at Lenzie Academy and a recipe book is planned with donations going to charity. The partnership between A G Barr and Lenzie Academy looks set to continue, with a range of learning activities planned including work experience placements, mock interviews, presentations on human resources and the company’s international business, together with visits to the firm's Cumbernauld headquarters to view AG Barr’s state of the art manufacturing, distribution and warehouse facilities.

Further information from: Margaret Pears

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