Schools throughout Scotland engage in enterprise activity. For some this can mean a one off event, for others enterprise is a way of life, it is the way in which the curriculum is delivered and the way young people learn. One of the ambitions of the ‘SCOTLAND CAN DO’ framework is “to achieve an education system with entrepreneurship and innovation at its core, seizing the opportunities presented b
y Curriculum for Excellence.”. This is why Scotland’s Enterprising Schools project was developed. The work of the project also contributes to the ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ Strategy, and supports the realisation of the ambitions set out by the newly developed career education and work placement standards. The project was developed to:
Recognise schools for their work in this area and provide a platform for sharing good practice
Encourage schools, from first level through and beyond senior phase, to develop a whole-school approach to enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking
Make resources available for teaching staff to support enterprise activity and encourage entrepreneurial thinking
The Vision of Scotland’s Enterprising Schools is:
Empower young people through an educational system that has a CAN DO spirit with entrepreneurship and innovation at its core, allowing them to fulfil their potential, make the most of opportunities and be motivated to be the best they can be. The Mission of Scotland’s Enterprising Schools is:
To contribute to this change by supporting education practitioners to align with the CAN DO spirit to make their learning more enterprising and entrepreneurial through CPD and exposing young people to new ideas and experiential learning that builds confidence, improves self-esteem and helps them develop skills for learning, life and work. The project partners worked in collaboration with a wide range of schools across Scotland to pilot enterprise activity. The resource available from Scotland’s Enterprising Schools highlights the work of those pilots and amplifies the impact of the numerous providers of entrepreneurial learning via case studies, testimonials and evaluations. It also provides a wealth of information to help schools take a whole school approach to enterprise teaching and learning and provides exemplars for other schools to model themselves upon and accelerate a peer-to-peer support model. What is Enterprising teaching and learning? Enterprise in education is about taking an enterprising approach to teaching and learning. Enterprise encourages all young people to learn and develop in a way that meets their needs and develops skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work. Young people need to be prepared for a world which is changing rapidly. Many of the jobs they will do when they leave school do not yet exist and they will probably have several jobs during their lifetime. They need to have the skills and attitudes to cope with an unpredictable future, to be able to deal with setbacks and disappointments in a positive way, and to continue to learn for the rest of their lives. One of the ambitions of the Scotland CAN DO framework is “to achieve an education system with entrepreneurship and innovation at its core, seizing the opportunities presented by Curriculum for Excellence”. This is why Scotland’s Enterprising Schools was developed. Scotland’s Enterprising Schools helps schools embed the Developing the Young Workforce strategy, Building the Curriculum 4, HGIOS (4th Edition) and supports the realisation of the ambitions set out by the newly developed career education and work placement standards. The project was developed to:
Recognise schools for their work in this area and provide a platform for sharing good practice
Encourage schools, from ELC through and beyond senior phase, to develop a whole-school approach to enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking
Make resources available for teaching staff to support enterprise activity and encourage entrepreneurial thinking
The Vision of Scotland’s Enterprising Schools is:
To inspire all young people to develop a CAN DO attitude that will enable them to reach their full potential. The Mission of Scotland’s Enterprising Schools is:
To support education practitioners to cultivate an innovative and creative curriculum that motivates young people to be all they can be in learning, life and work. Young people need to be prepared for a world that is changing rapidly. Scotland needs people who are enterprising and entrepreneurial whatever their chosen career path, young people who are prepared and ready for the world of work, including self-employment, equipped to make an effective transition from education to work and make a contribution to Scotland’s economy. From the earliest age, children have a natural ability to be enterprising and it is important for that ability to be nurtured throughout their education.
