Rebecca Mollart: How children can learn the vital lessons in life

It’s no secret that we’re in a time of change and in times of change an open mind is essential. But surely, where education is concerned, should we not be learning from past mistakes?

Since the Great Debate, government after government have issued policies, developed initiatives and directed curricula to try to shape our education system to meet the challenges of a global economy.

The Jim Callaghan speech that sparked the Great Debate in 1976 touched on complaints that students didn’t have the right skills for the workplace and the need to “improve relations between industry and education”.

He also called for a new education system that would respond to the needs of students and the economic needs of society in what were challenging times. These comments wouldn’t be out of place in any of today’s newspapers and it’s hard to stop yourself from thinking that we’ve been here before. Why are we here again?

We need to stop thinking that education must be either academic or vocational. Somewhere in the middle there is a common ground for an education system which provides knowledge, skills and attitudes so learners can become independent, confident and can spot opportunities in any situation.

Times have changed significantly and we need to recognise this in the education system. We need to foster teamwork but equally build leadership. We need to support knowledge but equally provide the skills a learner will need to find things out for themselves.

In Rotherham, we have developed Rotherham Ready, an enterprise programme for those aged 4-19, which works with schools, colleges, businesses and entrepreneurs to develop learning and teaching that is fit for the 21st century.

Rotherham Ready began with a simple vision – to equip all young people with the skills and attitudes to be successful. The programme motto – “Not everyone will be an entrepreneur but everyone needs to be enterprising” – sums up our approach. There are three key elements of the Rotherham Ready programme, training teachers to develop enterprise through the curriculum, engaging employers and business people to work as role models in schools and colleges and supporting every school and college to achieve a quality mark in enterprise education.

Uniquely Rotherham Ready works with children from as young as four years old to develop core enterprise skills which boost confidence, increase self-esteem and raise aspirations in one of the UK’s most deprived areas.

A key element of the Rotherham Ready programme is The Big 13, a set of enterprise skills agreed by leaders from education and business that would help young people become ready for life after school.

Skills such as effective communication, team work, financial literacy and product design form part of The Big 13 and have since become cornerstones of enterprising curricula developed by Rotherham schools and colleges.

One fantastic example of how this has worked in practice is RISE, a student-led enterprise co-operative that runs a stall at Rotherham market. The project targeted some of the most disengaged students in Rotherham’s secondary schools, exciting them about learning through making and selling products on their stall.

Back in the classroom, teachers have been harnessing enterprise to raise standards and achievement. One primary school credits going from an Ofsted rating of “low satisfactory” to “good and improving” to integrating enterprise across all subjects.

By making enterprise a key part of young people’s education, young people have more aspirations about the world of work and business. Rotherham Youth Enterprise, a key part of the enterprise strategy in the town, then supports young people to start businesses. In the last five years, 232 youth businesses have been launched in the town with a survival rate of 81 per cent, a testament to the strength of young people’s ideas and resilience. Enterprise in education, however, is not just about creating new businesses, it’s also about transforming the hearts and minds of teachers, parents, employers and young people – so that they see a future for themselves and Rotherham.

Rotherham was recently named the most enterprising place in Britain for our work developing entrepreneurship in schools and in the town.

Recent studies have reported that one of the biggest differences in terms of educational achievement between children in poverty and those from middle class backgrounds is their self-confidence and self-esteem. Without a doubt, that is what an enterprising education provides by the bucket loads.

We’re working towards achieving what Sir Jim Callaghan was talking about in 1976. We aim to inspire young people about the world of work and enterprise, to bring business and education closer together and to create a system of education that meets the opportunities and challenges of life in the 21st century.

What we need in education is the recognition that the world is changing and that education has got to change with it. Only when that happens will our young people get the education they really need.

Rebecca Mollart is school liason officer of enterprise and education programme Rotherham Ready.