Notre Dame Glasgow – Young Enterprise Scotland | Scotland's Enterprising Schools

Name of school/project

Young Enterprise Scotland – Notre Dame Glasgow

Think and Do Business

Key Facts

Think Business (S1) Teacher Led with YES materials a series of lessons and challenges designed to be run in 45 minute slots for S1 introducing and reinforcing enterprise concepts

Think More business (S2) Teacher Led with YES materials a series of lessons and challenges designed to be run in 45 minute slots for S2 introducing and reinforcing enterprise concepts

The High Street Challenge (S2) Day long enterprise event led by YES Trainers where young people worked in teams to come up with a business they could potentially set up and run in a local disused shop unit

Enterprise Life and Work (S4) 14 2 hour sessions delivered by a YES trainer to 20 4^th years that led them to running their own business within the school

How it developed

Notre Dame and YES has had a relationship with for the last four years and Notre Dame was both open to the idea of additional support with enterprise activities and enthusiastic about the idea of the ESP as a concept. As well as the class time, YES staff spent time with the Notre Dame staff discussing refinements to the materials and potential ideas for customisation and follow up.

What pupils gained

Understanding of issues relating to business practice and a further understanding of how businesses help to satisfy needs.
Participating in collaborative enterprise activities leading to enhanced communication and teamwork skills
Developing entrepreneurial skills that contribute to the success of the activity.
Developing the skills and attributes that will be needed for learning, life and work.
Gaining understanding of the relevance of their current cross-curricular learning to future opportunities.
Given the opportunity to use enterprise activities to make informed choices about their lives and learning.
Practical experience of enterprise and business

How effective was the project

All of S1-S3 were exposed to enterprise experiences
10 S4 pupils completed the running of their own business
The Company Programme has been timetabled for S5/S6 pupils
Pupils who participated in Think and Do Business demonstrated the following Attributes across the 4 capacities of CfE:
Enthusiasm and motivation for learning
Determination to reach high standards of achievement
Openness to new thinking and ideas
Ambition
An enterprising attitude
Self-reliance
Pupils who participated in the Inventor’s Challenge demonstrated the following Capabilities across the 2 capacities of CfE:
Literacy, numeracy and communication skills
Think creatively and independently
Learn independently and a part of a group
Make reasoned evaluations
Link and apply different types of learning in new situations
Relate to others and manage themselves
Develop and communicate their own beliefs and view of the world
Assess risk and make informed decisions
Achieve success in different areas of activity
Make informed choices and decisions
Develop informed, ethical views of complex issues
Communicate in different ways in different settings
Work in partnership and in teams
Take the initiative and lead
Apply critical thinking in new contexts
Create and develop
Solve problems

Is it sustainable?

Notre Dame has expressed interest in continuing the partnership with YES and we are currently working together on a new daylong enterprise offering for S4 pending availability of funding.

Sustainability is possible as there is a strong willingness on the part of the school but without the support of organisations such as YES other things may take priority. It is the established relationships that make for effective partnership working and the embedding of initiatives such as enterprise.

Did you involve other partners?

Curriculo Solutions

What support did you get?

Support from the school was mainly in terms of teachers and room allocations for the various classes and events. YES made use of its own volunteer network to get volunteers as and when needed.

YES provided all S1 and S2 materials for Do Business and Do More Business as well as providing facilitators and volunteers for the day and half day challenges.

A YES point of contact (Rab Macdonald) was made available to act as a support for other related enterprise activities.