Developing Enterprise Skills

Effective activities to support the development of Enterprise skills

Effective activities to support the development of Enterprise skills should:

• give pupils freedom in deciding the focus of their activity (within the requirements of the curriculum)
• encourage pupils to work in teams or alone, undertaking specific roles to complete tasks
• require pupils to identify and obtain appropriate resources
• give pupils responsibility for managing their activity
• reflect the constraints and practice of the adult and business world
• have a definite end result (for example a product or a service).¹ Enterprise skills can be delivered through any or all parts of the curriculum.

Indeed Enterprise skills can sometimes be most effectively delivered through tasks that are not overtly linked to an Enterprise theme.

Ofsted have suggested that, typically, there are four stages in effective enterprise learning:

Stage 1

Tacking a problem or identifying a need, by a team or groups of pupils, which requires the generation and development of ideas and discussion among pupils to reach a common understanding of what is required to resolve the problem or meet the need. For example such activity could involve the manufacture of a product or the provision of a service.

Stage 2

Planning the project or activity: breaking down tasks, organising resources, deploying team members, and allocating responsibilities.

Stage 3

Implementing the plan: solving problems, monitoring, evaluating and reviewing progress.

Stage 4

Evaluating processes, activities and final outcomes holistically; including reflecting on lessons learned, and assessing the skills, attitudes, qualities and understanding acquired as a result of the process.

This model can be helpful when reviewing with students how they went about tasks designed to help them to improve their Enterprise skills - for example how they managed their time and other resources.

1. These "characteristics" of an enterprise approach to teaching and learning are taken from a DTI website. This website provides guidance for teachers in developing enterprise education and entrepreneurial skills among pupils in the 11-16 age range.)