Benefits

This toolkit maps out a journey from charity fundraising to the development of a social enterprise. Every school and college is different and it is up to you to decide which part of the journey or how far you wish to travel along the social enterprise path. Whether you decide to have a have a sponsored swim or want to hire out school facilities all enterprise activities it will have an impact on all those involved. Below are just a selection of some of the benefits affecting students, school staff and the wider community.

Student Development

1. Attainment
2. Introduction to democratic decision making
3. Engage students with their local community
4. Understanding of responsibility, accountability, “real activity” with reward for achievement in tangible terms ie problems solved
5. Art, creativity, important to market & sell businesses – links between different subject areas cross-school involvement
6. Addressing social issues within the school and wider community
7. Awareness of society and working to a better society
8. Raising attendance to achieve better results – better job prospects
9. Learn business skills – but with a social aim
10. Purposeful activity led by social objectives grounded in actual need within the school community
11. Using Webster Stratton on managing behaviour
12. Add to students cv’s
13. Sets context for learning for disaffected
14. Activity with “vulnerable” students
15. Benefit learning about co-operation and team working
16. Enterprise and economic awareness
17. Focus – long term project
18. Awareness of alternative enterprise
19. Aspiration – engages young people – knock on effect on rest of curriculum
20. See purpose of learning real value
21. Increase pupils confidence
22. Raise aspirations of students and their families
23. Engage students who are less academic, with more practical opportunities
24. Build students skills – practical skills for life and work
25. Applied business skills
26. Business planning
27. Understanding of the workplace
28. Helps students to make career decisions
29. Fulfilling individuals potential
30. Business skills – management, leadership, finance, report writing, communication

Community Development

1. Economic Regeneration
2. Engage students with their local community
3. Addressing social issues within the school and wider community
4. Awareness of society and working to a better society
5. Raising skills in local community
6. Social aims often based on supporting the community
7. Community cohesion – especially where school has negative perspective
8. Using young people to research the real issues in the local community and come up with real solutions and deliver them
9. Identifying local community issues – link to local authority councils
10. Local people having an impact
11. Fundraising for local/national/charities
12. Creating social wealth

School Development

1. Extended schools – parent clubs
2. Could run projects to attract fund raising for schools
3. Lowering NEETS/ Engaging potential NEETS
4. Better engagement/attendance/behaviour
5. Better motivation and engagement leading to better results
6. Enterprise Education
7. Opportunity to link a number of areas of the curriculum together
8. Tax and vat advantages
9. Adds to the every child matters agenda
10. Economic wellbeing strand
11. Community cohesion – especially where school has negative perspective
12. Extended schools – outreach activities
13. Engaging communities and governors
14. Raise profile of school in the local community and providing PR opportunities
15. Ongoing school based community businesses run partially/wholly by pupils
16. Specialist status eg Business & Enterprise
17. Ethnic integration
18. Attainment, engagement, progression – Ofstead
19. Links with local community - Ofstead
20. Engage students who are less academic, with more practical opportunities
21. Foster community spirit in school – opportunity for older students to mentor younger pupils
22. Enterprise entitlement at KS4 (statutory requirement)
23. Links to geography/ English/maths
24. Work related learning
25. Supporting diplomas
26. Opportunities for enriching the school curriculum and developing the every child matters agenda
27. Vocational options allow more flexibility to build in social enterprise model
28. Giving school new social purpose
29. Skill developments for teachers and non teaching staff
30. School can become a community hub
31. Get young people, community members, staff, governors and professional working together
32. Geography projects may have existing foreign links – use them to stimulate fundraising or trade ideas
33. Citizenship

Well with all those reason’s it would be a shame not to have a go, and remember you can do a little or a lot depending on your school’s or college’s resources. Have a look at our getting started page or the variety of case studies to get a few more ideas. If you would like some further support go to the contacts page for links to the various support agencies who can help you achieve your goals.