Index: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 6. School/Business Links - Speke Garston Partnership, Liverpool This project co-ordinates and manages the arrangement and development of education-business links between local employers and primary and secondary schools in the Speke Garston area of Liverpool. It aims to improve motivation and increase understanding of industry and economics among primary school pupils, while improving knowledge in commerce and industry of the approaches taken by schools. By improving relationships between schools and local industry it seeks to encourage businesses to take on students for training and employment, and in addition it will attempt to assist the development of National Training and Education Target 4. Key Findings There is an increased awareness among local businesses of local residents and their potential, leading to an increase in local recruitment. There is also more awareness of the needs and opportunities of employment, in an area where many children have no experience of work within their immediate family or contacts. Teachers and education administrators have also developed a greater knowledge of the needs of industry and commerce. The provision of examples from the workplace has extended activity in the schools to highlight aspects of the science, economics and business sections of the national curriculum. Background - Problems to be Tackled Speke Garston, an area of about 25,000 people in the south of Liverpool, is an area of intense social and economic deprivation. The past 20 years have seen a substantial fall in the number of economically active people in the area, which is compounded by an increase in the oldest and youngest age groups. Unemployment is much higher than in the city as a whole, and three times the national average in 1995. Half of the households in the area live in poverty, and the standard mortality rate is more than 50per cent above the national average. This poor socio-economic environment in the area has in turn led to severe educational and training problems. Among issues identified in a report prepared by the SRB Partnership as causing concern in the area, the following problems are of specific relevance to this project. The area suffers from low levels of numeracy and literacy. Postcode discrimination denies local people jobs in the area. A lack of role models in some households leads to a lack of knowledge about work and the workplace within entire families. A primary school head in Speke Garston remarked, 'For many children, work is a foreign concept. They see no relevance of it in their lives and therefore in their education.' There is a feeling that education is of little value because it does not lead to jobs. Careers education has a limited role across primary school education. The area continues to manifest low levels of educational attainment. At the beginning of the SRB programme in 1995 more than 12per cent of secondary school students failed to gain any award at GCSE level compared with 4.4per cent for the city as a whole. How the Project was Developed Strong links between local schools and the business community had been emerging since 1990, but until 1995 these were largely confined to secondary schools. The advent of the SRB programme enabled those links to be extended to junior schools, and the project now covers ten of these as well as four comprehensives. The Project The project seeks to improve the attainment of young people in the area by creating and strengthening links between local businesses and schools. This improves confidence and motivation, as well as enhancing opportunities and employability, particularly for pupils with special needs. The links also provide the businesses involved with an insight into the needs of the local community, as well as the opportunities which it presents. This in turn may improve the local employment market, with longer-term benefits for the pupils who take part. Across the fourteen schools included in the project, a variety of activities are undertaken. In primary schools, these include: visits to workplaces, either in parties or small groups; speakers from industry, discussing topics linked to the national curriculum; industry days in schools, with project work and activities provided by delegates from local companies and longer-term projects involving project work assisted by local companies. In secondary schools, in addition to these activities students take part in: mock interviews; work shadowing; work experience. The programme is co-ordinated by two staff, who are responsible for creating and maintaining these school-business links. They report to a small sub-group created to oversee the project by the Jobs, Employment and Training sub-committee of the Speke Garston Partnership. Example of Activity On Garston RC Primary School's industry day in 1998, pupils from years five and six took part in a series of activity sessions with six businesses. These ranged from big international firms such as pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, to a local hairdresser. Each session had a short briefing and debriefing given to groups of ten children by a delegate from one of the participating businesses. These sandwiched longer activities, ranging from modelling marzipan to making periscopes. The school also has a long-term relationship with Ford Motors, who have the nearby Halewood plant. Each year Ford runs a project in car design with children, looking at design and production techniques. The project demonstrates the benefits of mass production against individual production, and shows the children basic aerodynamics and other scientific knowledge that is needed to make cars. The project is closely linked to all areas of the National Curriculum, and also to the personal development activities of the participating schools. It assists with a number of activities within key stages 2, 3 and 4, particularly those involving science, local history and industry. It also assists with the development of placement activity that is needed for year 10 and 11 pupils. At secondary level, it has assisted with the placement of children who have been statemented and who benefit from time spent in a non-educational learning environment. At the end of the SRB partnership's five-year life span, the project will have cost about £207,000 to run. Of this, £140,000 will have come from the SRB, with the balance from the LEA and the European Social Fund. Outcomes and Achievements There has, as yet, been no formal evaluation of this work. However, teachers attest to its value in encouraging in pupils' greater knowledge of: their area; life at work and the meaning of a work environment; the practical application of skills and knowledge gained through education in a work environment. This leads to higher motivation among pupils, as well as a wish to become more involved in certain aspects of the curriculum. The fact that more and more companies are getting involved in this work is a sign that they feel the work is valuable. Companies become involved for a number of reasons, but report that the benefits are two-way: the firms benefit from the training element involved, with staff and the company as a whole getting a better appreciation of the labour market in the area. The numbers involved in the project have been monitored. By the end of the five-year period, 2,770 pupils will have benefited from the activity. Of 680 employers in the Speke Garston area, up to 250 will have taken part in the project.

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