What do schools need?

Work experience
This comprises both the one week/two week work experience placements within a company and also ongoing placements over a period of time, either one day a week or for a block of time. The latter are usually to support young people who find a more vocational route more to their liking than the traditional academic route. A new development for work experience will be the introduction of the new Diplomas.
Read a work experience case study here.

Business volunteering and expert coaching
Mentors from the business community can play a vital role in the development of young people. The main aims of mentoring are to encourage and support good behaviour and effective learning, to guide and counsel and to help raise expectations. Volunteers spend time in school (usually about half an hour a week) talking through issues with their mentee. A very successful alternative is to use the medium of e-mail to establish a relationship rather than face-to-face meetings.

Enterprise activities
Enterprise education aims to develop enterprise capability, innovation, creativity, risk taking, a can-do attitude and the drive to make ideas happen, together with financial capability and economic and business understanding. Schools (often supported by the local EBP or other agency) run a number of different activities, typically involving business support in anything from an hour to a day, where students are challenged to find a solution to a business problem.
Read an enterprise activities case study here.

Re-engagement
A number of students struggle to work within the school framework and are in danger of dropping out of the system. For these young people a number of initiatives have been developed involving the local business community. The particular emphasis tends to be on gaining a better understanding of working life; literacy and numeracy skills; the range of soft skills.
Read a re-engagement case study here.

In-school support, company visits and taster days
Increasingly the curriculum taught in schools is being made more relevant to the outside world. There are many ways that business can directly support the school curriculum, whether by allowing a group of students to visit their premises for an overview ; going into schools to give a talk to young people; allowing their organisation to be used as a case study; allowing a young person to spend a day in the business to give them a taste of what is involved.
Read an in-school support, company visits and taster days case study here.

Professional development placements and other industrial workforce development opportunities
One of the best ways to educate young people about the business community is to educate the teachers. Many teachers have spent most of their working lives within an academic environment yet are asked to teach young people about the world of work. Schemes are available for teachers to spend time in companies (either on a one-to-one basis or in a group) so that they can see for themselves what is involved in their local business community.
Read a professional development placements and other industrial workforce development opportunities case study here.

Vocational experts to brief students about industry
Running a workshop in school gives a volunteer the chance to share their business experience with young people. You may be asked to give an overview of your career path; to talk specifically about marketing, finance, human resources or a range of other aspects of business. Alternatively you may like to become involved in workshops to prepare young people before they go on work experience by giving them an overview of employers’ expectations or by conducting mock interviews.

Advisers for 14-19 partnerships
Schools are currently forming 14-19 partnerships to drive forward the delivery of the new Diplomas being introduced from September 2008. As the success of these new qualifications will depend on their relevance to the workplace, employers are being encouraged to join the partnerships in an advisory capacity to ensure that this relevance is maintained at a local level.