Across the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area, business leaders are volunteering their time and expertise to help local schools improve careers guidance for pupils.
Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East LEP, explains how the region’s Enterprise Adviser network has reached a milestone.
At the end of 2015 we launched our Enterprise Adviser network, which partners North East schools with business leaders who help shape the delivery of careers guidance. Our Enterprise Advisers work closely with schools’ senior leadership teams, helping to embed meaningful employer engagement into our schools and raising the standard of careers education for pupils.
This year, we’re celebrating reaching a milestone in the programme: we now have 100 Enterprise Advisers, each of whom has been matched with a secondary school in our region. Every one of these people is making a real difference to the lives of children and young people in the North East, helping to make sure that they are prepared for the world of work and aware of the range of opportunities that await them.
The Enterprise Adviser network spans the region, from Berwick to Durham, and the Advisers play a crucial role in supporting schools to achieve the Good Career Guidance Benchmarks, which were originally piloted here in the North East and which now form part of the Government’s Careers Strategy for all schools.
By piloting the Benchmarks in the North East, we saw first-hand the hugely positive impact that engagement with employers can have on outcomes for pupils. A relationship with an Enterprise Adviser is one way in which schools in our region are creating this engagement and embedding it into their practice. An Enterprise Adviser can be the key to bridging the gap that can exist between education and employment.
Of course, it’s in all of our interests to ensure that the next generation has the skills and knowledge they need to enter the workforce or continue to further or higher education, or training. Top quality careers guidance is essential to social mobility, and it’s one of the key ways in which we want to give all children and young people the best possible start to their working lives.
Our Enterprise Advisers tell us that they really value the opportunity to give back to their local area and to inspire young people about careers within their industries. In turn, we value our Enterprise Advisers’ generous contributions of time, skills and expertise.
As a result, young people in the North East will be better informed when it comes to making decisions about their futures. They will understand the types of skills that employers are looking for, and we hope that they will be inspired by seeing examples of real careers they could go into in the North East, through their experiences of employer engagement.
An active network of 100 people who are committed to working alongside teachers and school leadership teams really is something worth celebrating. And we’re always looking to build the network even further. Our ambition is that every school in the region will have its own Enterprise Adviser, so if you think that you could help a school to embed employer engagement into its careers education, then please do get in touch via our website.
To find out more about the North East LEP's Skills programmes, including the Enterprise Adviser network, visit www.nelep.co.uk