The Taskforce Year in View 2010
Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP chief executive and Peter Dart, Director, WPP, taking part in Visit our Schools and Colleges week.
Thanks to the support from the members of the Partnership Board, Trustees, Employers and hundreds of volunteers, it has been a successful and productive first year for the charity the Education and Employers Taskforce. We believe that 2010 has marked the start of many new and enduring education and employer partnerships.
The first Visit our Schools and Colleges campaign, launching the one-stop-shop Teachers and Employers Guides and the inaugural Taskforce research conference at the University of Warwick were some of the highlights.
We want to congratulate Anthony Salz on his new role as lead Non-Executive Director at the Department for Education. Anthony will be stepping down as Co-Chair of the Taskforce Trustees and we are delighted to announce that he will be replaced by David Cruickshank, Chairman of the UK Board of Partners at Deloitte LLP.
British Museum Event
Christine Blower, general secretary NUT, Chris Keates, general secretary NASUWT, Kate Humpleby, Education Village Darlington and Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP chief executive
Dr Vanessa Lawrence, chief executive and director general Ordnance Survey, Lord Puttnam and Emma Knights, chief executive NGA
Bob Wigley, chairman Yell Group plc, Justin King, CEO of J Sainsbury plc and Sir Mike Rake, chairman of BT Group plc
Tom Wilson, director of UnionLearn, Brian Lightman, general secretary ASCL and Martin Doel, chief executive AOC
The British Museum was the venue for the first national Visit our Schools and Colleges campaign launch event on 16 June 2010. Speakers included: Chris Keates, General Secretary of NASUWT, Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor, Sir Mike Rake, chairman of BT and Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP. Thanks go to the British Museum and Peter Dart, Director WPP, and also to Lord Green and Sir Richard Lambert, Trustees of Taskforce and British Museum.
Minister John Hayes at Lambeth College for Visit our Schools and Colleges week
Ministerial visits
Visits by John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills & Lifelong Learning and Nick Gibb, Minister of State for Schools
Visit our Schools and Colleges week started with visits by Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Schools and Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco CEO to Westfield Community Technology College in Watford, and by John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning and David Cruickshank, chairman of Deloitte to Lambeth College in London. Over a week 700 employers from all over the country, including 104 chief executives and chairmen from many of the UK's leading and FTSE 100 companies undertook visits. The Visit our Schools and Colleges campaign was run on a tiny budget and received 230 pieces of media coverage across England between July and November.
Roland Rudd and pupils from the Convent of Jesus and Mary school
CEO visits
Roland Rudd, founder and partner of Finsbury Group, was one of the business leaders who visited a school during the VOSC campaign. He is pictured with girls from the Convent of Jesus and Mary a language college in Willesden, where he signed the Languages Work Pledge, a campaign being run by CILT, the National Centre for Languages.
Letter from Nick Gibb,
Minister
of State for Schools
In November a letter to the Taskforce about the Visit our Schools and Colleges campaign from Nick Gibbs, Minister of State for Schools, said: "There is good evidence, which I know you are doing more to develop, that employers support for education can make a genuine difference to attainment, progression and to the transitions young people must make between school, further and higher education and into work."
The Times newspaper article
Financial Times newspaper
publishes Working with Schools
On 5 November the Financial Times newspaper published a 16-page Working with Schools special report highlighting the work of the Education and Employers Taskforce, its partners and other organisations working in the field. Visit: www.ft.com/reports/schools-2010
Robert Peston at the Visit Our Schools and Colleges launch
Robert Peston's 'Speakers for
Schools'
site has gone live
Initial information about the new Speakers for Schools site, founded by BBC Business Editor Robert Peston, went live in December. The official website launch will be later in the year. Details will appear in the next issue of Taskforce News. Visit: www.speakers4schools.org
Associate from law firm Pinsent Mason
KPMG shows engagement
varies
hugely
KPMG research covering primary, secondary, special schools and academies showed that the quality and amount of education and employer engagement varies considerably between schools. The report concluded: "Schools believe that as well as adding to the skills of the young people, partnerships with employers inspire and motivate young people, who not only see the possibilities that they have after school, but understand to a greater extent the importance of their school work. Our interviews with head teachers supported this, with almost all mentioning in particular the importance of employer engagement in raising aspirations amongst pupils at an early age, especially in areas with high levels of deprivation." Visit: Investigation of school employer partnerships, KPMG 2010
Christine Blower of NUT
Chris Jones of City & Guilds
Mary Bousted of ATL
Emma Knights of National Governors Association
New members of the Partnership Board
Four new organisations joined the Partnership Board of the Education and Employers Taskforce (www.educationandemployers.org/who-weare/ the-partnership-board) in 2010. The Board now includes: the Director General of City and Guilds (www.cityandguilds.com), the General Secretary of National Union of Teachers (www.nut.org.uk) the General Secretary of Association of Teachers and Lecturers (www.atl.org.uk) and the CEO of the National Governors Association (www.nga.org.uk). We welcome the expertise of these important organisations.
Professor Hugh Lauder University of Bath
Hans van der Loo, Vice President, European Union Liaison
at Shell International
The Point of Partnership conference – University of Warwick, 15 October 2010
The inaugural Taskforce research conference brought together for the first time leading researchers in the field together with policy-makers and practitioners. The Point of Partnership: Understanding Employer Engagement in Education conference addressed all aspects of employer engagement in education.
Professor Hugh Lauder University of Bath, editor of the Journal of Education and Work, was joined as a keynote speaker by Hans van der Loo, Vice President, European Union Liaison at Shell International, who spoke on talent as a strategic resource, and the urgent need for employers to work with governments, schools, colleges and universities to secure Europe's future prosperity. Visit: www.educationandemployers.org/researchconference
Taskforce research report What is to be gained? (updated version) was unveiled at the Warwick University conference in October. To read the full report visit: www.educationandemployers.org/research/what-is-to-be-gained
Anthony Salz, lead Non Executive Director at the Department for Education
Dinner 26 May at Wellcome Trust
It was an opportunity for members of the Taskforce Partnership Board and Trustees to discuss how to work together to achieve our vision – namely that every school and college has an effective partnership with employers, providing young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to achieve their potential. Post-general election, another timely topic was working with the new government and its educational priorities: how can we best demonstrate the crucial importance of education-employer partnerships to the new government?
Attendees included: Anthony Salz, from Rothschild, Sir William Castell, Wellcome Trust, Will Butler-Adams, Brompton Bicycles, Terry Duddy, Home Retail Group, Mick Brookes, NAHT, Dr John Dunford, ASCL, Lesley Longstone, Department for Education, Colin Willman Federation Small Business, James Fothergill, CBI, Tim Hutchings, British Chambers of Commerce and Bob Wigley, Yell Group plc. Thanks to Sir William Castell and Wellcome Trust for hosting
David Cruickshank, chairman of the UK Board of Partners at Deloitte
Helping young people succeed:
the
role of employers
Deloitte, the business advisory firm, launched a report in October, commissioned by the Education and Employers Taskforce, examining how employers can contribute to improving careers education through inspiring and better informing young people. The dynamic labour market and the vast range of career options available can leave young people feeling bewildered and uninformed. The research shows that a substantial divide between what young people want from their careers advice at school and what they get, including the level of involvement of employers.
National Governors Association's Matters Arising magazine
FT Working with Schools report
The first national Visit our Schools and Colleges campaign inspired enormous interest despite its tiny budget, generating over 230 pieces of media coverage across England between June and November. Here are a few examples from the national, education and regional press.
NAHT's Leadership Focus magazine
Investigative pilots
Leading into the Visit our Schools and Colleges campaign, the Taskforce contributed to a series of small-scale pilots, observing and supporting individual schools and employers as they sought to develop new partnerships. In doing so, we developed valuable insights and held workshops and interviews with over 100 individuals, from careers advisers and work experiences coordinators, to national and local employers, head teachers, teachers and expert brokers, as well as staff from Local Authorities, Chambers of Commerce and work-based learning providers.
HMC conference speech
In September, Taskforce Trustee Anthony Salz, gave the keynote speech at the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' conference outlining the ways in which independent schools might partner with state schools for employer engagement. The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference represents the Heads of over 250 of the leading independent schools in the UK and the world.
Visit: www.hmc.org.uk
Our Expert Working Groups
Thanks to the expertise and commitment of our partners, the Taskforce Working Groups have had a very successful year.
Expert Working Group on School Governance
After the Working Group on School Governance's initial activities exploring the nature of school governor and governing body links with employers, it has proved to be a useful forum for discussing government policy, developing recommendations and working one-on-one with government at both the operational and the strategic level. The group is currently exploring coordinated activities for 2011, enabling more employers and more schools to get the most out of their governor links.
Expert Working Group on Work Experience
The purpose of the group is to develop a new vision for work experience and young people's experience of the world of work. In 2010 the group looked at creating an updated definition of work experience, making sure that young people have the opportunity of work experience throughout their educational journey regardless of what subjects they are studying and to ensure that in practice it provides mutual benefits to employers, young people and schools and colleges.
Expert Working Group on Research
This group brings together policy experts, researchers and research users from private, public and third sectors to ensure that the work of the Taskforce and sector is informed by the best possible evidence base. Activities during 2010 included: helping to create What is to be gained? version two, helping to shape the research strategy and overseeing the first Taskforce research Conference at the University of Warwick.
Expert Working Group on Standardisation
The purpose of the group is to enable employers to work more effectively with young people, particularly in the provision of work experience, by minimising the regulatory burdens encountered by employers. Specifically, the group considered processes, forms and guidance materials used in relation to health and safety checks, safeguarding including Criminal Record Bureau checks and insurance checks. In 2010 the group considered issues such as should there be a standard and mandatory process for schools and employers to evidence and assess good practice? If so, how will it be assessed?