Business class approach for Ysgol Clywedog!

A local secondary school has teamed up with NEST Cymru and British Gas to help give young people in the area the best life chances.

Ysgol Clywedog, based on Ruthin Road, has joined forces with the two companies as part of the Business Class programme; offering schools the chance to work with businesses to make sure the curriculum they deliver and how they are run gives pupils the chance to understand and experience the world of business.

It also aims to give students skills that will have a positive impact their future.

To do this they use ‘The Four Pillars’ – four different areas that mean the pupils and staff can get the most out of the scheme.

Leadership and governance: This is the pillar that gives the school the chance to make the most of business planning and develop new skills. Business leaders can sit on the school’s board of governors and share training sessions and management tools.

The curriculum:  This pillar looks at raising achievement with support across many subjects including numeracy, literacy, IT, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and the Welsh Baccalaureate.

For example, if the aim was to increase the number of girls taking up STEM subjects for GCSE and beyond, they could be given projects the show them how these subjects would be relevant to real life outside school.

Enterprise and employability: This step offers support to pupils so that they are ready for the workplace. Problems to address may include lack of aspiration or gaps in key skills like problem solving, communication or leadership.

This programme will look at providing things like work placements, mentoring particular pupil groups, acting as role models and running workshops and challenges to improve employability skills.

Wider issues: The business and school will work together on any other issues that are relevant to the school.

This could be attendance, parental engagement or smoking culture. Support may come in the form of attending parents’ evenings or primary school transition days, or providing workshops on health and wellbeing.

Head teacher, Matthew Vickery, said ‘We are really glad to be part of this project and to have teamed up with NEST Cymru and British Gas.

“We are already planning the first events for this year and look forward to the partnership and the opportunity it brings.’