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Case study: Deeside College

Sowing Seeds

WBQ components
WRE Team Enterprise activity
PSE Community Participation

Key Skills opportunities
Communication, WO, PS

A Key Skills 'trail' is provided below.

Aim
This project aimed to introduce students an opportunity to take part in a Team Enterprise activity, while also giving them the experience of doing voluntary work in their local community.

Activities
The exercise was planned as an Enterprise Week (suspended timetable), but this model could be adapted to different timescales.

Prior to the Enterprise Week, the students had formed three groups to research and discuss the work of a selection of local charities identified by Flintshire Voluntary Services, and to choose three with which to work (one group of students with each charity). They also drew up plans for possible activities involving their selected charity. (Opportunities to meet the requirements of Communication key skill.) With help from staff, the students contacted the charities to agree and make arrangements for the planned activities.

At the beginning of the week the groups visited the various charities. This provided the students with an insight into the organisation of the charity's daily operations. The visitsincluded a half-day's work on a task which benefited the charity. The tasks included painting a room; fundraising via a car wash; filing and administration; setting up an office. (Opportunities for photographs as evidence.) These tasks gave students some experience of voluntary work, and a sense of personal satisfaction. It also gave the students an insight into the aims of the charity and the way it functioned. The second phase involved the students in a SWOT analysis of the charity, which they undertook by interviewing the staff and making personal observation. Each group used a generic set of questioned prepared by staff.

The third phase was given to Enterprise Training. This was provided by Business Dynamics (WDA) who introduced students to simple business planning, financial costings and marketing. A simulated enterprise activity was included, so that student could apply their learning. Visiting speakers from local industry also provided guidance in marketing and finance.

In the fourth phase of the week each group developed a Business Plan based on the findings on Phase Two, and formalised a SWOT analysis with three actions the charity could address. Students returned to their chosen charity for an afternoon session where the SWOT and draft proposals were discussed and modified. (PS)

In the fifth phase, each group worked on implementing the action most preferred by the charity. The purpose of this phase was to provide real outcomes for the Enterprise Activity so that it was not just a theoretical exercise. However the implementation was limited by the time allowed for this phase of Enterprise Week; which amounted to 1.5 days. This phase included preparing PowerPoint presentations.

The final phase was achieved on the last afternoon of Enterprise Week, when representatives from all three charities attended presentations given by each group. A plenary session followed where the project was evaluated and recommendations for future projects were proposed.

Students were then presented with certificates from Business Dynamics.

(To meet the PSE time requirement, students planned to carry out further voluntary work with the charity they had been linked with.)

Practical points:
Planning/ preparation by Business Dynamics and CountyVS
1 full week of 30 hours to deliver (can be delivered by phasing over a longer period).

Time-scale and planning: 6 weeks planning
Meetings with Business Dynamics, VS, College staff - 4 hours
Pre Р project briefing to students by VS - 1 hour
Staff time to prepare generic questionnaire - 2 hours

Caveats

PS.3.1 Each student should be working on a different problem and identifying three solutions to solve it. The charity may only have two problems or have several. Is there enough individual work for everyone in the group?

PS.3.2 The most appropriate solution should be chosen, but this will limit the key skills evidence to one student only. It may be useful to have students working on the second and third choice solutions, also, in order to generate individual evidence.

PS.3.3 The review can include a comparison of approaches, if more than one solution has been implemented. Students could evaluate their implementation in the light of other solutions in the group.

One problem with this approach is that it may diversify tasks so much that it is no longer Working with Others. However, there may be sufficient evidence for this key skill in other activities in this model.

It may be that this model generates evidence for some of the students, but not all. These may have to be given key skills opportunities in a different model.