Using Community Apprentice to develop our school council
- Six groups of 13 students
- 11 to 17 year olds
- 10 months
Co-op Academies Trust, the Co-op Foundation and Envision created a tailormade version of the Community Apprentice Programme, challenging school councils to galvanise others within their academy to tackle a social problem of their choosing. All the teams were brought together to take part in events, including a launch summit and a ‘Dragon’s Den’ pitch to gain funding for projects. Students then took their projects into their schools, finding ways to engage as many people as possible in their activities. This aimed at empowering the students to take leadership over their projects and use their creativity and confidence skills to talk to their fellow students about their chosen social issue.
Run by: Envision National Programme Manager
External involvement: Envision, Co-op Group business volunteers
Other attributes developed: Confidence, determination
Reflection: Students were supported to completed a Skills Tracker
Opportunities to link to career-related learning: In assisting teams to choose their project or to help them refine it, they could be encouraged to speak with employees of organisations linked to their cause and understand their career paths and visit the workplaces. Links to - Gatsby Benchmarks 5 and 6 – Encounters with employers and employees, experiences of workplaces
Links to curriculum learning: The programme supported the academies to ‘provide opportunities for active citizenship’ as outlined in the new OFSTED framework
