Schools and academies will hear how a £300,000 D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership strategy aims to boost workforce skills and help young people realise their career potential.
D2N2 – a private-sector led partnership promoting economic growth and jobs creation across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – and The Careers & Enterprise Company, the Government-backed body set-up to get UK employers and schools working more closely together, are jointly investing £300,000 in the LEP’s D2N2 Employability Framework and its Enterprise Adviser network.
The Framework is strengthening links between businesses, and schools and post-16 education centres, by addressing the mismatch between the employability skills and training taught to young people and those needed by companies’ workforces.
One of the Framework’s initiatives is the Enterprise Adviser network for the D2N2 area. Up to 80 businesspeople will act as volunteer Enterprise Advisers; working with a school or college to give senior staff an insight into business needs, motivating students to think about future careers, and creating opportunities for other business leaders to be involved. These volunteers will be supported by seven Enterprise Co-ordinators, employed across the D2N2 area.
Next month (March) D2N2 will hold a series of workshop sessions on the Enterprise Adviser network for representatives of schools, academies and colleges in its area, to give them more information on it and how they can get involved. The workshops will be delivered by Berni Dickinson, Marketing and Enterprise Director at multi-academy trust, the Evolve Trust.
The D2N2 Employability Framework workshop sessions will be held on the following dates, all from 4pm to 6pm:
- Tuesday March 1 – At the City of Derby Academy in Farmhouse Rd, Sinfin, Derby (DE24 3AR)
- Tuesday March 8 – At Meden School in Burns Lane, Warsop (NG20 0QN)
- Tuesday March 15 – At Heanor Gate Science College in Kirkley Drive, Heanor (DE75 7RA).
The sessions will cover why the strategy was developed, what it hopes to achieve, how it maps onto other education and training standards, and fits into Ofsted expectations.
Places at the workshop sessions – which are only open to schools, college and academies wanting to know more about the D2N2 Employability Framework and the Enterprise Adviser network – are limited to one delegate per school or institution. To book a place on one of the workshops go to web link www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/d2n2-employability-framework-schools-workshop-derby-tickets-20805579047
Ian Greenaway, D2N2 LEP Employability Champion and Board Member for the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, said: “The success of our D2N2 Employability Framework relies on the support of both businesses and schools, and their wanting to be involved. This is an opportunity to help businesses grow the skills of their workforce and to put students on the right career paths.”
Business people are still being sought to act as volunteer Enterprise Advisers. They can be from small and large companies, or self-employed, and from a range of commercial sectors.
People working in D2N2’s eight key sectors of construction, creative and digital, transport and logistics, transport equipment manufacturing, life sciences, the visitor economy (tourism), food and drink manufacturing, and low carbon technologies are particularly of interest.
Applicants must have a genuine interest in helping young people develop their careers.
The Enterprise Advisers will work with a nominated school or college and with their Enterprise Co-ordinator. All volunteers will be Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checked.
A free information event for business people wanting to become a volunteer Enterprise Adviser will be held from 12.30pm to 2pm on Thursday March 3 in the Boundary’s Edge Suite at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, Trent Bridge, Nottingham (NG2 6AG). To book to attend please go to web link www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/enterprise-advisor-network-launch-event-tickets-21201463147
The work of the Enterprise Co-ordinators and the Enterprise Adviser network, and projects undertaken to support schools and employers, will be overseen by the D2N2 Skills and Employment Commission, to ensure they are having an impact on helping young people with their career ambitions.
People interested in becoming an Enterprise Adviser can register their interest via an online form on the web page at www.d2n2lep.org/skills/d2n2-enterprise-adviser-network; or contact Katrina Woodward, D2N2 Commissioning Manager for Skills and Employability, on 0115 957 8753 or email: Katrina.Woodward@d2n2lep.org
For further details about the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s work to promote skills and training see website www.d2n2skills.co.uk
Partners in the D2N2 Enterprise Adviser network are the D2N2 LEP, the National Careers Service, the Evolve Trust, Placing Futures; and Derby City, Derbyshire County, Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire County and Rushcliffe Borough councils.
For further information about this news release contact D2N2 LEP Communications Manager Sean Kirby on 0115 9578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
