Take action

There are five main steps to taking action:

 

 

1. Getting started

Regardless of whether the school wishes to have low- or high-level involvement with employers, a process ought to be followed to ensure that:

  • school/college staff understand what is involved in working with employers
  • school/college staff are engaged with the idea of working with employers
  • employers are approached and asked about engagement using incentives that they will recognise
  • the links between schools/colleges and employers are maintained over time.

Developing a staff vision is the first step in this process. In some schools it may be appropriate for every aspect of school life to feature work with employers. In other schools, it may be appropriate for there to be a much 'lighter touch'. In order to help schools/colleges decide how to engage with employers, it may be useful to refer back to the Types of engagement section. Having decided how to work with employers, the next step is to make contact with them.

 

2. Making contact

Once a vision has been created and disseminated among key staff, the next task is to develop strategies on:

  • researching the sorts of employers that would work well with the school
  • finding the person to contact within the organisation
  • preparing the approach to the relevant contact
  • taking it forward: firming up arrangements between the school and employer.

 

3. Agreeing what to do

As a result of discussions with an employer, an agreement should be reached on how best to work together.

Once agreement in principle has been reached, arrangements should be firmed up between the coordinators at the school and employer. Arrangements could include:

  • understanding the responsibilities of each party
  • setting out how contact will be facilitated
  • planning how delivery of projects, visits, talks, etc. will be organised.

It is important at this stage to make sure that school staff understand the practical implications of working with employers, including the need for CRB checks, insurance, and health and safety to protect students.

 

4. Formalising the partnership with the school or college

At this stage it may make sense to formalise the relationship through developing protocols, agreeing behaviours and nominating key contacts on both sides.

These agreements may need to be updated and reviewed as the partnership develops and to take account of staff turnover.

 

5. Reviewing and evaluating

Having worked together, it is important that both parties regularly review how they are working together and the support offered to young people. The type of support being offered by the employer may change over time as the school or college recognises how best to make use of the help offered.