“Quicklook” Assessment of Greater Adelaide's Assets & Challenges ...

“Enterprise Education is directed toward achieving a learning culture which will result in
greater numbers of students to be enthused and equipped to identify, create, initiate and
successfully manage personal, business, work and community opportunities.” 4 Students
(with varying degrees of assistance from their teachers) learn to:
• Recognize an opportunity and develop a concept.
• Produce a product or service, or develop a process.
• Test/evaluate the “product” or service.
• Refine the product in response to evaluation.
• Market or promote the product.
• Extend the learning to a new concept or opportunity.
The Enterprise Education program began in SA in 1996 at Salisbury High School, which
was declared the first Enterprise school in Australia. The following year a sister
Enterprise school was established in the opposite side of Adelaide at Morphett Vale.
Then in the next 2 years about 20 schools were designated to be Enterprise schools and
a cluster arrangement was established.
There were very positive outcomes from these schools, particularly in the higher levels
of employment that students experienced, including self-employment. This success
excited a national interest in this innovation so that the Federal Government and
eventually all other States followed this model.
Starting in the year 2000, a process was begun to implement Enterprise Education
across all schools in SA. All students now have access to this approach in all their
subjects and at all year levels. There is still a long way to go but it is now mandated. It
only requires some settling in time and extra resources for teacher development for an
impact to be visible. Crucial to the successful implementation of Enterprise Education is
a strong partnership between business and schools.
An excellent example of how this program works involves the Mypolonga Primary School
Shop. The school is located approximately 100 kms northeast of Adelaide near Murray
Bridge. Dairy farming and orange and apricot fruit growing are the major industries in the
region. By the innovative use of technology the school has overcome constraints of size,
relative isolation and limited income. There are less than 100 students.
The goal of the program was to set up and run a shop selling crafts and local produce.
The Shop operates from the disused post office across the road from the school. The
Shop was first developed from a student’s idea at a class meeting in 1994. Students
embraced the idea and started making a range of craft items to sell. Community
members shared their skills and generated a great deal of enthusiasm. A local tour
operator offered to stop at The Shop as part of their itinerary. This dramatically
increased sales.
The Shop is now open for business every Friday. Students invited local craftspeople to
place their goods for sale on consignment. The students are also creating a cottage
garden. Each Monday morning the whole class does mathematical calculations from the
4 All purpose statement, DETYA Enterprise Education Reference Group, 1997
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