Education | ED04 | Summer 2017

Education Magazine
getting
ahead
Julie Redding, head of Entrepreneurship
at sevenoaks school explains how
entrepreneurial and enterprise skills are
being nurtured amongst their students
What is the Institute of Service &
Entrepreneurship? Why has it been created?
the institute of service & Entrepreneurship is a virtual
institute, or strategic area of focus for the school. it was
created as part of the vision for the future, and in order
to strengthen the school’s position at the forefront of
international education. the institute has three pillars:
service, charity and Entrepreneurship and a clear mission
“to inspire contribution to society in a sustainable
fashion throughout life by developing a service ethos,
entrepreneurial activities and community spirit”.
Is it suitable for everyone? How does it
work alongside the curriculum?
we hope that the institute will have an impact on all
of our students. we currently have a wide range of
local service activities conducted by a large number of
our students every thursday during our allocated vsu
(voluntary service unit) afternoon. charitable activities
are conducted around the timetable with a huge host of
fundraising initiatives, an annual charity week held for each
separate area of the school, and international ‘proMo’
trips that include both service activities on the ground
in a developing country, and substantial fundraising.
both service and charity activities are an extremely
useful vehicle for teaching entrepreneurial skills to our
students, however we have now put a further focus on
developing entrepreneurial skills and the mindset of a
social entrepreneur. at present, we have a number of
activities organised through which we take the students
off timetable to develop their entrepreneurial skills. these
include a social Enterprise day for sixth Form students,
plus a variety of co-curricular activities such as competitions
during global Entrepreneurship week, a business plan
competition and a Dragons’ Den style pitching Final.
various activities run in conjunction with our hE
department such as ‘insight days’ in which we take
students to learn about businesses and different industries,
and work related training including working on real life
challenges for local organisations. we have also introduced
specific workshops on topics like ideation, and product
design, negotiation skills, and networking aimed at
developing specific skills. we are planning to further
integrate these activities into the curriculum over time.
How does it help to prepare students for the future?
we no longer know which jobs will exist, and so instead
we concentrate on developing the entrepreneurial skills,
knowledge and mindset that students will need to
succeed in the rapidly changing future work environment.
we are also aware that our students will be leaders of
the future, and as such we want to prepare them to
be responsible, ethically minded leaders, who will act
for the good of society in their future ventures.
What type of skills do they learn?
specific skills include creativity, complex problem solving,
communication skills, collaboration, and resilience
as well as digital competency. relevant knowledge
is important such as developing an understanding
of the business environment and financial literacy.
we also look at risk taking, one’s entrepreneurial
intentions, proactivity, and the ability to make
decisions with the information available at hand.
Find out more about the institute of service & Entrepreneurship at sevenoaks school by visiting sevenoaksschool.org
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