EMPLOYERS’ GUIDE Education and employers working together for young people Education and Employers Taskforce

Contacting schools and colleges directly

Identifying schools and colleges

Some employers may be keen to make contact directly with a school or college.

The Business in Schools website has been developed by the education charity Edge to enable employers to search for brokers, schools and colleges directly.

Currently, the pilot website provides details of all local brokers that have been accredited by the Institute for Education Business Excellence (IEBE), as well as all secondary schools and colleges in England. The database can be accessed directly, using the postcode search box, above.

In time, the Business in Schools site will be updated with information from schools and colleges themselves about the support they are looking for from employers. In this way it will become a resource for schools, colleges and employers to get in direct contact with each other. There is also the possibility of extending the website to include primary schools.

 

Other ways to search for schools and colleges include:

• Using the Ofsted search engine by typing the first half of the chosen postcode. This method is useful for employers who wish to find particular types of schools, such as specialist schools.

• Using Google Maps: Type in your address, then click on 'Search nearby' and type in 'school' or 'college'.

 

Making the initial contact with the school/college

Having identified a suitable school or college, the next step is to make contact. Many schools have nominated a member of the senior management team to lead on links with local employers. The Taskforce is encouraging all schools and colleges to do this.

View the Taskforce guidance document that is issued to schools and colleges on developing partnerships with employers.

There is no right or wrong way to approach the initial conversation. Some employers have a very clear idea about the way they would like to work with a school or a college. Others may prefer the school or college to put forward ideas for their consideration.

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

• understanding the responsibilities of each party
• setting out how contacts will be facilitated
• planning how projects, visits, talks, etc. will be organised
• health, safety and child protection issues
• plans for evaluating activities
• arrangements for maintaining and developing the partnership over time.

See also: the Employers' Guide five-steps guide to forming partnerships with schools.

 

Further developments in helping schools/colleges and employers to get in contact with each other

The Taskforce has also been working with Ordnance Survey and Experian plc to develop the use of maps to help employers and education find each other more easily.

Ordnance Survey has developed a mapping tool that allows schools, colleges and employers to search for one another by different types of category. The Taskforce is piloting this work with a small number of areas over the coming months and hope ultimately to be able to integrate it with the Business in Schools approach.

Experian plc has supplied data for all employers in the country, which will be captured in their tool and allow schools and colleges to search for employers and find more information about them, as well as vice versa.

The Taskforce is grateful to all partners - Edge, Ordnance Survey and Experian plc - for working so hard to try to find the best way of helping employers and education link together.