Telford college hosting region-wide Dragon's Den-style competition

Headmaster of Wrekin College, Tim Firth, has spoken out to call on schools to take a more proactive role in getting pupils ready for the workplace.

He has claimed far too many universities are now operating a buyer’s market allowing almost anyone to get in, as tuition fees also deter even the brightest pupils from seeing it an automatic choice.

Now Wrekin College is going to run a region-wide competition to find entrepreneurs of the future in a Dragon's Den-style event.

It will aim to kick-start a variety of businesses run by young people, including school children as young as 11 years old.

Mr Firth said today the scheme would not only invite teams of youngsters to bid for backing for their own venture, but would also train an army of teachers to help coach children in business studies and workplace skills.

It will include YouTube tutorials, training workshops and class planning content which could be used in schools across the UK, youth groups and by youngsters educated at home.

The initiative will work in conjunction with Telford & Wrekin Council’s Young High Street Challenge Two which is just one strand of their Pride in our High Street campaign, aiming to boost local high streets in Ironbridge, Madeley, Dawley, Oakengates, Newport and Wellington.

It will officially launch on February 7 as invitations go out to schools to enter, with a celebration fair planned for June where teams will showcase their business idea and pitch for a package of prizes including start-up funding and mentoring by high-profile business leaders.

Choice

While the school is celebrating that 40 per cent of its applicants to Oxbridge have been offered a place, Mr Firth said it was not enough to just teach towards good grades.

“Schools need to ready their cohort for life outside of the classroom so that they are ready for work in what is an ever-changing landscape," he said.

"Children now have more choice about where their future will lead them and schools need to adapt to that."

Head of the Wrekin Business School Donna Irving said they were delighted to be delivering this initiative which would not only kick-start new businesses, but would provide a rich resource of training materials for all schools to improve employability skills across the board.

She said: "We are very excited to be at the forefront of this drive to promote work skills and encourage youngsters to think about running their own businesses and what the world of work means to them.

“We will encourage the ideas to be diverse and although the ideas will have a connection to improving the high street which is struggling to respond to changing customer habits and trends, we are looking for innovation here and schemes which aim to do things differently.

"We need a sustainable High Street, where people want to shop and encourage economic growth across the business community.”