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► Young Enterprise North East

What: Young Enterprise North East is a leading business education charity which bridges the gap between education and the world of work. We work with young people from 4 - 24 all over the North East.

Students aged 4-16 will enjoy our class-based programmes, which will help them with "real life" and "employability" skills, where our mantra is "learn by doing".

Students aged 15-24 will be involved with our Company, Team and Graduate programmes, where they have the opportunity and challenge to set up and run their own business for the academic year. They will have responsibility for the start up, the running (including the costs) and most importantly the fruits of their labours.

All our programmes are run with the assistance of business and community volunteers, which helps to bring business to life - in the classroom. The volunteer works in partnership with the class teacher ensuring a constant level of support.

Volunteer Roles: There are a number of opportunities available to volunteers, working with youngsters of all ages on developing various business projects.

The Primary Programme

The six modules that comprise the primary programme have been designed for primary year groups from Reception Year/Year 1 through to Year 6. Each module can be used as a stand-alone programme. However the fullest impact is likely to be realised if pupils can experience each module sequentially from reception through to Year 6. In this way successive modules build upon previous knowledge, ideas and skills.
Using the specially created YENE programme, all volunteers will be fully trained.
Ourselves (4/5 year olds) Focuses on individuals and the roles they play in society as workers and consumers.
Basic concepts of earning, saving and working together are taught through fictional characters in a series of stories read aloud by the Business Partner.
The ideas are reinforced through practical activities and by the Business Partner sharing their work and play experiences.
Each lesson the volunteer will read picture cards and ask the children questions relating to the story that they have just heard. They then proceed to follow up the story with an activity relating to the topic of that lesson whether it be sticking in stickers or looking at a picture and solving the issues relating to the picture.

Our Families (6/7 year olds) Identifies what a family is and how family members work together to achieve their goals.
Pupils learn to identify and distinguish between a need and want.
Pupils also see how different family members are able to satisfy their needs and wants by working.
The volunteer will be required to identify family members from Picture cards and the children have to find them on a poster. Once they have identified the members they pay a “guess who” game. They then proceed to learn the difference about wants and needs and are deserted on a desert island. Once they have an understanding of the difference they learn where to obtain a families wants and needs and then they are given money in lesson 5 to spend on one families needs and wants.

Our Community (7/8 year olds) Leads pupils through a discovery of community activity, people and businesses that operate within the community.
Pupils learn how to take responsibility for their community through voting and decision making.
They are also taught the importance of money moving through the community and how the government works in order to support services for the well-being of its citizens.
The volunteer will be able to identify what a community is and what a community needs and they vote for what they would like in the empty shop. The volunteer will discuss with the children the best ideas and with the help of a chart narrow it down to 3 ideas and then the children vote like adults. They go on to build their community in lesson 3 and in lesson 4 they learn about government workers and non government workers and they spot the difference. They then play a pay day game which involves the children all getting a job card and getting paid only for the nasty tax person (teacher) to come round and take money off them. In the last lesson the children have to act out a poem on how money moves with the help of the volunteer.

Our City (8/9 year olds)
Identifies businesses that can be found in a typical city and the types of workers they require.
Pupils learn how workers apply their skills to their jobs and how their jobs make a difference in the city.

The Company Programme

A practical insight into business is what students aged 15-19 taking part in the company programme will experience when they set up and run their own business over the course of an academic year. The ability to work in a team, the first hand experience of key business functions and a willingness to take responsibility and initiative are just some of the enterprising skills that this programme is designed to develop. In addition, an optional qualification and the chance to participate in a trade fair- at local, national and in some cases international level-help to crystallise what the young people have learnt.

The Graduate Programme

Designed for students aged 18-25+ the programme offers students in higher education an opportunity to explore their potential in a business setting. Tenacity and business acumen will be tested as the students set up and run their own company, marketing and financing a product or service of their choice. Backed by a board of directors elected from amongst their peers, students navigate their way through a year of running their own business.

The Team Programme

This unique programme offers young people aged 15- who have learning difficulties the chance to experience the highs and lows of heading up their own business. Armed with tailor made team programme business kit incorporating cartoons, video case studies and specially designed software that allows individual companies- and even individuals within the same company to work at different ability levels, the students take responsibility for the management of running a real company.

All of the three programmes above run over a full academic year, as a volunteer you would need to commit to 50 hours over the course of that year to assist the students in setting up and running of the business. In some cases 2 or 3 volunteers have assisted with the same programme reducing the burden and sharing the 50 hours between them.

Skills/benefits/experience:

The Young Enterprise North East can offer you;

• Professional development.
• Full training and support by a Yene staff member
• The opportunity to share and reflect on your experience of life and work
• The "refreshment" of working with young minds.
• The chance to make a difference to your community.
• The opportunity to explore and develop your own skills and knowledge.