Students in Year 9 and above can set up their own businesses, trading in school, and there is a venture fund to support them. Our students, both past and present have gained a great deal from such activities as Young Enterprise, Year 9 Co-Op Challenge, forming their own Mini-Enterprises, Year 12 Accounting Day, to name but a few! As part of the Business Studies Department we also run an Economic Awareness club. We have lots of school businesses running, we have also created an eco-garden. We have now gone into partnership with a local business in the hospitality industry and within a social enterprise frame. Check out our website to see the press release!

Old Swinford Hospital is a secondary school attempting to launch school businesses. We have independent advisers and offer funding to students’ enterprise ideas. We run a Business Challenge in conjunction with Edgbaston High School for Girls and local businesses at the the end of each lower sixth year. The programme allows the students from both schools to collaberate on real world problems with such companies as Cadbury’s, the NHS, Armed Forces Careers and Royal Mail. We have also set up the OSH Community. This organisation is here to maintain communication and relationships with local businesses and other schools. It encompasses such schemes as Beacon, Enterprise Learning Pathfinder and our links with St John’s Senior Secondary School, Uganda and Pen’s Meadow School.

We are setting up a school shop and have got local support from HSBC and Business Link. We also coordinate a regional network that supports the delivery of high quality continuing professional development in Enterprise Education for all teachers, leaders and support staff in Luton and Bedfordshire.

We have two clubs bursting with enterprising enthusiasm. Year 8 students run a stationery shop for the school’s feeder primary schools. They’ve shared expertise with their local university and with other schools. Year 10 students have sought the advice of local business people to develop a greetings card business. They both create and make their own cards, and source cards and gift bags from wholesalers. The students also reach out to local community by running events such as an Action Aid Coffee Morning.