About E4E
Enterprise 4 Education (E4E) is an exciting public private sector partnership to link employers with schools and students. It works to create a better understanding of career opportunities, raise young people’s aspirations, improve employability skills and provide a larger pool of home-grown talent for local employers.
When was E4E launched and who is currently involved?
E4E was founded by Derby City Council in 2014. A project team has been established, with a board of directors made up of representatives from the city’s schools and the business community. It includes major employers and small and medium enterprises.
The Derby Telegraph has recently announced that it will be formally backing the campaign.
What are the aims of E4E?
Our aims are to build a passionate movement that mobilises the local workforce to support pupils and schools in helping our young people prepare for the world of work.
This will involve raising their self-belief, motivation and aspirations and informing them about the wide range of career opportunities available to them. It will help them achieve their best by unlocking their true potential.
We are currently working to increase employer understanding of the benefits of supporting young people to develop their employability skills and reinforcing the many benefits that both local employers and the wider Derby economy will gain from supporting youngsters before they leave school.
What are the key activities delivered by E4E?
E4E activities have focused on:
Individual mock interview sessions of half an hour were delivered to over 1,600 pupils in the nine months to July 2015. Feedback shows that confidence among pupils about interviews before the sessions was 25% and following the sessions had risen to 80%.
Approximately 150 pupils have attended CV writing workshops. In advance of the workshops, 60% of pupils rated their knowledge / confidence in CV writing as 1 or 2 out of 5 (poor). After the workshops 83% rated their understanding as 4 or 5 out of 5. Employers unanimously rated workshops of great value in engaging education with business.
The programme of mock interviews and CV writing has involved 50+ city employers and almost 2,000 pupils at Derby schools in the few months it has been running. The widespread support from both the schools and the pupils themselves has resulted in them identifying the need for a wider range of support. We are therefore now expanding the range of activities to include mentoring, industry visits, careers workshops and talks.
Mentors typically provide one to one support around school work, ambitions or personal confidence to a young person in the school setting. Each mentoring session is approximately 1 hour and is repeated on a 2-4 week basis dependant on the mentor’s availability. We recommend a minimum of 6 sessions of initial commitment.
Business volunteers present to groups of young people in the school setting based on their own journey, experiences and knowledge of their industry/role/career. Careers Workshops and talks could be specific to one industry or several - they could help highlight pathways into work or provide inspiration and motivation through the power of telling your personal story.
Local employers open their doors to local students to help inspire the future workforce, provide a positive first-hand experience of the world of work, expand young people’s comfort zones in unfamiliar work settings and motivate students to achieve their full potential. Industry visits are arranged between school and employer at mutually convenient times.
How can you, or your business get involved?
We are currently looking to recruit enthusiastic employer volunteers who share this vision and can offer a minimum of half a day a year.
As a company or individual volunteer, you will be supported in your work in schools through Welcome Sessions in advance and briefings at the school events. You will also receive pre-arranged questions for interviews and templates for CV writing.
To book on one of our Welcome Sessions or arrange a meeting with the E4E team please email e4eteam@derby.gov.uk or use our contact form.
To apply to volunteer download and complete the New Volunteer form and email it to the E4E team.
For the latest E4E updates, follow the team on Twitter - @e4ederby
Already an E4E Mentor?
Head over to the Mentoring page where you can find lots of great resources to help you.