Enterprising Centre

Story: Lisa Harrison

Fir Vale School officially opened its new £700,000 Enterprise Centre in December 2007 to support the school's specialist role in business and develop a spirit of enterprise amongst its students.

Roger Maleham, the Schools Enterprise Champion, said: "The centre's role is to try to develop our students, who form part of the community, but also to develop the community beyond the school gates. Fir Vale needed a building to kick-start local enterprise and this centre provides the state-of-the-art facilities necessary to achieve that goal."

Various events have been held at the centre. Year 10 student Barbara Okerenta attended one where local business people came to swap ideas and information with students. The event was based on face to face with the entrepreneur, conversing for a few minutes with one person before moving rapidly on to the next. Barbara said:

"Loads of companies came in. The format of the event kept our brains active for the entire day. We learned how to present ourselves in job interviews, which will be useful when I'm older. The event was focussed on marketing - very useful in later life."

Henna Rashid, also a student, agreed:

"We got a lot of information about how to start businesses - it was really helpful. It was also really good fun."

In another event, students from local primary schools teamed up with year 8 pupils to find ways to encourage local recycling.

Maryam Hussain attended this event. She said: "The younger students had lots of questions - we tried to help them ourselves but there was assistance on hand for when we couldn't."

Sinthujan Arulselvam says, "Different kids had different jobs - we created a poster together. I helped teach the younger children new things about recycling."

The Enterprise Centre now hopes to find a young local entrepreneur to base their business at the centre. Any interested party should contact Roger Maleham on 243 9391.

Courses for the community

The Centre hosts courses for the wider community aimed at giving people the skills and confidence to participate in the community, whether through starting up a business, volunteering, or responding to local needs. Courses this term include:

Women's voice - a six-week course to explore how women can gain confidence to speak out and tackle local issues in their community.

Politics and Public Life - will give you an insight into the world of politics, meetings, and the media.

Skills for employment - will help you write a CV, look for a job and gain confidence.

Preparation for GCSE English and Maths - work towards gaining these important qualifications.