"Schools not nurturing entrepreneurial dreams"

We were upset - though sadly, not surprised - at Eureka recently when we came across an article on the 'enterprising women' website about how our current education system is failing to support our young people in realising their entrepreneurial dreams.

At Eureka, we are passionate about conveying our years' worth of personal business and enterprise experience to young people who want to have a go at turning their often inspirational visions into fruitful reality; however, again and again we run up against too much red tape and not enough funding to allow us to run our engaging enterprise and life skills programmes in schools and for NEET young people via councils.

Thearticle quoted a report by Enterprise UK, which had polled 1,000 14-19 year olds across the UK last month and showed that

• 51% of those polled would like to be their own boss (however, only 5% will actually set up a business)
• only 1 in 5 believe that their school encourages them to become entrepreneurial
• a whopping 56% thought (like Eureka!) that business education should be mandatory at school
• 1 in 4 said that TV programmes like Dragons' Den teach them more about business than their school

Shocking statistics. Surely with the desire present to learn about enterprise and business skills, schools and local authorities - with sufficient government support - ought to be able to tap into this enthusiasm and support their young charges in becoming fulfilled and successful entrepreneurs who achieve economic well-being instead of adding to the ever-growing youth unemployment figures, which currently stand at 20.5% - the highest level since 1992!

Contact Eureka to find out more about our tailor-made business, enterprise and life skills programmes on 01727 850668.

ISMM programme for Central Bedfordshire Council

We're at Eureka are really looking forward to getting stuck into our upcoming ISMM programme in Houghton Regis!

Commissioned by Central Bedfordshire Council, we will work with a small group of NEET (not in education, employment or training) young people from the area to give them invaluable employability and life skills.

As in most of our programmes, we will deliver engaging workshops around the subject of finance, business and enterprise skills, as well as more immediate advice on how to best present oneself, how to engage with people and how to get that all important job interview...which will hopefully lead to bigger and better things.

Our ISMM programme is especially useful as sales and marketing knowledge are useful and important for virtually any career - all aspects of Sales and Marketing are explored and dealt with in an engaging manner, meaning that our young people will learn - in an often fun and interactive way - in depth requirements (eg how to sell ethically and how to market their business) as well as much more pragmatic skills like how to excel at customer services and to get ahead in life.

All successful participants of our programme will be awarded a nationally recognised qualification in Sales and Marketing (Level 1) from the industry's body - the Institute for Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM) - and the chance of paid work experience at the end of the course. Following on from the programme, Eureka will lend ongoing support in form of one-to-one clinics where we hope to be able to prepare our young people for upcoming job interviews or help themwith their cvs and encourage them to apply for suitable positions.

We are really looking forward to our enrolment day in February and cannot wait to meet our budding entrepreneurs....

Youth Speaks!

Patricia was excited to be invited to judge the first round of Rotary International's YOUTH SPEAKS Competition recently.

Staged at the SandPit Theatre at Sandringham School in St Albans, this competition saw 12 teams from local schools compete for one of the coveted spaces in the next - District - round of this national event (the UK final takes place in Surrey on May 1st 2011).

On the night, the Intermediate teams convinced with their well-structured performances and their emotional arguments on topics ranging from 'Taboos' in modern youth society to overrated and overpaid football stars compared to the real heroes of hardworking emergency services staff. Appropriately entitled 'I need a hero' took first place for Verulam School, with the judges being especially impressed by Speaker Delyan Yanev's ability to field questions concerning his main points in a confident and self-assured manner. His team members were Isaac Keeley (Chair) and Kieran Zielinski (Proposer).

Things hotted up after a brief interval, as the Senior teams took to the stage. Passionate delivery and well carried out research into topics such as 'Penal Reform', 'Prejudice' and 'Free News' impressed the judges and audience alike. Rupert Neaves, Angus Keeley and Fraser Reid of Verulam A presented a moving case for the legalisation of euthanasia ('Whose Life is it anyway?'), which was counteracted by a more humourous review of George W Bush as set in scene in a most entertaining way by Sandringham's Sassoon Moskafian, Jack Wheater and Andy Lazell.

The winning spots, however, went to Verulam and Beaumont. Verulam's B Team, consisting of Andrew Sear-Black, Alex Astley and James Biggs, were awarded with second place for their convincing argumentation against Penal Reform. They were runners up to the deserved winners from Beaumont School - Hugh Ingamells (Chair), Sam Went (Speaker) and John Clough (Proposer) - who delivered a perfect speech entitled 'Elitism in Education'. Their thought-provoking reasoning as to why Public Schools are counter-productive to today's society coupled with their confident yet relaxed presentation style, made it easy work for Patricia and her fellow judges to declare them overall winners of the Senior event.

Both Beaumont and Verulam B Senior Teams, as well the Verulam Intermediate Team are through to the next round of the competition, but we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all participants on their hard work and entertaining entries.

Public speaking is an important life skill, which is why Eureka Schools CIC were only too happy to support this event. As part of our bespoke business and enterprise programmes, which we run for primary and secondary schools as well as for councils, we also give young people the chance to maximise their employment potential by presenting themselves in a positive, self-assured manner - confident speaking is one of the many areas our professional facilitators can offer support and coaching in.

Why not contact us for a no-obligation chat to see what we can do within your school - our workshops range from 1 day taster sessions through to long-term programmes delivered at times to suit you. All our sessions are fun and educational at the same time, and are delivered by facilitators with strong backgrounds in business, enterprise, sales and marketing.

kwhitehouse@eurekaschools.co.uk

Interview with Patricia Seabright, Eureka Schools - listen now...

Patricia had the chance to explain Eureka Schools' work and concept on local radio recently. In an in-depth interview with Radio Verulam's Friday Focus presenter John Stephenson, she eloquently set out her vision on how we can help young people who find themselves out of education, employment or training to regain some sense of self-belief and a feeling of self-worth, whilst also equip them with the necessary life skills and business knowledge to help them become employable or start up a business venture of their own - thus easing the pressure on the public purse as well as giving them much-needed direction and focus for a better life.

It was very fitting that Patricia's interview was followed by a discussion with the current Minister of State for Business and Education, Mark Prisk MP.

To hear Patricia's interview, which also offers some valuable insight on the work Eureka does within primary and secondary education, listen to the podcast now.

On the radio....

Eureka will be on local radio next week!

Tune into 92.6 fm (Verulam Radio) on Friday, 19th November, at 2.30pm to listen to our very own Patricia Seabright being interviewed on the Friday Focus Show by John Stephenson.

Towards the end of Global Entrepreneurship Week, it will be a great opportunity to discuss current enterprise and business issues, with a focus on how to get young people, including those who are not currently in education, employment or training (NEET) interested and involved, too. As ever, Eureka is pleased to have the chance to explain how important it is to work with young people and to provide them with necessary business, enterprise and life skills, and how this can be achieved in an easy, fun way and relaxed environment.

See www.eurekaschools.co.uk for more information on what we believe in and how we achieve it!

5 minutes with Lord Sugar

Eureka! Came across the most fascinating interview with Lord Sugar today. A brief 5 minutes, but a frank review of his life. Lord Sugar remembers being very poor as a child, his hard teenage years and starting a business 'out the back of a van'.
Fast forward to today and he regularly appears on the Times Rich List, has been appointed to the House of Lords,where he advised the government on the Business Link and is often referred to as 'the man who revolutionised British business'.

It just goes to show - with a little bit of guidance and some self-belief and hard work, everyone can succeed, no matter what their beginnings in life!

Watch the interview by clicking here!

We really feel for local councils who stand to receive 12% less funding for their most important Youth Services, as announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review last week. Children are our future! - which is why Eureka put so much into providing children and young people with life skills and thus preparing them for the real world!