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Many schools operate as islands, separate from the rest of the world. An ability to link to sources of knowledge apart from other local educational units has not been deemed necessary. Yet connections to the local community, businesses and beyond are taking some schools along new and interesting paths.

“There are lots of places where different forms of training and education occur, but schools have not been very successful at tapping into them to date,” says Tim Rudd, Senior Researcher at Futurelab. “Schools often start off with the idea that they have a curriculum and a set way of doing things, taking a largely prescriptive approach. They need to look at the outside world as a way of extending what they already do, to look for new opportunities for learning outside the school that may have greater relevance and offer more diversity to learners.”

For example, at Drove Primary School in Swindon, links are being forged with the local community to improve students’ ability to learn. Parents from 30 different nationalities come into the school to learn specifically about nutrition. Headteacher Nick Capstick says that many parents are not used to sending their children to school for the day. Add to that a new country, a new lifestyle and new foods, and some students are left unaware of their dietary needs for the school day - and the effect that can have on their learning. So parents are brought in, taught about creating a balanced diet, and are then able to not only cater for their own children better, but to inform others in their community. As a result of building these bridges, Capstick says children are better able to sit and concentrate in class.

But it works the other way too - with the school and its pupils learning from external communities. Input from outside sources creates new opportunities for learning. Bringing other sources of knowledge into school life, or taking students out into the world to experience new things, can teach and develop latent skills in students that the National Curriculum (without additional programmes of study) does not always cover. It can also make learning a more personalised experience, where the individual interests and talents of students across all ability ranges have an opportunity to shine in ways that coursework or a written exam might not allow.

Teacher and Director of Business Enterprise at Rydens School in Waltonon- Thames in Surrey, Stephen Cabrera, agrees: “Sometimes schools can be seen in isolation, in their own little worlds. We need to teach the curriculum to make it relevant to the real world, and the best way to do that is using real-world companies. Many businesses are keen to get involved as they want people to have the lifelong learning skills that industry demands. And students get to work with different people and present to different audiences; students that aren’t interested in a project suddenly become very interested.”

Of course, given his subject area, Cabrera’s focus is on business, but there are a range of organisations and individuals outside school that can make this kind of difference to learning. Cabrera has spent the past few years building bridges with businesses such as IBM, Air Products, Unilever, the local business group and, through this, McDonald’s and Laithwaites wine sellers. These companies have brought real projects and new learning to the school’s students, which motivate them more than regular classwork, and can be integrated into the curriculum.

Working with external communities brings a lot to students, explains Cabrera. “When someone from a business explains what has to be done, students get a new focus. They are told they will be learning for the curriculum, but that there will also be a relevance to the skills they will learn outside school. It’s all part of personalised learning; it gives them drive as they feel they will be learning something they want to achieve, increased ownership over the curriculum, and it motivates them, giving them new perspectives.”

Cabrera is focused on enterprise skills that complement students in their schoolwork and beyond. Skills that Cabrera wants to develop include communication, problem solving, taking calculated risks, working with others, self-evaluation and assessment. It is about bringing the world into the school bubble, to shake up preconceptions and increase innovative thought and entrepreneurial spirit.

For example, Laithwaites came to Rydens with a project to develop a bag that would carry six bottles of wine, with a graphic on the outside. The students were given a brief at the beginning of the project, and set off to research and design the bag. Their work has recently been judged by the Vice President of Laithwaites, and the winning bag may actually be produced.

Cabrera says: “Laithwaites commented on the work in progress, saying to students ‘That’s not robust enough’ and ‘That’s not following the spec we gave you’. So the students struggled and worked harder. Working with adults who aren’t teachers, and who don’t talk like teachers, inspires them. They achieve their curricular goals and more.”

As Cabrera says, in order to be truly effective, we need to begin with the learners’ needs, looking at what makes a student buzz with interest and excitement. At Glebe School in Bromley, Kent, students showed a desire to work outdoors on the school grounds so Martin Crabbe, Head of Geography, formed the Bromley Garden Project - a collaboration between Glebe School and three other schools in the borough, funded by the Enterprise Education Initiative. The collaboration now runs an allotment where they grow vegetables for the local farmers’ market.

They apply this work to different areas of the curriculum, using easily available technology like GPS systems, digital video and digital still cameras to record their work, and learn new skills. They pick up new ways of thinking from the links outside school, from the allotment people, local garden centres and businesses.

Glebe School is a special educational needs (SEN) establishment and finds that many students have a strong drive and aptitude for practical work, which allows them to express themselves far more creatively, and on a more individual level. That is why the school has, for the past four years, been a participant in a geography pilot with the OCR exam board, which allows students to do 75% of their GCSE coursework as practical.

Students develop different skills from working with people other than teachers, says Crabbe: “Students have had to prepare talks for adults about the garden project, and have done way better than we would have expected, as they are so interested in the subject and have learnt a lot from interacting with different people. Others have shown skills in taking control of projects, motivating people, focusing on areas they’re interested in and making them their own.”

Crabbe continues: “Our students are now part of a social enterprise where they are not only learning as part of the geography curriculum, but also finding their own roles in a company that needs weeders, recyclers, marketers, sellers, gardeners and researchers. From seeing other allotments and talking to the gardeners, we have learnt that there are so many different approaches to growing a potato or tomato. Students have to use teamwork and decision-making skills, look at health and safety and risk assessment; real business skills. And they learn to use different technologies outside the school, seeing how it fits in.”

With funding from the project, a part-time coordinator has been appointed to develop links between the schools involved and to establish further contacts with businesses and organisations outside that could contribute. This includes organising trips to local garden nurseries, talks from the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and irrigation companies, and visits from various owners from the local allotments to share their knowledge with students in the garden.

It seems there is much to draw on from the world outside school that can help to make learning an exciting, inspiring and relevant challenge for students - and this article has only highlighted the tip of the iceberg: there are many more examples that can offer inspiration. Beginning by asking young people what makes them sit up and take notice is an obvious place to start. As Cabrera puts it: “It’s about letting the students be independent learners as well. It’s an essential part of developing the person.”

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