Business Class is a tried and tested programme developed by Business in the Community to build lasting partnerships between businesses and schools in Wales.
Partnerships based firmly on the needs of schools and the priorities of businesses will transform the life chances of young people and develop talented employees for the future.
By bringing businesses and schools together in a structured way and setting them a programme based on their specific established needs, Business Class improves young people’s understanding of the world of work, their awareness of career choices and hones their employability skills.
We've already built over 80 partnerships across Wales, but we are planning further expansion of the programme, so there’s a great chance that your business could get involved.
Business-school partnerships
Business Class is designed to create a mutually beneficial partnership for school and business. In addition to the school completing a needs analysis in order to determine their priorities and needs, Careers Wales will also work with your business to identify its
main business objectives and priorities.
Delivered by:
This will enable you to focus any support that you provide to the school based on their needs, with activity that will also support you as a business to help meet those objectives.
Business Class can, for example, provide learning and development opportunities for staff; improve morale, team working and company loyalty; and enhance recruitment by establishing direct links with education and the future workforce. Similarly, the Business Class cluster approach enables effective
networking and best practice sharing with other local
businesses, as well as profile opportunities.
#BusinessClass on film
Who better to tell us about the benefits of Business Class than the partners themselves? The team at Business in the Community (BITC) Cymru is currently putting together a series of films featuring some of the schools and businesses about their involvement and what they gain from it.
The BITC Cymru team would like to thank Media Wales for their hard working in filming and producing all the case studies, the businesses who got involved and the teachers and young people who took part.
Castell Howell Foods and Ysgol Maes Y Gwendraeth
Tesco Merthyr and Greenfield School
Moneypenny and Rhosnesni High School
Legal & General and Pen Y Dre High School
Principality Building Society and Ysgol Y Strade
Things you might like to read
Here we are pleased to be able to share content, stories, articles and interesting bits and pieces that may appear in our Business of Education newsletter. Please take a moment to have a look through - and if you have anything you'd like to share with us, get in touch with lowri.aprobert@bitc.org.uk.
Past editions of the newsletter
- The Business of Education - Winter 2017 - view online here
- The Business of Education - Back to School special 2017 - view online here
- The Business of Education - Summer 2017 - view online here
- The Business of Education - Spring 2017 - view online here
Supplied content
- Why university isn't the only route to a successful career (ACT Training) - download here
- Key headlines from BITC Cymru Members' Forum on apprenticeships - download here
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A few facts about Business Class:
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Its UK reach is significant – Over 450 schools have been involved in Business Class, supported by 1,000 businesses (33% of whom are SMEs), impacting on 140,000 young people across the UK to date.
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It invites collaboration – Business Class partnerships collaborate through a unique ‘cluster’ mechanism which is an effective way to network, develop and share ideas and achieve shared goals.
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It adopts a holistic approach – Support isn’t just on employability and curriculum support. Activities reflect the needs of the school and the offer of each individual business, equipping young people with the skills and experience they need to build successful working lives.
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It’s long term – businesses and schools commit to work together for a minimum three year period.