Partnerships
scale, depending on the size of the business and its willingness or ability to pay! We set the Executive the year; some businesses are happy to pay what we ask, others will negotiate a lower sum. Premium members are charged
Networking
in their sector. At these events, there is usually a keynote speaker from one or two of the companies, either a director or – more frequently and more pertinent these days – an ex-student who is now an apprentice or employee. Afterwards, the students visit the stands of each of the businesses to talk in more detail about a career in their sector. Some leave the event with offers of work experience; others end up with training placements.
Charging membership With local businesses paying recruitment agencies a commission of between 10 and 15 per cent of a new employee’s salary, we thought we’d be missing a trick not to ask the businesses for a similar level of remuneration. Inspired by The Castle School’s Premium Partners scheme (featured in the summer 2016 issue of FundEd Magazine), we decided to offer different levels of paid membership to businesses wishing to explore fruitful links with our students, with a view to meeting We didn’t want to alienate the
large numbers of businesses that have supported us over the years by creating an elite set of partners that appeared to be receiving special treatment. So we established a set receive on becoming a standard partner with free membership. they have already been participating in over the past few years: attending networking events and careers fairs, taking part in generalised careers workshops or enterprise activities, offering work experience across the board and so on – and continue to be provided by us at no extra cost.
42 SUMMER 2017 FundEd However, if a business
Go to
funded.org.uk/ magazines to read Sam Baker’s previous
wants to establish a more relationship with a particular curriculum team, we suggest a paid level of membership. For this, we offer the following: selection and
interested in the business’s area of expertise, and with the ability and attitude to do well; the chance to run training events or taster sessions for small groups, with the aim of promoting the business; opportunities to work alongside students in the classroom or participate in – or even organise – after-school clubs. What it boils down to is the freedom to keep in touch with those students as required, through company visits or appointments at the school. Depending on the frequency with which a business wants to access these services, we offer an Executive or Premium level of membership, with the latter giving a business almost exclusive access to particular groups of students. Of course, this means another layer of administrative work for us. thing to do. Given a business’s level of involvement in the future of our students, it’s important to have the agreement and support of parents. Letters are sent home as a matter of course, but, in some instances, we’ll invite parents to the school to introduce them to the businesses, particularly the companies that are mentoring students with a view to taking them onto an apprenticeship or training programme. In terms of fees, we don’t set
a strict amount for each level of membership. We ask for an annual fee, which runs on a small sliding
Sell the benefits can be a slow process persuading businesses to pay for something that we previously offered free of charge. They want to see the value clearly set out, for example ‘you’ve taken on a second apprentice from our school, saving recruitment fees of £X – how would you feel about paying a smaller amount of £Y, to continue accessing this great service?’. We’re not raking in the money at
the moment, because we’re being careful to approach individual partners with whom we feel there way and with whom we already have a good relationship. But we’re hopeful that, as both sides get used to the system and start to experience develop, and members will encourage other businesses to join.
articles on establishing a successful business- partnerships network.
is aimed at larger business with the potential to afford it. In return, we offer them publicity, such as making them recognised sponsors at networking or sporting
events and giving them more exposure at careers fairs and in our newsletter. We ask all paying businesses
to sign a Service Level Agreement, to make sure both sides understand the terms of the partnership.
Sam Baker is Head of Business and Education Partnerships at Mark Rutherford School in Bedford (1,236 pupils). He has established an award-winning education-business partnership programme with over 150 local and national organisations engaged in various ways in the life of the school and its students.
Coming up next issue… Measuring the impact: Sam shares feedback from students, teachers and businesses.
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