‘Welcome to my world’ Employer engagement in high performing English independent schools

1. Professor Prue Huddleston Centre for Education and industry, University of Warwick Dr Anthony Mann Director of Policy and Research, Education and Employers Taskforce ‘Welcome to my world’Employer engagement in high performing English independent schools

2. Welcome to my world…. • ‘Perhaps you are a barrister and can help a current Wykehamist discover something about chamber life?’ • ‘Social networks are very important, very interesting, the way external involvement creates a culture of expectation, a culture of achievement, a learning environment.’

3. Research questions • To what extent do high performing independent schools engage with employers to support pupil learning and progression? • Why do they do it? • How do they go about it?

4. Methods • Focus on twenty high performing independent schools: Times 2009 league table • Desk research • Six in-depth structured interviews: 3 boys’ schools, 3 girls’ schools 3 in London, 3 outside London 3 boarding, 3 day schools (Fieldwork, November 2010 to June 2011)

5. Methods • Literature review • YouGov survey of 1,002 young adults (19-24), for comparative purposes (February 2011)

6. Runners and riders 2009 RankName Town 1 Withington Girls’ School Manchester 2 Westminster School London 3 North London Collegiate School Edgware • St Paul’s School London 5 Magdalen College School Oxford • St Paul’s Girls’ School London • Perse Girls’/Stephen Perse Sixth Form College Cambridge • Wycombe Abbey School High Wycombe • Royal Grammar School Guildford 10 City of London Girls’ School London

7. Runners and riders 2009 Rank Name Town 11 The Lady Eleanor Holles School Hampton • Eton College Windsor • King’s College School Wimbledon • Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks • Guildford High School for Girls Guildford • Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls Elstree • Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Boys Borehamwood • Oxford High School for Girls GDST Oxford • Winchester College Winchester 20 South Hampstead High School GDST London

8. To what extent do they engage employers?

9. To what extent do they engage employers? • 100% undertake enterprise activities • 90 % engage in work experience • 85% provide careers advice • 80% invite visiting speakers • 45% arrange workplace visits • 25% support business mentoring

10. How typical is this behaviour of all independent schools? School type attended between 14-19 * Work experience participation rates School type attended between 14-19 * Percentage receiving careers advice

11. School type attended between 14-19 * Frequency of careers advice School type attended between 14-19 * Enterprise competition participation rate

12. School type attended 14–19 * Mentoring participation rate

13. Why they engage with employers? • To help pupils get into university courses of choice “My view is that they ought to have had time with a GP and time at a hospital before they put in an application.” (Teacher, girls’ school, D). • To help pupils decide on career goals and how to achieve them “The vast majority certainly have an individual interview with myself and other members of the staff and they will bring it up again what they learnt from that work experience and what it might have encouraged them to go on to.” (Teacher, girls’ school, D) • To help pupils develop employability schools “You have a compelling mix of personal skills and academic qualifications and extra-curricular achievements that when you’re an employer you say: “this guy looks good.” (Teacher, boys’ school, A).

14. Why they engage with employers? • To help pupils develop networks of value after leaving school “It’s all part of a good education, isn’t it? It’s all part of equipping them to leave school in the best possible position..” (Teacher, girls’ school, E) • To help stimulate a culture of expectation & aspiration “What I hope is that they see the range of possibilities…I want them to realise that there’s all sorts of options that they can consider. I talked to them about careers that none of us have ever heard of.’ (Teacher, girls’ school, E)”

15. How do they engage with employers? • Alumni networks “It’s such a good network through the old boys’ association, and the parents; we have sent out a blanket request and people will say yes I’m happy to help.” (Teacher, boys’ school, B) • Parental networks “The girls can get in to do the places but it tends to be that they follow through the contact so it might be a parent contact… they follow it through themselves… and I would probably say it’s on the strength of the school that they get it.” (Teacher, girls’ school, F)

16. How do they engage with employers? Governors’ networks Interviewee:“Well there you go you see, this is the classic... one of our governors professor X is the... what’s the grandest thing you can be... not chair... senior...?” Interviewer: “Director?” Interviewee: “ At an NHS foundation trust... we had a meeting and wanted them to go in and do some work, and they do quite a lot of work and they produce presentations to the board, to the CEO, in the foyer of [large London hospital] all their photographs all their recommendations and they have to do that and they have to stand up and give a speech about it. Now that is putting them on the spot, it may be a bit uncomfortable, they have to do the work…but it’s going to resonate far more if they do that than if they shadowed... I want to produce more things like that.”(Teacher, boys’ school, A)

17. How do they engage with employers? • Through intermediaries “...we have a personal advisor from Connexions who comes in once a week, I’ve used Connexions, if you like, but I’ve used them as a consultancy service...” (Teacher, girls’ school, E) • Pupil approaches “I think also our girls are pretty good at taking…very astute at taking, advantage of opportunities. When we took them down to the ‘Breaking the Mould’ competition… one of our girls negotiated her own sort of media work experience with the person who shot our video...” (Teacher, girls’ school, D)

18. How do they engage with employers? Direct approaches from employers “...they were always looking for very bright women most of these companies… In fact I’m always being approached by investment banks because they have various programmes... But I wish they would do something slightly more co-ordinated… They get in touch with you as if you had never heard of an investment bank... Well actually they’re the third investment bank this week!” (Teacher, girls’ school, E)

19. Work experience - Strongly linked to HE admissions - Often undertaken in the summer between lower and upper sixth, or after GCSEs (briefing and de-briefing?) - Self-sourced after career counselling - Not always inspected for Health and Safety -Not curriculum linked - Written references secured “... The key thing... I think is what have I learnt?” (Head of Careers, girls’ school, D – reflecting on work experience)

20. Similarities & Differences Similarities Differences Independent schools use employer engagement not so much to engage learners within a broad learning experience but to clarify, confirm and support pupils’ choices Independent schools provide more personalised careers advice to their pupils (small numbers) • Expectation within state/independent schools that pupils will undertake activity within the broad curriculum • Types of activities within schools were roughly similar: careers fairs, work experience, enterprise activities…

21. School type attended between age groups * Usefulness of Work Experience School type attended between 14-19 * Usefulness of Enterprise Project

22. School type attended between 14-19 * Usefulness of Careers Advice

23. Employer Engagement & Social Reproduction in Independent Schools • Structural mechanisms in place at independent schools make it easier and less problematic for their pupils to progress  networks, careers guidance, cultures of aspiration and achievement: ‘But I would also like to say that these kids are in the sweet shop, they’ve got it all, they can pick and chose.’ • Substantial pools of expertise and experience on which to draw  the ‘McKellen effect’ • Emphasis on elite professions: ‘Professions are rather narrow- law, medicine, journalism, not many airline pilots (a few military).

24. Questions? • Are the purposes of work-related learning, including employer engagement, the same, or different, within independent and state schools? • What is replicable in terms of models to help facilitate pupil learning and progression, and to what extent can they be transferred to the state sector? • What policy initiatives could help to encourage learning about employer engagement across the state and independent sectors?

25. Professor Prue HuddlestonCentre for Education and Industry, University of WarwickP.J.Huddleston@warwick.ac.ukDr Anthony MannDirector of Policy and Research, Education and Employers TaskforceAnthony.Mann@educationandemployers.org