The second of our blogs on the Grovian Values of Enterprising & Resourceful has been written by Louise Watmough. Louise teaches Business, ICT and PHSE, as well as being involved in the numerous co-curricular enterprise activities on offer to Woodhouse Grove pupils. Here she discusses how helping our students grow in these values provides them with tools that will benefit them throughout their lives, reinforcing our ethos that once a Grovian, always a Grovian.

Enterprising & Resourceful

Louise Watmough

Enterprise means more than just the ability to become an entrepreneur. It is the quality that gives an individual a positive outlook, an ability to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, to spot opportunities and to think outside the box, to demonstrate and develop tenacity and courage. It is a quality that many will start out with in life but far too many will lose before entering the world, post education. It is a valuable attribute for the whole of life and I am proud that we actively encourage our students to be enterprising and resourceful throughout their time at the Grove and beyond.

One of the main motivations behind my decision to teach, having spent many years in industry, was my passion to encourage enterprise within education. I wanted to inspire and encourage young minds to look at the wider world, to recognize and seize the range of opportunities available to them, to recognize that the future is bright for those who are enterprising and resourceful.

I remain motivated in my mission to foster an enterprising attitude amongst our students at the Grove, as the world that they will be entering into in the not so distant future, will be one in which self-reliance and creativity will be rewarded – whether an individual chooses to be employed, enter into self employment or work towards employing others.

It is at school that you acquire the skills that are the foundation of your future. Literacy and numeracy are, of course, essential but so is the spirit of enterprise. By this, I don’t just mean the enterprise that creates entrepreneurs but also the enterprise that creates a positive outlook on life that enables you to succeed in any endeavour.

At the Grove, we encourage our students to be enterprising and resourceful, we value the link between enterprise and education; in many subjects, staff frequently share their knowledge and experience to enrich their teaching and bring the curriculum to life, motivating our young people to learn and excel in their education and see the relevance of their studies.

We actively develop links between education and the world of work and business; there was a genuine buzz of excitement at our recent series of Career Enrichment Evenings, students were inspired and inquisitive after listening to our guest speakers, all of whom reinforced the value of being enterprising and resourceful.

Much of the co-curricular enterprise activity that takes place throughout the year at the Grove goes on to make a substantial contribution to a Grovian’s CV later in life, as well as providing them with an enjoyable experience, the development of skills and possibly a vision for the future. Examples include the LEAP programme – where students develop valuable skills through setting up and running their own businesses for a year, Target Two Point Zero – The Bank of England Interest Rate Challenge and a range of STEM education initiatives.

Involvement in these activities and the display of enterprising attributes and resourcefulness are of great interest to employers who are looking for enterprising individuals. We are good at valuing and recording academic and vocational qualifications but, at the Grove, we provide a wider range of activities for our young people to increase their employment prospects and encourage their enterprise skills and experience.

I stand by our Grovian Value that encourages enterprise and resourcefulness, as I truly believe that enterprise is more than the creation of entrepreneurs, it is about developing a can-do and positive attitude and equipping our young people with the confidence to develop a career and vocational interests. Enterprise supports the development of a wide range of work and professional skills and capabilities including resilience, risk taking, creativity and innovation – as well as a self-belief.