Creative Partnerships BDR is excited to be funding a strategic project across schools in Rotherham: ‘Creativity and Enterprise’.

Rotherham Ready, the borough-wide initiative fostering enterprise in children and young people has identified core enterprise concepts, which include risk management, leadership and creativity. Creative Partnerships is supporting young people applying their creativity to turn these concepts into communication products, bringing them to life using animation, graphic design and soundscapes. With the mentoring support of creative practitioners, both teachers and students will be encouraged to become communication specialists, eventually disseminating their acquired knowledge across Rotherham schools and beyond whilst modelling what it means to be creative and enterprising.

Risk takers working with a young creative entrepreneur…

A recent workshop at Rawmarsh CLC, focused on Risk-taking and students from the Young Chamber of Commerce worked with creative industries’ entrepreneur, Helen Sayles to identify risk and explore the kind of risks students might face at school. The aim was to explore the ability to take risk as part of being creative and enterprising.

“We are trying to get them thinking about what risk really can mean with all its emotional and financial aspects,” said Helen.

Issues like bullying, peer pressure and safety on the net were identified as risks young people have to manage before students moved on to creating a website encapsulating the key concept. The website will include links to a community forum, podcasts and a page about the general awareness of risk in schools.

15-year-old Conrad Kirk runs his own mobile disco business and is already taking his future seriously. He said, “I love being part of the Rotherham Ready enterprise team because we have good links with the community. These workshops are helpful because it’s good to know what risks may come up when running a business.”

Helen, who runs her own graphic design company, also felt the workshops gave a real focus and added, “I think this workshop is helping pupils to grasp the link between their risks and adult risks within a business. It opens their eyes and makes them think.”

A series of events and workshops will be taking place on Creativity and Enterprise across Schools in Rotheram.