These unique opportunities will also help businesses address their own recruitment and skills challenges by boosting the learning of the next generation of their workforce.

How to get involved

Help boost the training offered by providers and develop the curriculum so it serves industry needs

Below are some of the ways you can get involved:

• Offer work placements for Further Education (FE) teachers and tutors in order to refresh their industry knowledge and skills, in turn boosting the learning of their students
• Provide your expertise and advise on the development of the curriculum to ensure it meets industry needs

Get involved with developing the curriculum and actively participating in the teaching and learning environment

Below are some of the ways you can get involved:

• Help out in the classroom - this would include practical and real working projects, such as bringing a real work scenario and working with students in the classroom, asking: ‘What would you do?’
• Reverse learning – one recent example saw Film and TV students set up a chat show and interview employers who also supported the students with the technical/creative aspects of filming
• Take an advisory role on college Curriculum Boards in the following sectors:
  • Construction
  • Health and Life Science
  • Film and TV
  • Digital
  • Engineering

Here's a small local business owner who has got involved and is benefitting from it

James Scudder is the founder of 76 Services, a managed IT business support provider based in High Wycombe.

James sits on the Digital Curriculum Board at Bucks College Group and offers placements to college tutors to help them develop their own skills and experiences to pass onto their students.

We spoke with James to get an insight on what this means and the positive effects it has on his business and the younger generation.

Tangible benefits

“By getting involved with Bucks College Group, shaping the curriculum, and supporting their tutors, I’m making an investment in the future of my business. It really doesn’t take too much time out of my diary and actually brings tangible benefits to the business."

How else will businesses get the skills they need?

“If we, as employers, are not helping young people learn the skills they need to thrive in jobs and workplaces like ours, then we are doing a disservice not only to those young people but to our own businesses too. How else will young people get the start they need? How else will businesses get the skills they need?"

Pay it forward

“I left school at 16 with no qualifications and was given a chance by an employer who took a risk on me. Now that I run my own business, I feel strongly that I should repay that trust in the next generation and help young people get their start."

Make the curriculum work for businesses and students

“This means being actively involved in developing the curriculum that students are taught to ensure it prepares them for the real world of work that they will enter, and not just a world that exists only in a textbook. With technological advances moving so fast, it’s vital to have industry expertise on the Digital Curriculum Board to keep the advice up to date and ensure the most relevant information is being taught to students."

Teaching the teachers

“By bringing Bucks College Group tutors into our workplace, we can show them first-hand the current and developing trends and technologies that they need to know about in order to prepare their students for the world of work that they will soon be entering.”

Want to learn more? Contact us today.

Like James, you could join one of the Curriculum Boards (on Construction; Health and Life Science; Film and TV; Digital; or Engineering) and bring college tutors into your workplace.

For more details about this fantastic opportunity, contact John Browning at Buckinghamshire Business First at [email protected] or call 01296 798774.

The project is being delivered by Buckinghamshire College Group and is funded by the Local Skills Improvement Fund. It is targeted to meet the objectives of the Local Skills Improvement Plan, created by Buckinghamshire Business First, with the funding delivered by the Department for Education (DfE).