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The (first ever!) Entrepreneurial School Awards hosted at European Parliament

Eleven schools from eleven countries across Europe won The Entrepreneurial School Awards 2015, a national and European recognition of the best schools championing entrepreneurship education. 

The celebration took place on 15 October, in the presence of several Members of the European Parliament, European Commission officials, JA Europe Board of Directors and selected guests. Representatives from the 11 schools in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom were present to receive the recognition. They met in Brussels for a working session and ceremony hosted in the European Parliament by MEP Michaela Sojdrova.

“The support from the European Parliament represents a key milestone for entrepreneurship education in Europe as it follows the adoption of its report ‘Promoting youth entrepreneurship through education and training’, calling on Member States, together with regional and local authorities, to encourage and support initiatives fostering an entrepreneurial culture among young people,” said Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA Europe.

JA Europe leads the consortium behind The Entrepreneurial School (TES), an EU project which over the last 3 years has also produced Europe’s first Virtual Guide to Entrepreneurial Learning targeting teachers. The awarded schools have been selected based on diverse criteria, such as the inclusion of a vision and strategy in entrepreneurship education, specific resource allocations, teachers’ training or the engagement of the local community and business sector. These criteria follow the objectives of Europe 2020, the EU's growth strategy for the coming decade which notably aims to enhance creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training. More particularly, The Entrepreneurial School Awards respond to the new priorities for European cooperation in education and training presented by Commissioners Thyssen and Navracsics on 1 September. 

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Event photos may be found here.

Background information

‘The Entrepreneurial School’ (TES) is an EU-wide entrepreneurship education initiative. This initiative is organised and managed by JA Europe, partly financed by the European Commission and supported by Accenture, Clifford Chance, HP, Intel and Virke. National committees in the participating countries have nominated schools to be awarded. 

www.tesguide.eu

www.theentrepreneurialschool.eu 

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About the 11 schools selected:

Denmark - Engbjergskolen

Engbjergskolen is primary school located in the municipality of Herning. The school has about 250 students and 21 teachers. At Engbjergskolen all, the teachers and all the students are having at least one entrepreneurship education plan per school year. The headmaster values and supports entrepreneurship education at Engbjergskolen. The headmaster participates in a network for managing entrepreneurship education in the municipality of Herning. Every team has a dialogue with the headmaster about entrepreneurship education through the school year. The teachers are having continual dialogues with the project manager. All teachers have had professional development and training within entrepreneurship education in the four past years.

Finland - Jouppi school

Jouppi School is a primary school where the entrepreneurial activities include all teachers and all students. They have worked with entrepreneurship education for 20 years and the teachers have actively implemented entrepreneurial methods in their every-day work. The school organized a TES Guide training for all of teachers, and in addition to that, the teachers have participated on different, longer and shorter entrepreneurship education trainings. The school is cooperating with the municipality and with local businesses. In addition, parents and other stakeholders are involved. All activities are versatile and regularly evaluated. The school’s management supports teachers to implement entrepreneurship education activities and continuing education.

Germany - Internatsschule Schloss Hansenberg

Internatsschule Schloss Hansenberg is a non-profit, state boarding school of classes 10-12. Founded in 2003 the aim of Hansenberg is to provide excellence in learning for the Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Politics and Economics, plus plenty add-ons in acceleration and enrichment activities. Entrepreneurship activities include most teachers, even staff, because in business-projects cooperation between the economic- and natural science-subjects is essential to generate new “high-tech”-ideas. Of 32 teachers about 14-22 are committed to entrepreneurship activities. The school has extremely cooperative, engaged and economically experienced teachers. Bright and self-motivated students willing “to go the extra mile”. A supportive public, business, and parent environment. And industry partners highly enthusiastic about the school`s concept and the efficient work with its people.

Greece - 1st Arsakeio Lyceum in Psychico – Athens 

The 1st Arsakeio Lyceum in Psychico – Athens forms a part of the group of “Arsakeia - Tositseia Schools” founded in 1836. The school has been involved in JA’s entrepreneurship programs since 2008 with a lot of distinctions especially in the “Company Program”. All the school community, all the teachers, of the 1st Arsakeio Lyceum of Psychico - Athens support the entrepreneurship programs by giving hours of their courses, marketing the whole effort, including methods of entrepreneurship such as  speech contests,  bazaars with products made by students, etc.  The school organises visits to different enterprises during the school year, all students and teachers are involved. Companies, banks, institutions and media support the entrepreneurial activities of the school every year. The school has established the idea of making a personal portfolio called “Life Map”, which contains all the awards, seminars, distinctions as well as entrepreneurial activities, of each student. Through this map of life, each student will be able to present himself in the very near future to a University and, later on, throughout his career. The administration of the entire group of Arsakeia-Tositseia Schools embraces all innovative activities and has a strong belief that entrepreneurial education creates a new path for a modern and strong school according to the European standards.

Italy - ITCG E. FERMI - PONTEDERA (PI)

Entrepreneurship education is one of the main areas in which the school has invested in the last 10 years, mainly in the two programs “JA Impresa in Azione” and “Percorsi Young”. In line with the economic contents of the classes, entrepreneurship education is a key goal of the school, which brings to a series of both educational, organizational and management activities. Since the first biennium, entrepreneurship is inserted in the curriculum of the school as a cross goal for every class, aimed at developing an enterprising spirit, the ability to plan and manage projects, creativity and self-awareness. Partnerships with public and private entities are fulfilled through formal or not formal agreements.

At a provincial and regional level, Fermi Institute is recognized by both public and private entities as the most engaged school in entrepreneurial education. The school is involved in European projects like TES and ICEE. 

Norway - Rakkestad Ungdomsskole

Rakkestad ungdomsskole is a lower secondary school southeast of Oslo. The school has about 300 students and 45 teachers. Entrepreneurship is one of the schools main priority areas and is well documented in the schools strategic planes as well as in local strategies for the municipality and in national political strategies. All the students work with entrepreneurship for periods every year. The focus on entrepreneurship is anchored in the strategic planes for the local community and people from the community and local business sector are involved in the different activities. The school has increased the competence on entrepreneurship over many years. They always focus on to build a culture for entrepreneurship in the school and their local community. 

Poland - Stanisław Staszic Complex of Vocational Schools in Lidzbark Warmiński.

Entrepreneurship education is the priority in the school, and the teachers are providing the opportunity to form entrepreneurial attitudes to students, supporting self-directed learning and self-improvement and enabling familiarisation with the local labour market. The activities are Entrepreneurship Day where they had in the period 2005-2015, 6,141 students in 1,274 workplaces. They have had online entrepreneurial projects for many years and school Entrepreneurship Clubs, Entrepreneurship Olympiad, Tax Knowledge Competition, the Entrepreneurship Day photo-essay competition, Economic Knowledge Olympiad, “Penny Mountain”, “Entrepreneurship Sharks”, “Euro Challenge” European Fund Knowledge Competition, Entrepreneurship Knowledge Competition, The Entrepreneurship Day photo-essay competition, My finance, “Decisions of the Monetary Policy Council”.

Portugal - Escola Profissional Magestil

Escola Profissional Magestil is a vocational school where there is a strong focus on implementation of the Company Programme since it’s pilot in Portugal, eight years ago, including winning several regional, national and international awards. This school works entrepreneurship education in all courses, every year, creating various activities that involves people from many backgrounds. Every school year, the school creates an entrepreneurship education plan that involves various sectors and internally all courses (students and teachers).  The school provides financial support to all activities related to entrepreneurship education, allows students to work in extra-curricular hours in specific classrooms and organizes special sessions for teams to present their business ideas to the schools community and parents. The school invites entrepreneurs to participate in internal school’ activities such as lectures and, workshops. Students do internships in different their companies with which the school have protocols and many of these entrepreneurs are invited to act as volunteers in programmes implemented in school. The School has exchange programmes with other foreign schools, sharing best practices and learning from each other. 

Romania - The National College of Computer Science

The National College of Computer Science (Colegiul Naţional de Informaticã, CNI for short) considers that entrepreneurship education involves much more than preparation about managing a company, but it also involves the way in which attitudes, skills and entrepreneurship knowledge can be developed, to allow a student to “put ideas into practice”. It has a dedicated and engaged leadership that supports entrepreneurial education of all students and the teachers are willing to adopt change in a positive way. Entrepreneurial education is integrated in the teaching program regarding all classes; therefore, it is not a separate class. There are defined concrete results of the entrepreneurial learning, which are evaluated by final exams.

Slovakia - Hotelová akadémia

Entrepreneurship education is a part of the vision of the school. Entrepreneurship is included in the curriculum and plans on each grade level. Entrepreneurship is in every subject through activities, students take self-assessment quiz to test their entrepreneurial attributes and skills at the beginning and end of the school year. The school cooperates with many local business partners in various fields, both as a place to practise, but also as mentors of students’ entrepreneurial activities. The school has a final practical exam where all students have to set their virtual company and learn business through real experience. Students have the opportunity to be involved in the entrepreneurial programmes - More than Money, The Travel and Tourism Business, Banks in Action, Business Ethics, Global Enterprise Project, Think Big School and in the international Erasmus plus project focused on Entrepreneurship. Through educational programmes and activities, students are able to discover their potential and develop knowledge, skills and mind-set to become active and successful in their future careers.

United Kingdom - Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (DACA)

Opening in 2008, DACA was the first school in the country to specialise in Entrepreneurship. It has grown from 735 students in 2008 to over 1300 in 2015, becoming the borough’s largest school. Entrepreneurship has led to this success. DACA is unique in that it employs an Entrepreneurship Team and houses an Entrepreneurship Bridge consisting of 11 incubation units (pods), free for under 25’s who reside in the local area. The Entrepreneurship Team are employed by the Academy and includes the Assistant Principal. Since 2013 the students have participated in 14720 entrepreneurial activities, 63 in national enterprise competitions, 400 work placements, 42 start-up businesses, 1500 in international experience; and 428 adult courses; record numbers entering university, 70% the first in their family to do so.

Media contact:
Mathilde Poncelet
Policy & Communications Officer, JA Europe
+32 2 735 9720
mathilde@jaeurope.org