The Entrecomp Certificate: A Final Flurry
This summer has seen a final flurry of activity for the EntreComp Certificate project at LRGS. The three year project, establishing the EntreComp Certificate, comes to an end in September 2022, but the future of the award is only just beginning!
The EntreComp Certificate Project has been funded by Erasmus+, in conjunction with Lancaster company MI-Gen, Romania’s Euro Ed, Cypriot partner Emphasys, Enrico Fermi school from Sicily and Corbon school from Paris.
LRGS students have participated in an array of activities over the three years to help develop and pilot the award: fundraising with the Prince’s Trust, creating marketing videos, establishing start-ups, winning Young Enterprise competitions, collaborating with students from other partner schools in Cyprus, and reflecting on all their co-curricular experiences to show that they have proved competency in up to 15 entrepreneurial competencies of the EntreComp Framework.
LRGS have worked closely with Lancaster University throughout the project, and we are delighted that LU awards the Certificates and digital badges to our students at Foundation, Intermediate or Advanced Level.
June, July and August have seen the culmination of our project, with three dissemination events and the first set of certificates awarded.
LRGS Open Morning
Firstly, at LRGS Open Morning, we chatted to 60 prospective new entrants to the school, alongside their parents, explaining the award and the way that it promotes active citizenship by encouraging young people to show commitment, get involved and make society a better place.
Lancaster University Design Sprint
Sixth form students participating in the EntreComp Certificate Project were invited to a ‘Design Sprint’ Challenge at Lancaster University, along with Business and Economics students from the school. They created some highly innovative products and were required to fully appreciate the amount of iterations that go into developing new products.
Lancaster University also awarded the first fourteen EntreComp Certificates, at Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Level. All these students gain a digital badge to add to their digital CV. Some of the students are pictured below.
Our first cohort of Certificate Awardees
NCS Summer Workshops
Finally, during the summer holidays, we have held two workshops with NCS (National Citizenship Service) students in Lancaster and Preston. These have included 150 participants from 25 different schools across Lancashire. The young people worked together on an entrepreneurial activity and were shown how the NCS scheme helps them to achieve many of the competencies of the EntreComp Certificate. They have been given access to the EntreComp Certificate digital platform and will be given support to complete the certificate themselves.
As our new term begins in September, we look forward to the continued growth of the award, at LRGS and in other local schools. Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School are beginning a pilot of the Foundation Certificate with their Year 8 students, and the contacts made through the Lancaster Careers network and the NCS workshops should hopefully see the Certificate become more and more popular with young people.
We are very proud of our new award, which is unique in its accreditation of entrepreneurial skills, and is being eagerly welcomed by careers experts. It is already supported by Lancaster University, NCS, Young Enterprise and several local businesses. Moving forward, we are looking for further endorsement of the award from the likes of UCAS and top employers.
If you would like to find out more about the EntreComp Certificate, check out our website, online platform and YouTube channel:
www.training.entrecompcertificate.eu
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHhGJ1EhZk4PhCJjr4Vzag
or contact Louise Wareing at lwareing@lrgs.org.uk