City College Plymouth takes The Plunge.

Around 100 students from the college gathered at Royal William Yard on the waterfront in Plymouth and took the Plunge with the help of Working Knowledge, college tutors and a range of local business people who gave up their time to take part in the event which ran over three days.

One of the business people, Kate Baber from Integrem Limited commented.

“Absolutely fantastic! It is inspirational to see these youngsters acting as a team, presenting their business ideas and responding to the answers they are give. A great day.”

Ivor Earl one of the college tutors who had been through Plunge tutor training and attended all three days said,
“A good and well-structured event that ticked all the boxes with regard to transition to next year”

Julian Singer another tutor added, “The event quickly caught the students’ imagination. We saw individuals excel themselves and discover qualities they did not know they had”

To find out more about the Plunge and the Ride the Wave programme click here.

Redcar & Cleveland College implement The Plunge

Redcar and Cleveland College is the first UK college to successfully implement Working Knowledge’s Ride the Wave programme.

Developed in association with the college, Ride the Wave is a programme of engaging activities and events involving students studying at levels 1, 2 and 3 at the college and regional employers. Funded entirely through the Wider Key Skills framework, Ride the Wave is seen to provide students with more confidence and motivation, to raise retention rates and to generate wider employer engagement. Working Knowledge provided EV-approved individual student portfolios, full event facilitation and management and recruited the regional employers on behalf of the college.

“These events provide participants with personal growth and learning opportunities through the process of developing a product and taking it to market. Business concepts are introduced and applied. For experts the process energises faith in potential of young people.” Peter Sheen, Johnson Matthey Catalysts and Ride the Wave expert.

The Plunge

The Plunge  event is delivered for the first time at Darlington Football club with Redcar and Cleveland College.

Cultural change programme Aspire commissioned The Working Knowledge Group to create The Plunge, as part of Aspire’s work to reach young people in the North East of England and help them to develop their enterprise skills and attitudes to work.

The Plunge is an enterprise course, run either over a period of weeks within timetable or as a block of dedicated days, that shows students that business is not about wearing a dull suit and carrying a briefcase – it’s about working with people, creating original ideas, and having the confidence to turn these ideas into reality. The Plunge gives students an opportunity to gain skills in team working, creative thinking and strategic planning, and not only helps them gain a solid understanding of business, but also develop a few new ideas about what they could do with their future careers.

The key idea of The Plunge is that it is literally a way of “plunging” young people into the world of work. Over the course they are fully submerged in an environment in which they develop their strategic thinking, learn to apply core skills and demonstrate that they can thrive in a business situation. The Plunge is a 30-hour course; however, there is also a shorter programme called Make a Splash, which can be used as a stand-alone one-day course, or as a foundation for The Plunge.

Students involved in The Plunge take part in a series of short workshops to help them think up new ideas for businesses, create a plan of action and finally present this strategy to real-life entrepreneurs. The involvement of genuine businesspeople gives the course an unrivalled credibility, and ensures that students receive the very best support and advice. Both regional and national businesses have got involved with The Plunge so far, including representatives from Sage, Northern Rock, Darlington Football Club and Barclaycard.

The Plunge is a highly strategic programme, designed to ensure that the young people involved learn and apply the key skills of enterprise education in an exciting and dynamic structure.

Business professionals are an integral part of The Plunge, not only helping the young people perform to the very best of the their ability, but also providing a rich environment on which to build relationships which have the potential to continue into long-term careers and future work opportunities.

For more information about the Plunge click here.