14 Oct 2019
Loughborough University’s ‘HE Unboxed’ initiative recommended to schools by Careers and Enterprise Company
An innovative initiative set up by Loughborough University’s School and College Liaison team is now being recommended to schools nationwide by the Careers and Enterprise Company.
HE Unboxed helps teachers from across the country to inspire and inform Key Stage 4 students about the post-18 options that are available to them.
It comprises of four types of boxes: Subject in a Box, Success in a Box, Skills in a Box and Global Subject in a Box.
These boxes are posted to schools to use free of charge and will contain equipment and/or instructions to deliver an engaging and thought-provoking lesson.
The success, skills and global editions were recently created to compliment the award-winning Subject in a Box project. Many of the boxes have been developed in partnership with academics who work at the University to provide an insight into what it would be like to study at degree level.
They cover subjects such as the arts, business, science and sport; tasks in social media management, publishing and manufacturing engineering developed in collaboration with external organisations; and activities developing teamwork, problem solving and money management skills.
The overall aim is to help students become successful in the future by understanding the range of opportunities available to them after school - particularly through higher education - and to support schools in achieving as many Gatsby benchmarks as possible.
The Gatsby Benchmarks – recently introduced and championed by the Careers and Enterprise Company – is formed from eight guidelines schools should follow in order to offer top careers guidance to their students. The framework covers points about tailoring advice to each student, providing opportunities for them to experience the workplace and meeting employers too.
The Loughborough scheme particularly aligns to two of these guidelines – linking curriculum learning to teaching (4) and encounters with further and higher education (7).
As a result, the resources will shortly feature on the national Careers and Enterprise Company’s Evaluation and planning tools webpage, which all schools can access.
Project lead David Hollis commented: “HE Unboxed has been a resounding success so far, reaching thousands of learners across the country whilst helping schools achieve multiple Gatsby benchmarks.
“With the resources soon be featured on the Careers and Enterprise company, this will take the programmes’ reach to the next level, with the resources reaching new schools and new areas of the country.”
Find out more about HE Unboxed here.