Lesson: Enterprise and Employability
Year: 9 | Subject: PSHE | Time Allocation: 100%
Class/Set: ____________ Date/Term: ____________
LO (WALT): To analyse the characteristics of an enterprising mindset and evaluate how calculated risk informs career and financial decisions.
Success Criteria (WILF):
- I can define enterprise as a transferable skill set applicable to any employment sector.
- I can identify and explain four key traits of an enterprising individual (e.g., resilience, innovation).
- I can distinguish between a 'reckless risk' and a 'calculated risk' in a career or financial context.
1. Starter (15%)
- Activity: 'The Multi-Tool Challenge' Retrieval Practice.
- Explain: Students are given an image of a common household object (e.g., a paperclip or a plastic bottle). In pairs, they have 120 seconds to list as many alternative uses for it as possible.
- Connect: Link this to the concept of 'Innovation' and 'Resourcefulness'. Explain that enterprise is not just about 'starting a shop'; it is about thinking creatively to solve problems in any workplace.
- Reflect: Ask one pair to share their most 'out of the box' idea and explain why it required an enterprising mindset.
2. Main Activity (70%)
Teacher Input:
| Enterprising Trait |
Definition in a Workplace Context |
| Resilience |
Bouncing back from a failed project or rejection. |
| Innovation |
Finding a more efficient way to complete a task. |
| Risk-Taking |
Choosing to invest time or money in a new idea. |
| Leadership |
Motivating a team to achieve a shared objective. |
- Define: Explain that enterprise is a 'transferable skill'. Provide examples: a nurse finding a new way to organise a ward is being enterprising; a mechanic designing a bespoke tool is being enterprising.
- Explain: Introduce 'Calculated Risk'. Use a financial example: "Spending £50 on a training course to get a job that pays £5 more per hour" (Calculated) vs "Spending £50 on lottery tickets to pay the rent" (Reckless).
- Model: Demonstrate how to use a 'Pro/Con/Mitigation' table to assess a risk. If the risk is 'leaving a steady job to start a freelance business', a mitigation might be 'saving three months of wages first'.
- Check: Use 'Cold Calling' to ask students to define 'Opportunity Cost'—what do we give up when we make a financial or career choice?
Student Task:
- Task A: The Mindset Audit: Students list the four traits from the table above and rank themselves 1-10 on each. For their lowest score, they must write one specific action they could take in school to improve it (e.g., "I will volunteer to lead the next group project to improve my Leadership").
- Task B: The 'Calculated Risk' Scenario: Distribute the 'Year 9 Career Dilemma' sheet. Students read a scenario where a character must decide whether to take a high-pay/high-stress apprenticeship or a lower-pay/higher-training role.
- Analyse: Using the 'PEEL' structure, students must write one paragraph advising the character. They must use the term calculated risk and explain the financial implications of the choice.
- Support: Provide a sentence starter bank for Task B (e.g., "One potential opportunity cost of this decision is...").
3. Plenary (15%)
- Check: 'The 60-Second Pitch'. Students must explain to a 'parent' or 'employer' why being 'enterprising' is important even if you never want to run your own business.
- Consolidate: Review the Success Criteria. Ask students to show a 'thumbs up/middle/down' for their confidence in explaining the difference between reckless and calculated risks.
4. Resources
- Paperclip/Bottle images for starter.
- 'Enterprising Trait' definition table (printed or projected).
- 'Year 9 Career Dilemma' scenario sheets.
- Exercise books and pens.
⚠ TEACHER’S GUIDANCE
💡 Pedagogical Pulse
- Oracy Focus: In Year 9, students are beginning to think about GCSE options and future pathways. Use the 'Starter' to encourage high-level vocabulary. When they suggest uses for the paperclip, insist they use the word innovation or utility.
- Addressing Misconceptions: Many students conflate 'Enterprise' with 'Business Studies'. It is vital to emphasise that these are life skills. Use examples of enterprising behaviour in the NHS, charities, or the arts to broaden their perspective.
- Financial Sensitivity: When discussing financial decision-making, remain mindful that students come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Focus on the logic of the decision-making (risk vs. reward) rather than the absolute amounts of money involved.
- Calculated Risk: Ensure students understand that a 'Calculated Risk' still has a chance of failure, but the failure has been planned for (mitigation). This builds emotional resilience.
🔑 Task Mirroring & Solutions
- Task A Answer: This is a subjective self-assessment. The teacher should look for 'SMART' targets in the improvement section (e.g., "I will lead" is better than "I will be better").
- Task B Answer: A successful PEEL paragraph should identify that the lower-pay/higher-training role is often the calculated risk because it builds 'Human Capital' (skills) which leads to higher long-term financial stability, whereas the high-pay/low-training role has a higher opportunity cost in terms of future career growth.
- Mitigation Example: In the scenario, a student might suggest "Taking the lower-pay role but working a Saturday job" as a way to mitigate the financial risk. This demonstrates high-level financial decision-making.