Who was involved?
Isebrook School, Kettering (SEND)
Intent
Isebrook School is a specialist secondary in Kettering, Northamptonshire. They run seasonal enterprise programmes as a form of meaningful work experience for their students via the Talentino! Meglio programme. This year, they have expanded and adapted their enterprise so that all pathways of students were involved, including Key Stage 3 and Pathway 1 (pre-formal). Autumn term’s enterprise project focused on items to sell at the Christmas Fayre.
The aim was to broaden the inclusivity of their enterprise programme, by engaging all students in meaningful and appropriate work experience (via enterprise) that was adapted and tailored to their individual needs.
Implementation
Enterprise across subjects
Wider teaching staff were allocated time each week throughout the Autumn Term to focus on enterprise with their class. Projects encouraged students to apply wider subject learning, such as:
- IT (research and design)
- Design Technology
- Maths (pricing and budgeting)
- English (marketing and promotion)
Differentiated activities for learners
Each class created products suited to their abilities. For example:
- Pathway 1 (pre-formal) learners took part through sensory activities, such as finger‑painting wrapping paper
- Pathway 4 (formal) learners crafted more complex items such as hand‑crafted leather key rings
Marketing and catalogues
Every class produced catalogue entries with photos and prices of their products. These were shared with parents and carers, helping families engage with the learning and understand what their child had taken part in as part of their careers programmes.
Running the Christmas Fayre
On the day, two events were held, one aimed at students-only, and one aimed at parents and carers with their child after school. Students were actively involved in organising and running the event, including:
- Setting up stalls and displays
- Handling money and sales
- Welcoming customers and answering questions
- Running extra stalls like tea and coffee
- Performing live music on guitar
Impact
Isebrook School raised an amazing £2172.55, and were pleased with how they were able to adapt activities to ensure they were meaningful and inclusive for all students. The project conveyed strong practice in delivering:
- Personalised careers education (Benchmark 3)
- Inclusive work experience (Benchmark 6)
- Careers-learning in the curriculum (Benchmark 4)
- Engaging parents and carers (Benchmark 1)
The event was evaluated via various stakeholder feedback, including:
- Learner feedback was gathered to capture students’ reflections on the skills, knowledge, and experiences they gained through the project
- Parent and carer feedback was collected at the exit of the event, providing valuable insights into family engagement and the perceived value of the initiative
- Staff feedback was captured throughout the project and post-event, with many highlighting strong supports for the renewed curriculum approach and the benefits of embedding enterprise learning
Quotes from stakeholders
Parent feedback included:
“All items made were very good and there was a great selection of stalls. Great to see the students showing off their selling skills”
“Such a buzzing, creative atmosphere. Brilliant products created by the students.”
“The range of items were perfect, the hard work of everyone was just brilliant. Same again next year please”.
Supporting resources
https://careershub.southmidlands.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/07/1.-Isebrook-Feedback.pdf