A group of secondary school students swapped the classroom for the boardroom when they spent the day at a firm of accountants and business advisers.
Year 9 Business Studies pupils from Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Oswaldtwistle visited Cassons in Haslingden to take a look behind the scenes and get a taste of how real businesses are run.
The students took a tour of the firm’s offices, seeing three screen technology in action and the all-important tea making facilities to help get a feel for office life.
They also took on a series of challenges in workshops exploring the types of assignments that are central to three key business functions: accounting, payroll and marketing.
Their challenges included calculating the mocked-up profits from an Ed Sheeran concert and understood the importance f checking your own financial records and bank statements.
They also found out how to calculate the tax on a pay slip – and how much tax they will pay when they are working.
The third session was an introduction to business marketing and how to utilise social media in order to promote businesses, including how to identify online advertisements.
Cassons and Rhyddings have been working in partnership since 2014 and this event was organised through the Enterprise Adviser Network which develops long term, strategic partnerships between schools and businesses.
Mr Paul Trickett, Headteacher of Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School, said: “The children received expert, real-life tuition that will help them on their entry into GCSE Business Studies. We are incredibly lucky to have developed such a supportive relationship with Cassons, we hope that this link continues for many years to come.”
Peter Johnson, Partner at Cassons, said he was proud that Cassons have worked so closely with Rhyddings for the past four years.
“The Enterprise Adviser Network and previously Business Class provide great opportunities for students to find out more about the world of work and to have a chat with our employees about the sorts of careers available to them in accountancy and business. It’s also a great opportunity for our own staff to run sessions with the students.
“Hopefully this session will be valuable in helping students understand how businesses operate and also taking the fear away before these young people have their first interviews and first experiences in a work place. They were certainly all very surprised at how quiet it was!”
Penny Heys, Enterprise Coordinator for East Lancashire with the Enterprise Adviser Network, added: “It was brilliant. The children learnt such a lot and were so engaged during the sessions. Any students interested in a career in business will have had a good insight into different areas.”
