Accreditation

The Co-operative College and ASDAN are delighted to launch a new range of accredited programmes for schools which introduce co-operative studies into the curriculum.

The materials provide a progression in co-operative education from ‘Stepping Stones’ for primary students through to the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness through Co-operative Studies, a GCSE equivalent qualification at Levels 1,2 and 3.

The programmes and their supporting co-operative curriculum materials will be of particular interest to schools who wish to embed co-operation into their whole-school ethos and to develop their student’s awareness and understanding of co-operative values. They will be equally valuable, however, to those looking for a fresh approach to their Citizenship curriculum, exploring such issues as Fair Trade and ethical investment/ethical business practice with their students, or for looking at new ways of running enterprise projects.

Stepping Stones

This Award is linked to the Co-operative College/Enterprise Network’s ‘Co-operate for Change – Fairtrade in Your School’ pack.

Who is it for?

The Stepping Stones certificate is for primary students undertaking work on Fairtrade from the pack.

What do you have to do?

The requirement for this Award is to complete a minimum number of activities from the pack, and to spend a short time reviewing the learning which has taken place.

Key Steps

The ‘Challenges’ for this award introduce the concepts of co-operation and co-operatives and move on to explore each of the six co-operative values: self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity.

Students will work in small groups to tackle the challenges – at least one from each section – and will plan and review their activities. The challenges will help students to improve their skills in working
with others and improving their own learning whilst offering many opportunities to develop research and presentation abilities.

Who is it for?

This award is ideal for students in KS3.

What do you have to do?

The requirement for this Award is to complete a minimum of one
challenge from each of the eight sections, and to demonstrate the
way in which learning has been planned and reviewed.

Enterprise Award – Young Co-operatives

This programme provides everything that a group of students will need to set up and run their own co-operative enterprise – andcelebrate their achievement with an Enterprise Award Certificate at the end of all their hard work.

Who is it for?

This award is suitable for students in KS3 or KS4.

What do you have to do?

Using the Young Co-operatives Action Kit they will complete a range of activities: learning about what co-operatives are, and how they started; developing their own enterprise ideas; planning, setting up, and running their business; and reviewing their success. The kit provides a wide range of activities to choose from at each stage and these cater for a wider range of learning styles. Throughout the process they will collect evidence of their activities to complete a portfolio for evaluation.

Certificate of Personal Effectiveness through Co-operative Studies

This programme offers the opportunity for a more in-depth exploration of co-operative values and they way in which they can be applied to everyday situations in school and the community.

Who is it for?

This programme is suitable for Y9 or KS4 students.

What do you have to do?

A minimum of 60 hours work is needed to achieve the required credits available from this programme. Students will undertake at least one challenge from each of the six sections of the programme. They will
collect evidence of their planning, activities, and reviewing in a portfolio