Individual Business Education Partnerships
A major part of the Business Education Partnership initiative is the partnership programme between individual schools and businesses. Asia:NZ helps match businesses and secondary schools to work together to raise the importance of Asia to New Zealand.
What are the benefits of being in a partnership?
Businesses and schools work together to develop Asia-ready students.
Secondary schools gain access to knowledge, business practices, cross-cultural knowledge and other resources relating to Asia. Teachers gain up-to-date insights into their subject area, and also real-life examples that can demonstrate to students the usefulness of what they’re learning.
Businesses gain from the partnership by ensuring that young people are made aware of the skills they will need in the future – and which their own businesses are likely to need! Business leaders also have an opportunity to share their passion for Asia and the importance of young people being Asia ready.
Developing a partnership
Asia:NZ brokers a relationship between an interested school and business. The school and the business agree on the partnership’s parameters at the start, and sign a brief Business Education Agreement.
- Business Education Partnership Agreement (Word document) (PDF version)
The partnership parameters can take a variety of forms and may include:
- Site visits
- Business briefings
- Teacher mentoring
- Sharing different parts of the business with staff/students – import/export, human resources, business processes, marketing, strategy, research and development
- Supporting students to develop case studies of the business
- Supporting students in evaluating part of the business and making recommendations for improvements.
The school and business may decide to work in a particular curriculum area (eg. business studies, economics, social studies, technology) or they may wish to work across a number of curriculum areas.
Time frames
The time frame for each partnership is flexible. The school and the business agree an initial timeframe (eg. one academic year). This can be reviewed and extended, if mutually agreed.
Seed funding
Asia New Zealand Foundation will provide some seed funding to schools.
A $2,000 grant is available to schools that have signed the Business Education Partnership Agreement to help establish and facilitate a partnership. Funding could be used for some of the following
- Developing resources as a result of the partnership
- Relief time for the business studies teacher to plan and nurture the partnership
- Buying Asia-focused resources for the school (DVDs etc)
- Travel costs to and from field trips
- Travel costs for speakers/partnership meetings
- Hosting business speakers for lunch.
Current partnerships
- Christ’s College and Jade Software
- Burnside High School and Airways
- Papatoetoe High School and Auckland International Airport
- Auckland Girls’ Grammar School and BECA
- Rangitoto College and KPMG
- Takapuna Grammar School and Cathay Pacific
- Onehunga High School and Glidepath
- Lincoln High School and COSCO
- Christchurch Boys’ High School and ANZCO
- Wellington East Girls’ College and ANZ
- Columba College and Natural History New Zealand
- Otago Girls’ High School and ADInstruments
- John Paul College (Rotorua) and Red Stag Timber Ltd.
Besides these partnerships, Bay of Plenty secondary schools, local businesses and regional economic development organisation Priority One have together created a programme of activites that caters to the needs of all partners.
Interested in an individual Business Education Partnership?
If your business or school is interested in an individual business education partnership please contact:
Fiona Haiko
Business Education Partnership Coordinator.