GRANTS of between £2,000 and £10,000 are available for schools in West Devon to develop creative and engaging learning experiences that will develop students' skills in enterprise and innovation.

Devon County Council's Enterprise in Schools Grant (EiSG) programme is open to state funded and primary schools benefitting Year 6 pupils and above.

The programme is designed to help Devon's schools create or expand educational opportunities within the areas of enterprise and innovation for both pupils and staff, and is informed by the 'Enterprise for All' report.

It will enable schools to provide a better balance between education and skills for employment and aims to equip young people with the motivation and confidence to work for themselves.

Last year, Tavistock College was one of those to benefit from an EiSG grant.

Tavistock College principal Helen Salmon said: 'We were really delighted with gaining funding through the Enterprise grant.

'It enabled us to hold a festival of enterprise across Tavistock College and our trust primary schools.

'Through our link with Tavistock Chamber of Commerce we were able to run a business challenge.

'Each school worked with a local business on a real world challenge.

'Students presented their projects to a panel of judges from local businesses.  

'The competition was won by the team from Tavistock Primary School.'

Mrs Salmon said the project also involved training for teachers about enterprise education.

She added: 'This is the third joint project run by the Tavistock Learning Trust and follows the hugely successful poetry festival plus funding to promote innovation across the trust.'

Applications must focus on entrepreneurship and enterprise education, involve pupils and staff in the design of the project and be sustainable after the lifetime of the grant.

Last year the council awarded £113,000 worth of funding to schools across Devon.

Cabinet member for economy and enterprise, Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, said: 'The scheme was extremely successful last year and we saw some really imaginative and creative ideas coming to the fore.

'It's so important to inspire and motivate young people to apply what they're learning in the classroom to real life outside school and get them thinking about the relevance of their studies to the business world.

'This is a great opportunity for pupils and their teachers to bring subjects to life and develop their skills in this important area of the curriculum.'

Although grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 are available, more may be awarded where a project is considered highly innovative while delivering exceptional outputs.

Applications must be received by noon on Friday, June 26. Grant funds must be spent and claimed by March 31, 2016.

For more information and to apply go to the business and support pages of Devon County Council's economy webpages.