Frequently Asked Questions

Got a question? See below for answers to questions we often get.

General Questions

Which Future Anything program is best for my school?

Future Anything offers four cornerstone school entrepreneurship programs.

In our incursion student entrepreneurship workshops  (Flare [one day] , Spark [two days] and Ignite [five days]) our engaging and experienced facilitators come to your school for fast-paced, high energy days of listening, learning and doing.

Activate is our curriculum-embedded school entrepreneurship program that embeds the future capabilities across one term or a whole semester in Primary and Secondary schools.

Our programs are not ‘plug and play’, we work with schools and teachers to adapt each program to ensure it works for you, your students and your school community.

Check out the program descriptions here on our website, or if you’re still not sure which is best for your students, get in touch! We’d love to chat to learn more about your school context and together explore which program is best for you. Connect with us here.

We already have our own youth entrepreneurship program, why would we pay for another one?

We’re always delighted to hear of schools that are already embedding entrepreneurship in their classrooms. In fact, we work with many schools that have their own internal entrepreneurship programs, collaborating with their educators to tailor our content/model to add value to their existing offerings.

By bringing Future Anything to your school, we can inject new energy, skills and knowledge to your team, helping them revitalise their approach to project based and entrepreneurship learning. We also provide a wealth of new lesson activities or ideas, as well as inspiration through our events, online resources and social media communities.

Finally, Future Anything is passionate about connecting the education sector to the entrepreneurship ecosystem. With our established networks, we bridge the gap; connecting our educators (and their students) to the incredible entrepreneurial networks that exist in their own communities and further afield.

Let’s have a chat and see if there’s an opportunity for us to collaborate. Connect with us here.

Can Future Anything work alongside other similar programs, for example $20 Boss?

Absolutely. There are a number of most excellent youth entrepreneurship programs available nationally. For example, we love the $20 Boss program and work closely with the Foundation for Young Australians. In fact, the FYA’s former CEO, Jan Owen OAM, is on the Advisory Board for Future Anything. Many of our schools run Future Anything’s Activate in Year 9, then $20 Boss in Year 10.

We recommend that schools map the scope and sequence of the entrepreneurial programs that exist across all of their subjects and year levels to ensure that their offerings create a distinct pipeline that differentiates in context (to avoid replication for students) and builds in complexity (to increase the capacity of students).

Each school is different. Our team is well placed to guide and support your decision making process around what may or may not work for your school, so please reach out to us via email to organise a time for us to chat.

Flare FAQ

What is Flare?

Flare is Future Anything’s one day incursion youth entrepreneurship program. It is delivered in schools across Australia by Future Anything’s engaging and experienced facilitators.

Students explore design thinking methodology to solve problems (including empathising, ideating, validating, prototyping and pitching), develop their capacity to collaborate and project manage efficiently and effectively and develop their capacity as storytellers; pitching (and persuading) with purpose.

How long does Flare last? When can it happen?

Flare is a one day incursion program that is delivered at a venue of your choice by our experienced facilitators. We work with you to adjust the timings to suit your school day.

Flare can take place any time during the school year and our team travels nationally (and internationally). Just let us know your preferred date and we’ll make it happen.

Which year levels is Flare suitable for? Can multiple year levels participate simultaneously?

Flare can be adapted to suit any year level, but we find it works best with upper primary and secondary students.

Is Flare suitable for all ability levels? Can it be delivered in mixed ability classes?

Yes. Our facilitators are experienced educators who ‘level up’ and ‘level down’ activities to support differentiation. We work directly with each of our schools in advance of the day to differentiate the program for your context.

How many students can participate in Flare?

Flare works for any size student group. We have cohorts that range in size from one small class all the way through to entire year levels of 300+ young people from one or multiple schools.

Regardless of the cohort or group size, Flare will be engaging and worthwhile for your students and teachers.

Who delivers Flare?

Flare is an incursion program delivered by Future Anything’s experienced and engaging facilitators.

We come to your school and take care of all the travel and accommodation costs for our facilitator/s. We also take care of all the equipment and resources necessary to ensure your students are supported throughout the day to soar.

Is Flare an assessable unit of work? Can I mark and report on the program?

Students, in teams, produce a storyboard prototype as the final product of Flare. Our team is more than happy to work with you to develop assessment instruments if you need these to implement the program. We have a number of project-based learning rubrics, in addition to rubrics for students to self assess across key future capabilities, including collaboration, creativity and project management.

Is Flare the right Future Anything program for my school?

That’s a great question! It might be, or it might not be. Get in contact with us and we can chat to you about what Future Anything program (if any) might be a good fit for your school context and needs. Connect with us here.

How much does Flare cost?

Shoot us a quick enquiry here and we’ll send through a detailed program overview, including investment, for Flare.

How do I bring Flare to my school?

Click here to register to bring Flare to  your school.

Of if you just want to check date availability or have other questions at this stage, shoot us a quick enquiry here.

Spark FAQ

What is Spark?

Spark is Future Anything’s two day incursion youth entrepreneurship program. It is delivered in schools across Australia by Future Anything’s engaging and experienced facilitators.

Students build an understanding of design thinking methodology to solve problems (including empathising, ideating, validating, prototyping and pitching), develop their capacity to lead self and others, develop their capacity to collaborate and project manage efficiently and effectively and develop their capacity as storytellers; pitching (and persuading) with purpose.

The final product that students produce is an elevator pitch of their prototype to a panel of school and/or local leaders or decision makers. Check out our short Spark video here!

How long does Spark last? When can it happen?

Spark is a two day incursion program. We work with you to adjust the timings to suit your school day.

Spark can take place any time during the school year. Just let us know your preferred date and we’ll make it happen!

Which year levels is Spark suitable for?

Spark can be adapted to suit any year level, but we find it works best with upper primary and secondary students.

Is Spark suitable for all ability levels? Can it be delivered in mixed ability classes or mixed year levels?

Yes. Our facilitators are experienced educators who ‘level up’ and ‘level down’ activities to support differentiation. We work directly with each of our schools in advance of the day to differentiate the program for your context.

How many students can participate in Spark?

Spark works for any size student group. We have cohorts that range in size from one small class all the way through to entire year levels of 300+ young people or groups from multiple schools.

Regardless of cohort or group size, Spark will be engaging and worthwhile for your students and teachers.

Is Spark an assessable unit of work? Can I mark and report on the program?

Spark culminates in students or student teams (elevator) pitching their innovative prototyped solution to a panel of local decision makers.

Our team is more than happy to work with you to develop assessment instruments if you need these to implement the program. We have a number of project-based learning rubrics, in addition to rubrics for students to self assess across key future capabilities, including collaboration, creativity and project management.

Who delivers Spark?

Spark is an incursion program delivered by Future Anything’s experienced and engaging facilitators.

We come to your school and take care of all the travel and accommodation costs for our facilitator/s. We also take care of all the equipment and resources necessary to ensure your students are supported to soar.

How much does Spark cost?

Shoot us a quick enquiry here and we’ll send through a detailed program overview, including investment, for Spark.

How do I bring Spark to my school?

Click here to register to bring Spark to  your school.

Of if you just want to check date availability or have other questions at this stage, shoot us a quick enquiry here.

Ignite FAQ

What is Ignite?

Ignite is Future Anything’s five day incursion youth entrepreneurship program. It is delivered in schools across Australia by Future Anything’s engaging and experienced facilitators.

Students will build a greater understanding and appreciation of self (including personal passions, interests, values and strengths); of social enterprise, purpose led business and social impact (including the importance of impact measurement); of design thinking methodology to solve problems (including empathising, ideating, validating, prototyping and pitching) and of importance of creating unique value propositions, conducting market research and ‘The Lean Startup’ methodology.

They will also develop their capacity to lead self and others; to collaborate and project manage efficiently and effectively; as storytellers; pitching (and persuading) with purpose.

Ultimately, they will be empowered with the knowledge, skills, processes, and support to stand up and take action to solve problems that matter to them.

Ignite culminates in an exciting showcase and pitching event where selected finalists pitch their innovative, scalable and sustainable business solutions to a panel of judges compromising local changemakers. Teams also showcase their prototypes in a tradeshow display for the chance to win ‘The People’s Choice’ Award. Check out our short Ignite video here!

How long does Ignite last? When can it happen?

Ignite is a five day program. We work with you to adjust the timings to suit your school day.

The first four days are facilitated by Future Anything, while Day Five is facilitated by your own teaching team (with all necessary resources for this final day provided by Future Anything).

Ignite can take place any time during the school year. A lot of schools choose to run it in the last two weeks of each school term as an alternative program, so dates in these periods tend to get booked up fast. Get in touch soon to secure your preferred dates.

Our team travels nationally, and in fact, Ignite is our most popular international program.

Which year levels is Ignite suitable for? Can multiple year levels participate simultaneously?

Ignite can be adapted to suit any year level or levels, but we find it works best with middle and upper secondary students.

Is Ignite an assessable unit of work? Can I mark and report on the program?

Ignite culminates in students or student teams pitching their innovative, scalable and sustainable business solutions to a panel of judges. In addition, students create a tradeshow display showcasing their product to your local community.

Our team is more than happy to work with you to develop assessment instruments if you need these to implement the program. We have a number of project-based learning rubrics, in addition to rubrics for students to self assess across key future capabilities, including collaboration, creativity and project management.

Who delivers Ignite?

Ignite is an incursion program delivered by Future Anything’s experienced and engaging facilitators.

We come to your school and take care of all the travel and accommodation costs for our facilitator/s. We also take care of all the equipment and resources necessary to ensure your students are supported to soar.

How much does Ignite cost?

Shoot us a quick enquiry here and we’ll send through a detailed program overview, including investment, for Ignite.

How do I bring Ignite to my school?

Click here to register to bring Ignite to  your school.

Of if you just want to check date availability or have other questions at this stage, shoot us a quick enquiry here.

Activate FAQ

What is Activate?

Activate is Future Anything’s flagship in-curriculum program that empowers teachers, schools and young people to build innovative ideas and enterprising mindsets.

Delivered over a whole term or semester by educators supported by Future Anything, there are stream options for both Primary and Secondary schools, so Activate is suitable for students from Year 5 right through to Year 12.

In 2023, over 5500 students and 220 teachers in over 60 schools took part in Activate across Australia. 2024 is going to be even bigger!

Check out our short Activate video here. 

Which year levels is Activate suitable for?

Activate Primary is ideal for students in Years 5 and 6.

Activate Secondary is ideal for students in Years 7-12.

Age-appropriate content provided across all our subject streams. Level up and level down activities are also provided to assist differentiation. Each stream has recommended year levels but all content can be tailored to your students’ needs.

Of course, every class is different, so feel free to chat to our team about the suitability of Activate for your students. We always work with our schools to contextualise the deliver of the program to suit you and your students.

Is Activate suitable for all ability levels? Can it be delivered in mixed ability classes?

Yes. Every lesson has ‘level up’ and ‘level down’ activities to support differentiation.

Activate has also never intended to be a ‘plug and play’ program; we work directly with each of our schools to differentiate the program for their context.

What subjects is Activate available in?

Activate has two streams for Primary Schools that work across the curriculum.

In high schools, our three Activate Enterprise streams are most often embedded in:

  • Economics & Business
  • Religion & Ethics
  • English
  • Humanities & Social Sciences
  • Design & Digital Technology
  • Maths

Our Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) streams are most often embedded in:

  • Science
  • STEM
  • Humanities & Social Sciences
  • Design & Digital Technology
  • Health & Physical Education

Registration for Activate provides access to all of the curriculum and resources for a single subject stream.

Activate can be delivered across multiple subjects, and for many of our schools provides a fantastic way to build student’s entrepreneurial capacity through their year levels. We offer package options which provide great value if you’re looking to embed more than one subject stream at your school.  If this is of interest, we recommend you get in touch to explore how this will work in your school.

How long does Activate last?

Whatever works for you! The Activate curriculum is fully aligned with the National Curriculum,  with most subject streams including detailed lesson plans and recourses for twenty 60 minute lessons.

Most – but not all – schools run our Activate school entrepreneurship program over one term, but there’s more than enough content to run over a semester, multiple terms or another period that suits if you prefer.

The Future Anything team will work closely with your Activate teaching team to support you to deliver the program over a time period that works for you.

Who delivers Activate?

You do! With extensive professional learning, curriculum content, resources, a personalised induction program and ongoing support from Future Anything, Activate educators are fully resourced, upskilled and empowered to deliver this engaging school entrepreneurship program in their own classrooms.

All Activate schools are matched with a dedicated Program Manager here at Future Anything. All experienced educators, they’re your ‘go to’ people before, during and after Activate to help educators and students get the most from the program.

What resources are provided for Activate? What format are they in?

All content for Activate is provided via our online curriculum platform, Thinkific. Registered Activate teachers each receive a personalised login to the Thinkific site through which they can access all the resources necessary to deliver Activate in their chosen subject and track their progress through the program.

This includes:

  • Unit overview and Australian Curriculum Links
  • Detailed lesson plans (including Learning Goals, Success Criteria, Activities, Resources [incl. video case studies, posters, models, diagrams, templates, task sheets etc] and Level Up and Down activities to differentiate for your students)
  • Assessment task sheets and rubrics
  • Info packs to help plan your school Showcase event and to prepare your students for the National Finals

Most of the content is provided in PDF format and is easy to download/print as required.

What support is provided to Activate educators?

Heaps! Activate educators can access unlimited support from the Future Anything team. This includes group and one-to-one calls, regular ‘check in’ sessions and bespoke consultations for every participating school to help develop and contextualise Activate for each school’s circumstances and goals.

All Activate schools are matched with a dedicated Program Manager here at Future Anything. All experienced educators, they’re your ‘go to’ people before, during and after Activate to help educators and students get the most from the program.

Activate also includes a full day of live virtual Professional Learning for all educators delivering the program.

There is external support too. Every school is matched with an Activator. Think of them as your very own “entrepreneur in residence”. Drawn from the worlds of entrepreneurship , business, innovation, government and beyond, these real life changemakers volunteer 5 hours of their time to connect directly with your  students and support them in refining and developing their ideas and pitches.

What does the Activate Professional Learning cover?

All Activate schools receive access to an extensive suite of Professional Learning. Activate professional learning workshops are delivered virtually late in Term 1 and are differentiated for new and returning Activate teachers.

This is designed not just to support the delivery of the Activate program in the classroom, but also to build educator’s capacity and knowledge on topics including the ‘Future of Work’ and implications for education, the pedagogy of Project Based Learning, social enterprise, purpose-led business and Future Anything’s Entrepreneur’s Odyssey.

Our Professional Learning is also backed up by bespoke consultations for every participating school to help develop and contextualise Activate for each school’s circumstances and goals.

We see our Professional Learning as a two-way process. It’s an opportunity for educators to ask questions, provide feedback and ideas and share their experience of delivering the program in their classrooms that will help inform the future delivery and evolution of Activate (and other Future Anything programs).

Is Activate an assessable unit of work? Can I mark and report on the program?

Each stream of Activate is mapped to the Achievement Standards, General Capabilities and Cross Curriculum Priorities of the Australian Curriculum. We have all the assessment instruments required to assess the unit. We also work with all of our schools to contextualise the assessment instruments for implementation at your school as part of our Educator Professional Learning package.

What events are associated with Activate?

Activate includes exciting, engaging events designed to inspire students and connect them with authentic voices from across Australia’s innovation and social enterprise community. These include:

  • School Showcases – your very own ‘shark tank’ style event when students showcase and pitch their innovative enterprises
  • Future Anything National Finals – with students pitching their ideas live to win the funding and support to launch them into the real world

How do I bring Activate to my school?

Registration for Activate 2024 is now open!

Click here to bring Activate 2024 to your school.

We know school budgets all work differently, so register now and you can choose an invoice due date later in the year that works for your school’s budget process.

If you’d like to chat about Activate before you register, connect with us here and we’ll lock in a time.