Posted 29 June 2017

The Inspirational Learning group came in to deliver the National Enterprise challenge to our entire year 9 cohort over the course of a full day. It is the UK’s Largest Employability/Enterprise Competition which is delivered to over 40,000 young people across the country yearly. This was an opportunity for young people to take part in a business enterprise day where they were asked by Ryman to design and develop a brand new mobile or tablet app for Ryman. With the help of the tutors, they designed, marketed, costed and promoted an app for Ryman stationary on the theme of supporting school students in any way they saw fit. They were looking for an idea that was unique and different, and they were asked to produce presentations in groups of 6 that included: The App Idea – Target Market – The App’s USP – Product – Price – Place – Promotion – Branding/Poster – Advert. The tutors that came in delivered sessions on each of these elements in an enthusiastic and engaging way with an element of competition.

Towards the end of the day students had to present their completed idea to the rest of the year group and a panel of teachers. The group with the best presentation from the day had a chance to pitch their idea to Theo Paphitis, formerly of the BBC programme ‘Dragons’ Den’, at a Grand National Final on 4^th July. This meant that they could see their idea come to life and potentially see their app available for download in the App Store for Ryman Stationery!

The purpose of the day was to promote enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking through an engaging and relevant task with a competitive element.  Throughout the day students developed their soft skills such as teamwork, leadership, presenting, communication and confidence building. These skills were nurtured through the designing of an app in small groups.

Year 9 really got stuck into the task at hand and learnt a huge amount about teamwork, prioritising and presentation skills. We were so proud of all the groups that presented in front of their forms and their entire year group, and we hope that they will use the skills learnt in their everyday lessons.

Huge congratulations go to our overall winners – TLA-Trust, Learning, Ability – with team members Sarah, Morgan, Chloe and Taylor. They will now go forward to the national finals! They will be joined by presentation superstars Clinton and Amber who showed incredible confidence and eloquence in their own presentations.

By Ruth Kempf, Higher Education Progression Officer at Bishop Young Church of England Academy