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Year 12 Enterprise and Entrepreneurship students were
fortunate enough to have a visit from Adam Waddle,
Business Manager at Chartered Accountancy Firm Francis
Clark. As part of their Unit 2 Business Planning assignment,
the students are required to present their micro business
ideas to a professional. Each student had to pitch their
business idea for 15 minutes and then faced 10 minutes
of questioning. Adam commented on how innovative
the business ideas were and how high the presentation
standard was. One of the students, Phoebe Trussler, has
started a business called Read it Build it Books. The books
are aimed at children and are designed to be interactive,
500 Word Business Essay Competition
Year 9 and 10 GCSE Business Studies students took
part in Plymouth University’s 500 Word Business Essay
Competition in March. All students had the opportunity to
write a 500 word essay on 'Why is branding so important to
business success?'
Plymouth University received nearly 100 entries from
students across the South West and we were really pleased
that three KEVICC students were shortlisted in the top 20.
The students were Mhairi Dickson, Ellis Cate and Katie
Brock, all in year 10.
The feedback from the University was that the essays were
‘well structured, used relevant examples, and offered good
ideas’. Congratulations to the students.
Emma Sim, teacher of Business and Economics
This year at KEVICC we have
had 80 GCSE Business Studies
students participating in the Tenner Challenge. The
Challenge helps young people develop key skills,
including creativity, positivity, resilience and problem
solving, using real money to take calculated risks in
business. Students have one month to set up a business
– coming up with an idea of a product or service they can
sell and experience what it’s like to be an entrepreneur.
The students are loaned £10 from the charity and, within
that month, their challenge is to make a profit. There was
a wonderful array of business ideas this year including;
car washing; cake stalls; plant stalls and upselling. The
students opted to work either individually, or in small
groups, and the ideas were completely their own. It was
great to see such entrepreneurial spirit from the students
and it certainly gave them an insight into doing business
in the 'real world'.
A massive congratulations to all the Business Studies
students, andparticularly to those whomadea substantial
profit!
Emma Sim, teacher of Business and Economics
Student Eden Parnell in year 10 writes:
We initially started our Challenge by deciding on who we
wanted to go into business with. I chose to work with two
friends and, after much debate, we came to the decision
that we would sell cakes at school. We originally wanted
to go for the organic, homemade gap in the market but,
after conducting a survey, we
realised that most students were
interested in value for money. As a result, we decided to
buy mass-produced cakes from a local bakery. To entice
the customers to buy our product and give them choice,
we decided to buy more than one variety of baked goods
(cakes, cookies, biscuits) and repackage them in a more
attractive way.
We wanted our brand to appeal to a wide audience, both
male and female, and to be aesthetically pleasing to the
customer. After looking through several colour ideas, we
settled on a Brown, White and Pink theme for our logo
and labels on our brown paper packaging. After lengthy
discussion, we agreed on an affordable 99p price point
which we felt was reasonable for students. Our products
were sold over a three day period in a busy corridor with
plenty of footfall.
The revenue for the first day was extremely good, leaving
us with a £20 profit after the first day which we re-invested
in more baked goods. At the end of the three days we
managed to turnover £83, leaving us with a total profit of
£50, once we had paid back our initial investment.
Overall, the Tenner Challenge was a great success and
I would love to do it again as it gave me an amazing
opportunity that wouldn’t usually be accessible to us
in school. It helped me to develop new skills and it has
opened my eyes to the world of business.
The Tenner Challenge
Business Studies
with craft kits that children can make alongside the books.
She is currently selling the books via Amazon and her own
website. She said:
it has been great to pitch to a business
professional and it was really useful getting his feedback.
He has offered a free 1-2-1 appointment with me at their
offices in Torquay to discuss the next steps of the business,
as he was so impressed with the idea. It is really important
to make contacts in the business world and it has been so
useful having this opportunity in College
.
The students have all received Distinctions for their
assignments and it has been brilliant to work with the next
generation of entrepreneurs!
Emma Sim
