Events
The Hero Awards 2008
Babes in Business
Babes in Business are big news. The Gazette is planning to advertise the Beacon Hill Family and Business Centre’s entrepreneurial tots who have been making soap and are planning to include candles in their range for Valentines Day. To find out more, and to buy the products, why not give the babes a visit.
News
Snapshot of Success
Blackpool Sixth Form students, Shona Longmuir and Hayley Turner, have successfully started a photographic business alongside their College studies. They secured £100 from the College’s Enterprise programme, HERO, to set up their business and have continued to develop their ideas with the help of Enterprise Officer, Sian Roberts. They have now landed their first paid job with Bispham High School to photograph a Royal Ballet performance at the school.
They are very optimistic that this is the first of many events they will cover in and out of College. They have also got their eyes on weddings, parties and pet photography. They are busily developing products such as photos on t-shirts and keyrings.
This business is just one of many new “start-ups” in the College. The Enterprise Team have also just opened a stationery shop run by students for students.
Pupils Ride the Rollercoaster of Business at The Pleasure Beach!
50 from across the secondary and special schools in Blackpool took part in the Blackpool Schools’ Enterprise Challenge on Tuesday 13th November, hosted by Blackpool Pleasure Beach and sponsored by Abbey. The challenge was organised and delivered collaboratively between the HERO Project and the Get Started team.
The pupils spent the day working on a challenge to create a business idea, write a business plan and create marketing materials to win a contract to run a business in an empty retail unit at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. They then pitched their ideas and answered questions in a “Dragon’s Den” style presentation.
Experts were on hand from 2am Design, Business Link, Get Started, The Pleasure Beach, Abbey and a local Accountancy firm to give advice to the students about business planning, finances, marketing and the development of commercial ideas.
The students involved were extremely enthusiastic and showed real commitment to their ideas, some of which were perceived good enough to have succeeded in the “real world”!
Winning teams at the end of the day were:
- Best Overall Team: Bispham High School
- Most Innovative Idea: Highfurlong School
- Best Product: Park School
- Best Business Plan: St George’s Church of England Business and Enterprise College
Babes in Business
Business and Enterprise lessons started especially early at Beacon Hill Family and Business Centre this year when nursery children started their own Christmas gifts business on Thursday 15th November! Children as young as 3 have taken part in a National Enterprise Activity which has involved them making Soap and creating Christmas packaging for the soap, to create gift boxes to sell to parents to raise extra funds for the development of their nursery! Creating an enterprise culture really does start at a young age!
Studio School Bring Home the Bacon!
Pupils of the Studio School pilot in Blackpool have been developing their entrepreneurial spirit by taking part in a competition called “Bring Home the Bacon!”. 5 teams were each given ten pounds at the start of the week, to use in whatever way they thought appropriate to develop a business of their own. At Christmas, the competition will end and the team who have turned their tenner into the most profit will be the winners.
On Wednesday 14th November the 17 students took a morning out of school and took all their resources to SPACE (a social enterprise run by Sean McGinty – see the HERO magazine for more details) to develop their business ideas into products ready for retailing!
The ideas range from artistic personalised graffiti art, to customised pots of bulbs nurtured in horticulture lessons, to personalised candy canes to deliver instead of Christmas cards!
The pupils will sell their products in and around school and through the shop at Beacon Hill – Quick Equip which was recently opened by Duncan Bannatyne.
The Studio School were supported in this activity by Business experts, their school enterprise facilitator, the Studio School staff and the HERO project. Profits from the venture will be re-invested into Studio School activities chosen by the learners – a great example of Social Enterprise and a hands on approach to learning about business, marketing, finances and resources were seen during this on-going activity!
Collegiate hold “Bric-a-Brac” Enterprise Day
120 pupils from Collegiate Community Sports College took part in an enterprise day at Blackpool Sixth Form College on Wednesday 14th November.
Their aim was to work in teams to create prototypes of products with limited resources and funding which the teams had to manage throughout the day. Teams had to assume business roles and responsibilities throughout the day, and develop skills to aim to be the team to make the most money, by testing their negotiation skills and selling their prototypes to generate orders for their products!
A high energy day was had by all, with some very creative products being seen!
Park School set up a Car Washing Business as Part of Their New NFTE Course
This year as part of their involvement in the HERO project - Park School have introduced the NFTE programme as a way of teaching enterprise and entrepreneurship to their pupils. This programme involves setting up businesses in school and running them throughout the year. Students learn about the roles and responsibilities within a business, marketing and finances amongst many other new skills.
Pupils feel the Heat of Blue Sky thinking
Twenty one year nine students from Beacon Hill joined over one hundred other secondary school students at a funky new business motivation event in Manchester today. This trip was funded by the HERO project. In November more schools and colleges in Blackpool will be able to experience Blue Skies, as they have been invited to attend the next events.
Lucie Cave, the editor of Heat magazine, presented a workshop to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. The venue was the Odeon Cinema at the Printworks in the centre of Manchester.
Lively discussion was generated by the extremely effective show, which included a music and video DJ, laser light show, and a live performance of Leo Jaimz’ new recording.
Everyone was encouraged to come up with their own business ideas without worrying about the doubters. Blue Sky thinking without the clouds.
Up for discussion was how to sell your idea to try to get funding, who can help with the funding and what qualities you need to succeed. The session was very interactive with students taking part in quizzes during the event to see if the message was clear.
There was commentary from some recently successful entrepreneurs, including Ed, 24, who has set up a successful soccer coaching school in the USA and She Devil Productions, two successful female record producers.
Our students thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Blue Skies Roadshow - Greater Manchester
Creating a more entrepreneurial Britain
We are pleased to announce that the Blue Skies roadshow is coming to Manchester once again, this time in the summer term of 2007.
- Dates: Tuesday 3 July 2007
- Show Time: 1pm - 2.30pm
- Venue: Odeon Manchester, The Printworks, 27 Withy Grove, M4 2BS
- Price per Student: £5.00 (1 free teacher place per 10 students, Minimum Booking 20 students please)
Blue Skies is an interactive multi-media roadshow, hosted by Lucie Cave, Features Editor at Heat Magazine. Blue Skies aims to:
- show young people aged 14-19 that starting and running your own business can be a realistic career option
- give your students an insight into the attitudes, skills and knowledge they will need in order to become a successful entrepreneur
- provide an opportunity to meet and question a number of young entrepreneurs from your region who have already taken the plunge!
- support work-related learning and enterprise education initiatives
There are lots of opportunities throughout the show for students to ask questions and get involved.
There’s also a business quiz, with prizes for students who give the correct answer.
You can see a short video clip of the show at www.blue-skies.uk.com
Students attending the show will receive a goody bag containing their own copy of businessdynamics' Little Book for Big Ideas, which contains lots of interesting information and inspirational stories about people who have taken the plunge and set up their own businesses, together with other useful information about business, lots of goodies and advice on where to get business start-up help.
Teachers will receive a registration pack in advance of the show, containing information about the support that is available for people wanting to become entrepreneurs in your area, as well as some ideas for other activities and programmes that will help to re-enforce the learning outcomes that students gain from attending the roadshow.
At the show you will also learn more about NFTE, (the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship), which can help you put the ideas and inspiration gained from the Blue Skies roadshow into practise.
Places for this event are limited, so, in order to take advantage of this special rate, please call us on our Blue Skies Hotline on 020 7261 4514, or e-mail us at info@enterprise-education.org.uk making sure that you include BLUE SKIES in the subject line.
Alternatively, if you wish to secure your places, please fax the enclosed booking form to 0207 261 4539.
