Prep pupils at The Paragon recently benefitted from a Dragons’ Den style Enterprise Day, which saw houses being set the challenge of creating a product made entirely from household recycling, that could be sold to the public.
Parent mentors were invited to coach the children on finance, product design, branding and marketing in the morning, and then the children were let loose to plan, design and make a product, as well as work out the financial and marketing information. Teams created a hamster run, stationery holders, plant pots and a watering device, as well as a ‘Seasidy Tidy’ to keep bits and bobs in one place. One of the winners had created an egg timer device which filtered water to time a minute.
A team of Dragons, including honorary guest and Governor, Tony Bury, who is an entrepreneur himself, acted as the judges in the afternoon. Winners were awarded trophies for Best Product, Teamwork and Overall Winner.
The day was a huge success and pupils gained an insight as to the impact that society has on the environment, as well as learning about how much the world relies on plastics. Organiser, Year 4 teacher Mrs Howden, said, “I was really impressed with how the children (and staff) embraced the challenge. It was amazing to see the older and younger children collaborating to create something unique.”
A pupil from Year 4 commented, “I really enjoyed Enterprise Day so much because everyone’s group ideas were unique and original. It showed us how to work as a team and collaborate on things even when we may disagree with others.”