Enterprise Week 2005 at New Mills School

Year 7 Enterprise Day

Year 7 students took part in 5 different challenges.

The day was a massive success and everyone really enjoyed the challenges.

Year 8 Corpac Challenge

Year 8 saw two directors from Corpac, one of the fastest growing companies in the country, come in and set a real challenge for the students.  They had to try and convince the business to relocate in New Mills and had three venues to choose from.  Some real creative thinking saw one company even ring the council up for planning permission!  It was a real challenge to get everything done in the day and competition was fierce.  Every form wanted to win, and the Form Tutors were especially determined to be the eventual champion.  Well done to Miss Cooper and her form for finishing victorious.

The Directors were most impressed and it was all we could do to stop them running off and offering some of our Year 8 students a hob.  Maybe in a few years!

Year 9 Natwest Bank Tender Challenge

The whole of Year 9 enjoyed a day off their usual timetable to take part in the first New Mills School Business and Enterprise Day.  The activity undertaken was the NatWest Face 2 Face with Finance (Tender) programme.  Tender is a simulation, which aims to promote enterprise skills for students.  The students worked together in small groups taking on the role of catering firms who present tenders for a contract to supply a local social club with an annual dinner.  They were responsible for planning the supply, cooking and serving of all of the food, working out the prices of associated goods and services, raw materials and wages, transport costs and VAT.   They also had to assess their profits. The tenders were then assessed on their quality and value for money by members of the NatWest Banks Education team. Prizes were awarded to a variety of students for the best presentation, the best menu and the best tender.  Individual prizes were also awarded for individuals who had performed well within their team.  Year 9 Form Tutors were really impressed with the students performance on the day, especially their good behaviour, creativity and entrepreneurial skills.

Year 10 Enterprise Day

Year 10 students learnt about the importance of Enterprise from a day in the Hall.  They heard presentations from real entrepreneurs.  They also completed a number of challenges including making products and attempting to sell them for a profit.
 

Year 11 Young Enterprise Masterclass

Year 11 students spent the day at New Mills Town Hall.  Young Enterprise set them a challenge of setting up a company.  Students had to decide what to sell, seek a loan, buy materials, make a product and attempt to sell it for a profit.  Working as a coherent team and using creativity were the key to success.

Construction Skills

A small group of students spent the day learning some brick building skills by Fern Training on Enterprise Day in November.  Hidden away in the old swimming pool they showed that the idea to convert this into a construction warehouse for September, 2006 would be good one.

The Next Big Thing Conference
Manchester International Conference Centre

On Friday of Enterprise Week, all Year 12 and 13 Economics and Business Studies students set off for Manchester to hear about how to set up in business.  After a very cold hour on Newtown station waiting for a delayed train in temperatures below zero, we finally made it and thawed out. 

Students were provided with inspiration and tips from, amongst others, Anthony Wilson of Factory Records and Granada TV fame and the owners of multinational companies such as Cobra Beer, Extreme Sports and Buddha Bags.  The event was a real success, and in an audience of about 1,000 young people, hopefully all of the students left the day thinking about whether becoming an entrepreneur was a real option for them.

Year 12 Business Student Challenge

Year 12 & 13 ICT advanced level ICT students were involved in a variety of activities mainly linked to the Volunteer Centre in New Mills.  The Volunteer Centre wanted a group of students to redesign their brochure, which details their program of activities for each week.  A couple of groups efforts were of a very high quality and these will be combined to come up with a final brochure/leaflet that will be used by the centre.

Ashley Burgess from Year 13 created a database using Microsoft Access, which is to store details of local venues for hire.  Categories include Pubs, School Halls and churches.  The database will provide information for each venue such as, days it is available for booking, cost of booking, capacity and contact details.  The database will provide an easily searchable resource for anyone looking for a venue for an activity.

Another database is under construction by a couple of Year 13 students, Steven Hardy and Martyn Burgess, it will store details of clients who are in need of transport for various reasons, e.g. a hospital visit or a shopping trip.  Clients can be linked to a file of regular volunteer drivers thus providing a reliable service.

A large group of students also began work on developing the School web site, which was felt was in need of updating to reflect the school’s status as a Business Enterprise Specialist College.  Joe Gregory took the lead role in this under the supervision of James Dixon who is undertaking the Graduate Teacher Training Programme.

The whole of Year 9 enjoyed a day off their usual timetable to take part in the first New Mills School Business and Enterprise Day.  The activity undertaken was the NatWest Face 2 Face with Finance (Tender) programme.  Tender is a simulation, which aims to promote enterprise skills for students.  The students worked together in small groups taking on the role of catering firms who present tenders for a contract to supply a local social club with an annual dinner.  They were responsible for planning the supply, cooking and serving of all of the food, working out the prices of associated goods and services, raw materials and wages, transport costs and VAT.   They also had to assess their profits. The tenders were then assessed on their quality and value for money by members of the NatWest Banks Education team. Prizes were awarded to a variety of students for the best presentation, the best menu and the best tender.  Individual prizes were also awarded for individuals who had performed well within their team.  Year 9 Form Tutors were really impressed with the students performance on the day, especially their good behaviour, creativity and entrepreneurial skills.

Proshare Competition

Three teams from New Mills School are taking part in the National Proshare Challenge.  The idea is to invest imaginary money on the stock exchage over the year and make money.  Mr Smith, heading the staff team is confident that they will see off all comers.

Business and Enterprise Launch Evening

On Thursday of Enterprise Week, the school had its official celebration of being designated as a Business and Enterprise Launch.  The hall was decked out superbly for the evening.  Guests included the Mayor and Mayoress, local sponsors of the school, other companies who have supported the school, governors, past and present staff and students.  Along with an outline of the aims of school for the students, other local schools and the wider community guests were treated to videos of the school, dance, drama and music acts performed by talented students from the school.