Enterprising Young Pupils Raise £500 For NHS

Enterprising young pupils at St Peter’s School, York, successfully raised over £500 for the NHS during lockdown as part of their Enterprise-in-Isolation project. 

The Enterprise project, which has been running for several years now, usually sees Year 8 pupils bid for a product, add a design using sublimation techniques, make adverts and ultimately sell the products to parents at a special fayre. The team with the best collaboration, design ideas, advert and profit margin are deemed the eventual winners.  

This year, with lockdown, creativity was key as the class of 88 Year 8 pupils participated in the Enterprise-in-Isolation project from home. The children were split into 22 teams of four and used Microsoft Teams to communicate with other team members and allocate jobs. 

Each team started with a budget of £40 and chose their products from Amazon. Their teachers co-ordinated the deliveries, which were sent directly to the two ‘manufacturers’ who had been selected for each team.  

All groups had to write a formal letter to Mr Falconer, the Head of St Peter’s 8-13, to request the opportunity for advertising space on the school server. The pupils had to design, storyboard and film an advert for their product, all done in isolation. 

They also had to design a website for their product, including products, prices, GDPR information and forms for placing an order. The websites went live for 48 hours and many products sold out. 

The project resulted in some incredible designs, including face masks, bunny door stops, coasters, bags, keyrings, pom-pom animals and much more.  

Usually, the profits are used to reward the winners and supplement the project the following year, but this year all profits will go towards the NHS. The winning three teams receive a nominal prize each, but many team members chose to donate their winnings to the NHS, resulting in a final generous donation from all 22 teams of just over £500.  

Mr Andy Falconer, Master of St Peter’s 8-13, said: “Giving our 13-year-olds experience of what the world of business is like is a key part of their education. This project allowed them to show creativity, co-ordination with others, people management and analysis and decision making. These are the sorts of skills that our young people will need to thrive in the world.” 

Mr Jeremy Walker, Head Master of St Peter’s School, said: “I was delighted to see this fantastic and innovative project unfold during lockdown and congratulate all pupils on their ingenuity and business sense.  They have learned skills which will set them up for great success in life and their decision to donate funds to the NHS is commendable.”