COOL SCHOOL!
Ganton is a school for young people aged between 3 - 19, with severe learning difficulties. Mark Warner, from Ganton School writes:
Ganton took part in Global Entrepreneurship Week for the second year in succession. This year however was slightly different. Firstly the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank offered a prize of £150 to the Group who generated the most profit from their Enterprise Activities.
Secondly we wanted to begin to consider what Enterprise means and what it looks like for the pupils and students at Ganton.
We knew that the activities we wanted to undertake covered the Financial capability and Business and economic understanding elements of Enterprise Education, so our focus was on the Enterprise capability component.
The list below highlights some of the skills we were aiming to include in our Enterprise Activities, which fall under the Enterprise capability component.
Participate in a team
Lead a team
Unite a team
Teach others
Negotiate
Motivate others
Make decisions
Solve problems
Maintain meaningful conversation (discussion/debate)
Defuse arguments with timing, instructions and polite, concise language
Organisation of self
Design and make skills
Keeping quiet when disagreeing with Group
Investigate simple hypotheses
The pupils and students of Ganton School had a fantastic time; in the build up to the week and during the week. The £150 prize brought a sharp focus to the activities and generated a little competition between the Groups!
The Competition.
The classes were given an investment of up to £75; from school fund to start a business. The idea was that the Group generated income in the first instance to repay the investment, before making money that they were able to spend on something for the classroom.
We had a total of 10 classes involved across Key Stages 3, 4 and 5, involving 46 pupils and 46 students
The Results.
Class Product Costs Total Sales Profit
Stars class; Yrs 7 – 14, lead by Hilary Home Made shortbread biscuits £30 £102 £72
Jupiter class; Yrs 6 - 9 lead by Dean Daffodil pots £70.27 £318 £247.73
Mars class; Yrs 7 – 9, lead by Rachel Chocolate dipped peppermint creams £14 £57 £43
Pluto class; Yrs 7 – 9, lead by Eddy Luxury soap/flannel holders £116.70 £315 £198.30
Yrs 10/11 lead by Vivien Chocolate truffles £73.47 £233 £159.33
Yellow Pastoral Group Christmas Cards £40.18 £42 £1.82
Purple Pastoral Group Fridge magnets (Ladybirds) £26.80 £95 £68.20
Green Pastoral Christmas activity packs £27.18 £32 £4.82
Orange Pastoral Group Personalised Table Mats £20.67 £80 £59.33
Blue Pastoral Group Chocolate Trees £48.44 £63.70 £15.26
Without exception all the pupils and students who engaged in this year’s Enterprise week thoroughly enjoyed the activities. The sense of ownership, team work, organisation, motivation, competition and leadership was very evident, both before and during the week itself. The businesses as you can see from the income generated were much more effective this year.
Perhaps the feature which stood out most was the sense of synergy; “I will do my bit and collectively we achieve much more”.
Mark Warner
Ganton School
Springhead Lane
Willerby Road
HULL HU5 5YJ
