At the beginning of Term 3 our Year 6 students were issued a challenge:
- Take a budget of $10.00
- Devise a product to make and sell
- Turn that $10.00 into as much as you possibly can!
Designed to provide a practical and hands-on approach to learning about the fundamentals of business and enterprise, the challenge has been well and truly embraced by our students-turned-business-owners, with both Year 6 classes spending the past eight weeks developing some incredible ideas.
From initial brainstorming and concept sketches through to production cost estimation and profit margin forecasting, our future CEO’s have been fully engaged in an end-to-end design and development process that mirrors real-life practice, and encourages the use of a design thinking framework to develop a unique product.
Working together, students have needed to identify and consider their target market, create prototypes, refine their ideas through iterative testing and feedback and explore effective methods for producing their inventory of goods.
As a final pre-production test, students were also invited and encouraged to present their ideas in the ‘Gator Tank’ – a Shark Tank style pitch event which saw students presenting and ‘selling’ their ideas to members of our Senior Leadership Team in the hopes of attracting additional investment and advice to assist with taking their product to market.
The calibre of both the products and the presentations from students were exceptional, with students pitching everything from healthy dog treats to 3D-printed fashion accessories, limited-edition cosmetics lines and bespoke jewellery. Taking in feedback provided by the ‘sharks’, each student will spend some additional time refining their product, before moving into the production phase in preparation for a special market sale to be held on Tuesday 26 September (Week 10, Term 3).
The sale will be open to students, parents, families and friends, with each of our aspiring business leaders selling their wares, endeavouring to turn a profit, and having an opportunity to test their ideas in a real-life marketplace. Money raised from the sale will be re-invested into continuing the project in future years, with student leaders making decisions on the use of any additional proceeds.
Show your support for our Educational Entrepreneurs!
Be sure to send a small amount of money ($10.00 recommended) with your child to spend at the Year 6 Enterprise Market on Tuesday 26 September – or better still, pay our student stallholders a visit. Parents and caregivers welcome – more details coming soon!
