We are now an Enabling Enterprise partnership school. Through this we hope to develop the enterprise skills and experiences of work and aspirations to succeed.
We will be working in partnership with schools and businesses such as Santander, IBM, BT, Hamleys, BirminghamUniversity, Virgin Active, London Business School. Enterprise will become a core part of the school experience through special projects, trips and Challenge days.
Enterprise Skills are communicated widely with children so that they can identify their own progress in each skill:
- Working in a team
- Leading
- Listening carefully
- Sharing ideas
- Problem-solving
- Using imagination
- Staying positive
- Aiming high
*Participation in Enabling Enterprise has been seen to have great impact on pupils at primary school – see this Impact Report
*As part of Enabling Enterprise pupils skills are developed and assessed – see 2014-15 Skills Assessment Framework
*Here are the skills that all pupils will develop during their experiences of Enabling Enterprise – see Challenge Skills Display
Enabling Enterprise Displays
Following a week of Enabling Enterprise challenges in the classrooms the classes each made displays for the central areas.
Year 1: The children were looking at the environment. Their topic was called – Go Green. They learnt a lot about recycling – reduce, reuse, recycle. They thought about rubbish, energy, being safe in the environment and looking after it. The children made posters and created recycling super heroes.
Year 2: The children were entrepreneurs during our Enabling Enterprise Café Challenge. In groups, the children created their own themes including the Minecraft Café, The Pokemon Café, The Superhero Café and many that were Christmas themed. They used three main skills; teamwork, staying positive and problem solving. The children produced menus, tablecloths, signs and decorations which really enhanced the café vibe. The food that they made looked delicious… a choice of sandwiches, iced biscuits and popcorn. Each class took £60 and made £45 profit each. The children will be able to choose how this is spent in their classrooms.
Year 3: The year 3 topic was called Changes. The children had to campaign to change the way people think about eating and health. They learnt about the importance of hygiene and washing hands. They made posters to persuade people. They came up with catchy slogans. The topic included lots of English and PHSE work.
Year 4: The children were number crunchers. Their topic was about producing a new chocolate bar. The topic covered market research, bar charts, advertising, slogans, and persuasive language, profit and logo designs. They had to physically make the packaging for the chocolate bar. Their topic covered lots of maths, Design technology and English work.
Year 5: The children designed number games. They had lots of research to do looking at a wide range of board games. They investigated game pieces, board lay outs etc. they played traditional board games that have already been manufactured. Their task was to plan and make their own board game and then market it and pitch it to the rest of their class.
Year 6: The topic was ‘Construction Counts.’ The children had to design a building for public use. They learnt all about the roles of architects, town planners, builders etc. They then also had to think about building users and uses. They considered what facilities are needed in a community. They made sketches, nets of 3D shapes for their models and they built model buildings. The children built schools, hospitals, shopping centres and community centres. The topic involved lots of maths and Design Technology.
Our central area displays this term reflect the Enabling Enterprise project work we have done.
Some children from Y6 attended a business trip to Argos on Holloway Road that was led by Enabling Enterprise. The purpose of the trip was for children to gain an insight into the world of work. They participated in a “Recruitment Race” challenge. The children worked in teams and were set the task of recruiting new staff members to join several departments within an expanding organisation. The task ended with the teams leading presentations explaining who they had recruited and explaining how and why they had come to their decisions.
The Y5 Navigators attended a trip at UBS Bank that was run by Enabling Enterprise. The children worked in teams for a client, investing money in a fast-paced trading challenge.
July Whole School Challenge Day – Crime Scene Investigation
This was a very exciting day. Children were presented with a difficult problem to solve, a crime had taken place in the school and they needed to use all of their enterprise skills to solve it. Children from Years 1 to 6 examined the crime scene for evidence and worked in teams to uncover the perpetrator of the terrible crime.
The ‘Sugar Snatcher’ had stolen all of the school’s chocolate. Only by effectively working together would they be able to find the right person. Was it Goldilocks or Red Riding Hood or Jack? The children were set the challenge of analysing lots of different pieces of evidence to decide who could have committed this crime. They had to listen carefully to make sure they had all the facts before making their final decision and presenting it back to the Case Officer.
Read about the event here.
Office Space challenge day
Twenty children from Year 3 were invited to a challenge day at The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation to take part in an ‘Office Space’ challenge day.
Following a tour of their offices, and a chance to talk to some of the staff, the children were split into teams to invent and design a gadget to improve the office space. Ideas included a snuggle up snoozer (offering somewhere to have a nap at lunchtime), Roby the filing robot and another robot to tidy up and do the catering!
Sorena said ‘it was fun to make the design posters and work in a team to share ideas’, while Lola said ‘it was interesting and different to being at school because it was a work place’.
Enterprise Week
At Holly Park we participated in Global Entrepreneurship Week. The week began with a visitor from Enabling Enterprise who came and did a launch assembly with the children. She explained what enterprise is and gave real life examples of people who have become entrepreneurs.
She talked about the eight skills the children would need to develop to be effective in enterprise – creativity, team work, aiming high, listening, leadership etc.
We then had our own enterprise week and the children took part in exciting projects – for example Y6 writing their own newspapers, Y2 designing and making their own cafes, Y1 finding out about the postal system and Y5 researching active minds and bodies.
Here are pictures from Y1’s Post Office.
And here are some of the delicious things found in the Y2 cafe.
Y3 looked at health services.
Y4 were Exploring Chocolate.
Here are Y5 with their Active Inspiration.
And here are Y6 Making News.
Legal Eagles
A group of Year 4 children took part in an Enabling Enterprise challenge day at Baker and Mckenzie law firm in the City of London.
Called ‘Listen up Lawyers’ the children learnt what laws are and what a law firm does, before having a tour of the building and seeing the range of jobs people do in a large company.
After splitting into groups, they worked with volunteers from the company and children from another school to play the part of defence or prosecution lawyers in fictional cases involving characters from the Harry Potter books.
Looking for evidence to present they wrote speeches and presented to the volunteers who acted as the jury. The children had a lovely day and were able to apply many of their learning skills. We were proud that several people complimented them on their manners, behaviour and attitude.
The trip linked very well with the British Values of democracy and also the rule of law.
London Business School
Some of the children in Y6 went to the London Business School for the day. The day was organised and led by Enabling Enterprise. The children had to work in teams with other Holly Park children as well as children from another school.
Following a tour of the school, the children had to design a gadget to solve a problem that those at LBS may face. They had to think of a name and a slogan for their gadget then they had to “pitch” it to volunteers who had to judge how good it was.
Moon Base Challenge Day – September
Our second Enabling Enterprise Challenge Day was called Moon Base and children came to school dressed in space costumes.
Over the day, pupils explored the world of work by having to create a new moon colony from scratch. Children explored leadership skills to select a crew to help them on their mission and creativity skills to design a new animal for their new society.
In another challenge, the children became architects and builders, who applied their problem-solving and teamwork skills to create their dream city. The day culminated with all teams presenting their new Moon Bases to promote and celebrate their new societies, before voting for an overall winner.
Money Challenge Day – July
Some Year 4 and Year 6 children were invited to UBS Bank in Moorgate to complete a money challenge day. Split into groups, and working with volunteers from UBS, the children had to devise a sweet shop business, pitching their ideas to the ‘bank manager’ before deciding how to spend their loans by balancing risk against potential profit.
Challenge Day May 7, 2015 – A Day in Politics
On Election Day 2015 we had a marvellous Challenge Day – called ‘A Day in Politics’ led by Enabling Enterprise.
It began with an assembly so that the children could understand how government works. They had a quiz about facts related to elections. They made their own parties, chose their own causes to stand for, made rosettes, posters and banners and finished the day with speeches and elections of their own in the classrooms. A wonderful day exploring democracy!
Read a report about the day here.
Holly Park Primary School 