This week, we have been busy running our own business as part of Enterprise Week, and what an incredible few days it has been. Our company, W Surprise Scoobies, was created entirely by the children, from the very first brainstorming session right through to making and selling the final products.
As part of Enterprise Week, we had four special visits by parents who came to talk to us about their jobs. This helps us to understand what the world of work is like, and the types of careers that are possible for us in the future. We were lucky to welcome Mr Hayes, who’s a lawyer. Last year, he told us about his job and we took part in a case study, looking at different perspectives within a court case. This year, we read about a pigeon from Darlington which was very exciting! We worked really well with our groups to debate the different points of view and shared our thoughts with confidence. After Mr Hayes, Nancy came in to talk to us about her brand, the Contents Bag. Lots of parents around school proudly wear their bags, which Nancy makes, so it was great for us to find out more about how she came up with the brand and how she consciously makes them. We learned more about the fashion industry and how important it is to Nancy that workers are treated fairly, which we agree, is really important.
We also welcomed Mr Ford who taught us about his job in IT. He explained just how long IT has been around, which was quite staggering! There were lots of us interested in a profession in IT after meeting with him. Mr Mamalet also came to discuss economics with us. We were in groups and found out about inflation, using situations that we could understand. We even had Monopoly money to consider what we’d be able to afford! We would like to say a huge thank you to the parents that gave up their time to come in and speak to us, we found it really inspiring.
In terms of our product, we began by practising how to make scoobies, testing out different colours and patterns until we found the styles that worked best. It took time and patience, but everyone showed great determination and teamwork to perfect their designs. Once we had mastered the skill, we moved on to the creative side of the project, designing our own logos and coming up with possible company names. After a fair class vote, we proudly decided on W Surprise Scoobies, and which logo design would represent our brand.
We even had the great idea of selling our scoobies in blind bags, after we’d seen how popular these types of items have been across the world this year. We thought this would make our products more exciting and build a sense of mystery for our customers. On our big making day, we divided into teams to make scoobies, assemble the blind bags and decorate the packaging. The classroom was full of focus, laughter and creativity, and we were very lucky to lots parent helpers join us to lend a hand. Thank you to those that were able to join us!
We have also considered our learning powers, as we reflected on what a successful week we’ve had. We’ve all shown brilliant reciprocity by working well with others and supporting them when necessary, and also seeking guidance when we need it. In terms of making the scoobies, they can be quite fiddly so we also had to show a good amount of resilience too!
Today was the big day when we finally delivered our products. It was so exciting to see people opening their blind bags and discovering what was inside. We hope everyone was delighted with their surprise scoobies. After counting up all of our sales, we were thrilled to find out that we made a profit of around £90, which is absolutely fantastic. To round off the week, we linked our enterprise project to our maths learning by practising column multiplication and solving some money related word problems. This was quite a challenge but it’s helped us to feel more confident for when we come back to tackle it in Autumn 2!
Overall, it has been a brilliant week full of creativity, teamwork, problem solving and pride. Well done, W Surprise Scoobies!
