Pupils survive the Dragons’ Den
Pupils honed their business acumen when they took part in a Dragons’ Den-style workshop.
Teams of Year 9 pupils had to pit their wits against one another to win the backing of the ‘dragons’, a panel of senior staff from global giant PwC. The three-hour workshop gave pupils an insight into business strategy, innovation and teamwork, as well an opportunity to find out what it is like to work for one of the world’s largest professional services businesses.
Each session began with pupils being assembled into teams and assigned a ‘dragon’ to mentor them, before being briefed on their business challenge. The mentors provided encouragement and support, as well as providing context to the type of challenges often faced by businesses, including technological advancements, sustainability, product development and the operating environment.
The seven PwC staff pledged their time to volunteer as part of the business’ One Firm One Day annual volunteering day, which aims to give back to local communities. They visited the Wolfenden Street school to lead the workshop which challenged the pupils to create a business solution to overcome a current societal issue. Pupils were encouraged to develop ambitious and creative proposals, whilst being inspired by real-life examples of innovative services.
After agreeing their business idea, pupils then had to distil it into a three-minute pitch, ensuring they captured the dragons’ interest as well as convincing them of its merits. The team relished the challenge and wowed the judges with their inventive ideas – which ranged from an app to help maintain a positive mental health to a product to reduce households’ environmental impact by helping to separate their waste.
After a closely fought contest, Team Secret’s idea won over the dragons and saw the team crowned winners. Their challenge was to reduce food waste, an issue affecting many businesses as well as individual households. The team’s winning solution proposed an app that enables people to post information about the availability of leftover food that organisations, such as homeless shelters, community groups and charities, could subscribe to and benefit from the food. The PwC panel praised the five pupils in Team Secret for the confidence and clarity of their pitch, and for identifying a simple solution to a significant issue.
Principal Sue Gill-Daintith said:
“This was a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to learn business acumen and skills from a team of talented professionals. We hope it will encourage them to become the next generation of businessmen and entrepreneurs. The event also reflected our school values of ‘Service’ and being a responsible citizen in our community by creating a business solution to overcome a current societal issue.”
Katherine Bond, PwC’s National Schools Engagement Manager (UK), said:
“Our staff were inspired by the ideas, energy and entrepreneurial skills of many of the students, and really enjoyed the events.”
PUPILS took part in a Dragons’ Den-style business workshop with volunteers from PwC.
Added By: Star Academies | Date Added: 14th Jun 2019 | Posted In: Latest News