Year 7 House Enterprise Day - A Soapy Challenge!

PUBLISHED 30 June 2022

The ‘Apprentice’ met the ‘Dragons’ Den’ when half of Year 7 accepted the challenge of making and creating their own soap brand.

Teamwork, problem solving, and skills of communication and presenting were the order of the day as our young entrepreneurs started off in the labs with a block of raw soap and the renowned saponification skills of Dr Jessop, Mr Riding with the veteran of many student enterprises Mr Wainwright offering product advice. Moulds ranging from apples to fish, from Lego men to traditional blocks, scents and colours were carefully selected to try and appeal to their chosen target market. Professional packaging superbly led by Mrs Burke in the design centre then ran alongside the start of PowerPoint presentations. The challenge of costs and profits, market research and the demanding task of creating a 30 second TV advert inspired the would-be tycoons into some very impressive work.

The day finished with a ‘Dragons’ Den’ presentation. The panel of the Headmaster, Mr McKeown, School Matron, and award-winning Tycoon Year 12 student Liberty had a brief looking for best advert, best product, best presentation, and best overall group.

The students presented their ideas and then faced an especially fierce cross-examination of their business credentials and the Dragon’s tested their ability to explain and think on their feet. The Dragons homed in to check on financial figures, ethics and who would buy their product. Year 7 rose to the challenge with some quick answers and ideas under the crossfire of questions.

This proved to be a particularly enjoyable day both for Year 7, the Business student gurus and the staff involved, most notably Mrs Green and Mrs Culpan for their help throughout the day. There was some obvious talent and flair shown during this enterprise challenge and I look forward to the students competing in the ‘Tycoons’ international competition when they are in Year 12

Mr McIntyre