As a part of this programme, 5th and 6th class students work together as a team to develop a new product that they feel meets a niche in the market place or provides a solution to an everyday problem. Skills such as problem solving, creativity, communication, risk taking, designing, compromising, planning, organisation and so much more are put into practice. During the process, they will also engage with and interview local entrepreneurs and business people.

Already, the students have decided that they will be donating a considerable portion of their profits to charity and to school fundraising efforts (now that’s loyalty!). As well as this, they will vote on how they can treat themselves as a class; but, of course, we
will have to make a profit first. Students will need to consider their target consumers, the advertising campaign and how to reduce costs to gain maximum profits!

Business Visitor and Dragon’s Den 14th December

5th and 6th class were delighted to welcome Maura of Murphy’s Home Bakery to the classroom this week. During the visit, we learned lots of interesting things about local business, Murphy’s Home Bakery. Maura reminded us of the importance of the personal touch in business and working as a team player. She also gave us lots of encouraging advice on how to boost confidence in ourselves.

A big thank you to Maura and Múinteoir Kelley who then acted as our judges within our “Dragon’s Den” styled teams’ presentations. They listened to the teams pitch their ideas. The three different products presented were: “Meenkilly Merch” tie dye clothes, “Grow Green” seed boxes and “Blossom Bright” refillable markers.  The students spoke about their product design, target market and profit margins. In consultation with the students (by a class vote), the judges decided our best bet would be to try and sell “Grow Green” grow boxes and birdhouses.

We had a great morning and to top it all off each student’s hard work was rewarded with an apple pie sponsored by Murphy’s Home Bakery. We can’t wait to carry out some market research on our chosen product.