Young people asked to make their mark

TdaNews Direct
Published: 19 November, 2007

Pupils in Leeds are being asked to "make their mark" as part of an enterprise challenge week.

Young people at Horsforth and Wetherby Schools are taking part in the annual live enterprise challenge, Make Your Mark, where young people are given a brief and asked to come up with an enterprising idea in just four hours.

The exercise, designed to inspire children's entrepreneurial spirit, will be undertaken by year ten business studies pupils, who will present their ideas to a "Dragon's Den" style panel of judges, using business practices such as competitor analysis.

Stephen Jex, headteacher at Horsforth School Specialist Science College, said: "Our young people respond brilliantly to this kind of challenging, engaging project – some of their ideas have been fantastic.

"We are always looking at ways to provide practical, creative learning across the entire curriculum."

The challenge kickstarts a week of activities including some "groundbreaking" projects delivered by Education Leeds, such as the "Ikea Challenge".

As part of this exercise pupils will work in small teams to construct, design and market their product, trying to "sell" it for investment.

Education Leeds will use part of the £15.6 million city-wide Sharing Success project's budget to help focus students in the city's most disadvantaged areas to understand enterprise and raise their aspirations.