A group of budding young entrepreneurs from The Ellesmere Port Church of England College (EPC) are celebrating after successfully reaching the finals with the National Enterprise Challenge.
The success comes after a group of facilitators from the National Enterprise Challenge visited the school earlier this month to run a series of workshops and activities encouraging Year 7 & 8 students to come up with business ideas that focus on sustainability and recycling. They then pitched these ideas to facilitators in a process not to dissimilar to those seen on Dragons Den or The Apprentice.
One group of six students, Lillie, Jacinta, Sid, Jade, Olivia and Ian, impressed the facilitators so much that they have now been asked to go and represent the school at the organisation’s national finals.
Mrs Vikkie Waites, Assistant Principal at the College said: “We are incredibly proud of these students. Not only did they come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas, they really impressed the facilitators with their passion and determination to work successfully in a team.
“That is, to be honest, the real essence of why we engage in initiatives like this. Aside from giving the students the opportunity to think outside of the box, they also allow them to develop the skills required for the world of work; including teamwork, communication and leadership.”
The group will now start their preparations for the prestigious National Finals that will be held next year.
Lillie said: “Getting involved in this has been fantastic. It has given us an opportunity to work together as a team and really challenge ourselves to come up with ideas that we think have the potentially to really help people.
“I was really shocked that the facilitators liked our ideas and approach the most. Now the hard work really begins!”
