Doing the Business at West Derby School

As part of their GCSE business coursework, thirty Year 10 pupils from West Derby School devised and planned a small business venture.

Each mini business were tasked with thinking of a novel way to generate money for Clatterbridge Cancer centre during school lunchtimes.

Firstly, the pupils had to research their own business idea and present it to the rest of the pupils, then in small teams the pupils conducted formal business meetings where each idea was discussed.

These meetings had an agenda to outline what was to be discussed and ‘minutes’ (a record of what was said) were recorded by a team member.

Next the pupils had to plan and prepare their business event. This involved costing up any stock and resources that were needed before deciding on what prices they should charge.

Finally, they decided on what roles and responsibilities team members should have to ensure the events ran as smoothly as possible.

The events took place in June and July with mixed weather keeping the boys thinking throughout.

The boys had been checking the weather forecasts beforehand and it was decided that the majority of the football events would have to move to the MUGA for safety reasons.

All in all the pupils learnt valuable lessons about the planning, promotion and running of a small business for the day.

Headteacher Sian Graham, said: “It was heartening to see how well the boys responded to the task. Their maturity and diligence was great.

“In addition, their coursework will now be much stronger as a result of their hard work and they managed to raise £418 for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity in the process, which was a brilliant achievement.

“A massive well done to all the boys involved!”