Junior Entrepreneur Programme

This year, 6th class students in Ms. Mooney’s and Ms. Lester’s classes are eagerly undertaking the Junior Entrepreneur Programme ( JEP).  This programme is about starting a real business in the classroom. The children will choose, invest in and produce their own product from scratch, all the way to making it available for sale at a school-hosted JEP showcase day in Term 2 and an opportunity to attend a national JEP showcase day in the RDS in May.

The children have been working hard since the beginning of November to follow the steps of the JEP programme. Have a look below at the work done so far and see the link attached for more information on the JEP programme.

Step 1:

The arrival of the JEP Package and the official start of the programme with the hoisting of the JEP flag outside our school.

Step 2:

We began the process by creating a JEP noticeboard in our classroom and discussing the JEP schedule.

Step 3: 

We discussed ‘ entrepreneurship’ and researched some famous entrepreneurs. We then shared what we had leaned in a feedback session to the class.

Step 4:

We invited local entrepreneurs and business people in to chat to us and also visited a businessman in his place of work. We prepared interview questions and took notes on their advice. We then wrote up what we had learned.

Step 5: 

Time to come up with our own idea!! Children brainstormed their own ideas and all children were encouraged to offer at least one suggestion.We ended up with a whole range of amazing ideas…

Step 6:

The children came together in 3 groups in order to narrow the noticeboard of  ideas down into just  one idea per group.

Step 7: 

After deciding on one idea per group the children worked together to prepare to pitch this idea to a panel of Dragons! Mr Scully our former principal turned businessman came into the school to listen to the pitches alongside our SNA  Barbara and Ms Ryan. The children worked hard on their group ideas and then went down to the schools meeting room for their interview with the Dragons.

Step 8:

We now have our ‘Big Idea’ that we will undertake as a whole class ( But we don’t won’t to share it just yet…☺)

The next step for us is to to undertake some market research and break into different teams.

Keep an eye on the site to follow our progress..

Link to JEP Website: http://www.juniorentrepreneur.ie/