Inspiring Enterprise - Oldham College

On Wednesday 13th October, a group of WA Year 9 students attended the Inspiring Enterprise event in affiliation with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation held at Oldham College. Other schools in attendance were Hulme Grammar, Bluecoat School, North Chadderton, Failsworth Co-op Academy and the Radclyffe School.

There were 4 different entrepreneurs our students had to speak with, all local businesses; and each had a hidden skill the groups had to identify from the experiences each had had, all the while imparting valuable advice on how to start a business. Pupils were invited to ask as many questions as they liked and then did an activity.

The group got together after each talk and decided which was their particular skill. They had to write it on a prepared sheet and give it in after all the entrepreneurs had been seen. Then they had to devise a new business in Oldham by mind mapping each of the group's ideas, this was written on a chart and then presented at the end and videoed, each was shown on a large screen at the end.

Out of all the schools in attendance WA were the only one who guessed all the skills right and won the competition. Prizes were also given for individual effort within the task. In total the group came away with 2 Manchester city shirts, a £30 gift token for a Go-Karting trip, 2 large bags of Heroes chocolates that were shared later and a guided tour of the UK’s largest urban farm and country park on 160 acres of stunning green space in the heart of Oldham - Northern Roots. This has been since been donated to our Environment club.

All pupils were a credit to the academy and worked well as a team.

Well done to our 15 Yr. 9 pupils; Toby, Gabriel, Ruby, Sasha, Jake, Tun, Taylor, Siobhan, Muhammad, Subhan, Paloma, Blake, Christabell, Ellen, Irene and Marc.