Clonsilla pupils prove they really are the business

BACK problems caused by heavy schoolbags has inspired a creative business idea from a group of young primary school students in Clonsilla.

Fifth class pupils at St Mochta’s invented the concept of a massaging backpack as part of an innovative two-day Bizworld workshop held in the school last week.

As well as massaging the wearer’s back, the bag has a solar panel charge system for phones and laptops.

A revolutionary phone case, shoes with retractable in-line skate wheels, a mystery bakery, and a new range of fashionable, waterproof and stain-proof clothing were among other concepts formulated by the budding entrepreneurs.

The ideas were then pitched to ‘Dragons’ Doireann McLoughlin from Blanchardstown Business Partnership and St Mochta’s vice-principal Margaret O’Boyce.

Bizworld is a not-for-profit organisation, chaired by Gavin Duffy, that promotes entrepreneurship skills for children at fifth class level.

Over 40,000 children have taken part in free Bizworld workshops around the country in the past two years, with more than 200 schools hosting programmes this year.

“Our idea is not to produce products, but simply to inspire and give children the confidence to say what is in their heads,” said Bizworld CEO Fiona McKeon.

Class teacher Kieran Mullarkey was stunned at the amount of hidden talent that emerged from the workshop.

“There really were a lot of elements for children that they will use in real-life and so many hidden talents were uncovered in the children that may never have otherwise been exposed,” he said.

“Children were given different roles in their companies, through advertising, marketing, finance and much more.

During the two-day Bizworld workshop, tutored by Izabella Stankiewicz and Emanuele Longoni from IBM, the children split into groups, each developing their own mini enterprise.

Bizworld delivers simple workshops where pupils learn about money management and enterprise in a supportive and creative atmosphere.

Pupils are taken through the entire entrepreneurial cycle – from company formation and applying for jobs in their companies, to market research with younger classes in the school, and then designing, producing and marketing their business idea.

They learn about pitching for investment and get the opportunity to do so in real-life by visiting Dragons who hear each company’s pitch and decide how many BizBucks to invest in their company.

“Bizworld aims to address the lack of business education in primary schools and feed the students’ appetites for making commercial subject choices at second level,” said Fiona McKeon.

“Every secondary school subject is touched on at some point in the primary cycle except business, and if you haven’t been exposed to it, you are less likely to choose it as a discipline.

“One of the first things we ask at the start of a Bizworld workshop is whether students would pick business in secondary school – we usually get four to six hands at the start, and by the end it generally trebles.”

To register a school for Bizworld, see bizworldireland.org.