‘Unloc’ Enterprise Day

On the final day of the half-term, our Third Year pupils took part in a high-impact Enterprise Day, which began with an inspirational talk from Josh Robinson, founder of Unloc. This was followed by a series of skills-based masterclasses covering areas such as branding, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Pupils also took part in a fun challenge to identify a number of famous entrepreneurs and consider the mindsets that drive their success.

Throughout the day, pupils developed their employability and enterprise skills while gaining hands-on experience in marketing, branding, and pitching a social business challenge as part of Unloc’s ‘Changemaker Programme’. In one exercise, pupils discussed why Apple is such a strong brand leader, correctly identifying the Apple ecosystem - the way in which Apple’s main products work seamlessly together and operate best within their own network of devices.

As part of an Enterprise Challenge, pupils explored the Fast Fashion industry and how to build a new brand. Each team assigned members to roles such as CEO, CMO, CFO, CDO, COO, and CTO. After working collaboratively on their pitches, the teams presented their business ideas to the group, practising the communication and presentation skills that are key to effective pitching. Pupils were also reminded that they possess a valuable advantage over established entrepreneurs - time - giving them years to develop their skills and ideas.

Later in the day, pupils were encouraged to think about careers that would give them a sense of purpose and freedom, reflecting on which ‘colour’ best represented their personality and skill set - red, yellow, green, or blue - in line with Thomas Erikson’s soft and hard skills classification.

The winning team in the Enterprise Challenge was Flexifit, comprising Tom Savill, Alex Swansea, Teddy Searchfield, Eddie Slinger, Lucy Pearce, and Harry Rowden. Other highlights included a memorable rap performance from one group and an impressive business plan and script from Team Capture.

We hope that all our Third Year pupils found the day eye-opening, inspiring, and enjoyable.

Feedback from students included: 

• "It was a very interesting event where we developed our public speaking"
• "I and my team really enjoyed making and displaying all of our hard work"
• "Very engaging, fun experience, this allowed me to be very creative (and the rest of my group)"
• "The best bit was being able to create our own business and product"