clareceb

Student Enterprise Awards 2009/2010

The County Final of the Student Enterprise Awards supported by Clare County Enterprise Board was held in the West County Hotel, Ennis on the 10th of March last with the winners in each category going forward to the National final in Croke Park, Dublin on the 27^th April, 2010. Times may be tough at the moment but clearly the spirit of enterprise is alive and well as sixteen of the nineteen Clare second level schools and two Youthreach groups produced 55 businesses for the event! According to Lucy Reidy of Clare County Enterprise Board, standards at the competition continue to rise from year to year and this year has seen a huge increase in the level of participation from the schools in Clare with sixteen of the nineteen second level schools participating and for the first time ever two Youthreach teams also participated. The two mentor visits provided by the County Enterprise Board for each team to work with a business consultant to help with their mini-company has also proven very beneficial to students getting their business plans completed.

Lucy said how delighted she was to see so many innovative and good business ideas being showcased. Clare County Enterprise Board aims to foster and develop enterprise awareness among secondary school students and to use the experience of setting up and running an enterprise as the primary means of learning about self-employment as a career option - she said that speaking to some of the young entrepreneurs she was very impressed with the confidence, enthusiasm and business acumen displayed by the students. She continued that participation in the Student Enterprise Awards Programme is a great learning opportunity for students as they gain invaluable, on the ground experience outside of the conventional classroom environment.

Teacher Dearbhla Hassett has been working on the Student Enterprise Programme with transition year students at the Scariff Community College for many years and sees other benefits for the students as they learn vital life skills such as self belief, decision making and teamwork. “No other subject will provide them with this kind of practical opportunity,” says Dearbhla who goes on to explain the level of work and commitment required by the students in order to fully realise a working company. “We start work in September and the initial set up takes about six weeks. We look at areas such as entrepreneurship, report writing and finance. Roles in each company have to be agreed on and the teams have to work together, taking on responsibilities and meeting deadlines. Often students will work outside of school hours in order to get everything done. It’s a lot of responsibility for young students”.

Clare Co. Enterprise Board also sponsored prizes for The Small Business Game which is an online educational game where players run their own football retail store. They learn what it is like to manage a small business; what works in business and what doesn’t work while experimenting with different strategies and tactics to see the impact of their decisions. Clare schools dominated the national leader board taking no less than six of the top twenty places for earning the most points. Scariff Community College received the prize of a set of GAA jerseys with Juan Condon being the individual overall winner in Clare. Juan was presented with his prize of a Nintendo WII.

The Board would like to acknowledge the very generous sponsorship of prizes for the competition – Ulster Bank, Lahinch Surf School, The Craft Box, Atlantic Airventure Park, Irish School of Driving Excellence, Sportsworld Netting Ltd., T.M. Offices Supplies, Kilgallen Institute of Beauty & Body Therapy, D2 Print Ltd., Burren Smokehouse and Burren Outdoor Education Centre.

The awards were adjudicated on by Harriet Cotter of Enterprise Ireland, Seamus O’Sullivan, Business Consultant and John Quinlivan, Shannon Development

Winners on the day included:

Junior Category Winner –

1^st Heaven on Earth, St. Anne’s Community College Killaloe

2^nd    An Phobal, St. Anne’s Killaoe

3rd You Name it, I design It, St. John Bosco, Kildysert

Intermediate Category Winner –

1^st Slate Styles, St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe

2^nd       Intervest, St. John Bosco, Kildysert

3^rd        Zesti, St. Anne’s, Killaloe

Senior Category Winner

1^st Watstat, St. Caimin’s Community School, Shannon

2^nd     Flan & Co., St. Flannan’s College, Ennis

3^rd Hearts for Haiti, Scariff Community College

Most Innovative Business Award

SchoolsConnectIreland.Web.Com, Ennis CBS

Best Individual Business Award

Ciara’s Time Capsules, St. Joseph’s Tulla

Best Display Stand

St. Bridgets Cross, Ennistymon Vocational School

The 1^st prize winners of the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Categories went on to represent Clare in the National Final of the Student Enterprise Awards which took place in Croke Park Dublin on 27^th April, 2010

For more information on the awards or on other services being offered by Clare County Enterprise Board contact Lucy Reidy, Clare County Enterprise Board, Enterprise House, Mill Road, Ennis on tel. 065-6841922 or email: lreidy@clareceb.ie

Click here to register for Student Enterprise

BusinessGame.ie

The City & County Enterprise Boards, Microsoft and Ulster Bank have launched a new business simulation game for secondary school students in Ireland called www.businessgame.ie

In businessgame.ie, the students own and run their own GAA sports shop over 52 'virtual' weeks, making key business decisions every week, such as stock ordering, recruiting, financing, marketing and staff training. This online business enterprise game is based on a successful scheme from New Zealand and Scotland, created for use in schools by The Small Business Company (TSBC) a developer of educational games and the Scottish Qualification Authority. Over 24,000 pupils have already played the game in Scotland and an incredible 90,000 games have been played.

For more information or to register to play the game Click Here

              Investing in your Future

Clare County Enterprise Board, Enterprise House, Mill Road, Ennis, Co. Clare

T: (065) 6841922 F: (065) 6841887 Clareceb@Clareceb.ie
Company Registration Number 223815. Registered Office As Above.

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