Fair and wide: Social Enterprise and Community Engagement
Aim:
Building on their creative curriculum work last year, Widewell, an Enquiry School in Plymouth, wanted to focus on young people leadership and community engagement, while building up numeracy around mental maths in key stage one pupils.
Process:
After working with a Creative Agent to form a pupil innovation group, the young people were challenged by the school's headteacher to come up with an ethical business venture that made a positive impact on their school and community.
The pupil innovation group researched what would be valuable in the local community and, on finding that there wasn't a market within walking distance of Widewell, decided on Fair and Wide, a market where local producers could sell their ethical, Fairtrade and local produce.
Since coming up with the idea, the pupil innovation group has engaged the whole school in the project; a team of pupils have been working with a professional designer to come up with a brand and promotional material for the market, while others have been going on research trips to other successful markets in the area, visiting local suppliers who might be interested in having a stall and setting up a pricing structure and fee system for vendors to have pitches at the market.
Widewell pupils have also decided to make and sell their own products so have been developing ideas for, and learning how to make, their own range of sausages, bread, ice-cream and crisps.
Impact:
Young people involved in the project are responding well to the challenges and problems they have faced, developing their leadership and teamwork skills. In particular they have developed their ability to research and make collective decisions that will move the business venture forward:
"We have too many ideas so we have to compromise." Yr 5 pupil.
"The best ideas and solutions we have come up with are the questionnaire for the community, the ideas for branding and the business ideas brainstorm" Yr 5 pupil.
Already, the preparations for the market have been featured in the local press, on BBC and ITV regional news programmes, and local radio stations.
The pupil innovation group has also been invited to present at the 4th national conference of trust and foundation schools in London on innovative approaches and social enterprise in the curriculum.
