business education

department news

 

The following items have been extracted from the parents newsletters written
by Mr Thewliss four times a year.

 

December 2007

Business Dynamics Conference

 

Around 30 S5/S6 Business Education pupils took part in the Business Dynamics conference, which was held at the Educational Development Service, Lawton Road.  Guest speakers were invited along from industry and gave presentations on Management, Design and Development, Production and Human Resources.  Pupils participated in workshops and business games. Each group gave a presentation on the final afternoon.  The feedback from pupils was extremely positive and all pupils were presented with certificates of achievement.

 

S3 Enterprise Activity

 

Our S3 Business Management pupils participated in a departmental enterprise activity which involved designing and producing a board game.  Some of the successful games included “I’m a pupil get me out of here”, “Survive” and “The Wobbly Castle”.  We never fail to be surprised by the creativity of our pupils.  Well done to all our budding designers.

 

Sports4life Game

 

Congratulations to Hollie Gibson who was one of the prize winners in this interactive game.  Sports4life is an educational game where you run your own football franchise store.  The game is linked to the Scottish school curriculum and designed to teach enterprise skills.  Well done Hollie!

 

 

December 2006

Business Dynamics

Around 27 S5/6 Business Education pupils took part in the Business Dynamics conference, which was held at the Educational Development Service, Gardyne Road.  Guest speakers were invited along from industry and gave presentations on Finance, Design and Development, Marketing and Human Resources.  Pupils participated in workshops and business games.  Each group gave a presentation on the final afternoon.  The feedback from pupils was extremely positive and all pupils were presented with certificates of achievement.

S3 Enterprise Activity

Our S3 Business Management pupils participated in a departmental enterprise activity which involved designing and producing a board game.  Some of the games included “Barbie”, “Who killed Mr Thewliss?”, “Harris Grounds” and the “Ultimate Football Quiz”.  I am never failed to be surprised by the creativity our pupils.  Well done to all our budding designers.

Guest Speaker

This term, we welcomed Mrs Alison Cartwright, Head of Human Resources at the Scottish Crop Research Institute as a guest speaker for the Advanced Higher Business Management class.  Alison gave our pupils an insight into the importance of management and how to motivate staff.  Needless to say, our pupils were well motivated by Alison’s presentation and have gained a little more experience of how management theory taught in the classroom related to real organisations.  

 

December 2005

Stock Exchange Challenge

Gemma Johnston, Gerald Munzara, Kirsty Meach, Kelvin Lamb and Jon Martin, all S3 pupils attended this year’s Stock Exchange Challenge at the Marryat Hall.  Each team member was given a role to play such as finance director, portfolio manager and news analyst.  The pupils were ‘given’ £35,000 to spend on shares and had to decide whether to buy, buy, buy or sell, sell, sell depending on the news which was flashed up on a giant screen.  Although our budding investors did not win this time, who knows, next year they could all be millionaires!

Business Dynamics

Our annual Business Dynamics event took place in November.  Thirty S5/6 pupils participated in two fun-filled days of business games and activities delivered by business representatives from Thorntons WS, Royal Navy Marines, MTC Media and Norwich Union.  Each representative focused on a different aspect of business and encouraged the pupils to develop communication and leadership skills.  The feedback from the representatives on pupils’ performance over the two days was most impressive.  A big thank you must go to Michelin plc who sponsored this event.

 

June 2005

Young Enterprise

Our Young Enterprise Company, Scope Innovations, carried out their final duties as company directors by attending the awards ceremony at the EICC in Edinburgh on 16 and 17 June. Guests attending this high profile event included Jim Wallace, Minister for Enterprise and Life-Long Learning as well as Chris Van Der Kuyl, one of Scotland’s leading entrepreneurs and chairperson of Young Enterprise. Although on this occasion, the pupils did not bring home the trophy they displayed a high degree of professionalism, enthusiasm and commitment. Special mention must go to our presentation team comprising Simon Fraser, Sarah Duncan, Duncan Mackenzie, Jenny Speedie, and Katie Scott; but I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to all the pupils who worked so hard
to make “Scope Innovations” a successful company. With an initial investment of £190 they reaped a 400% return as well as making charitable donations to the British Heart Foundation, Maggie’s Centre and the British Red Cross. Well done to all Young Enterprise Achievers.

 

March 2005

Young Enterprise

Congratulations to all members of “Scope Innovations”, our Young Enterprise Company.  On 17 March, at the Yong Enterprise Awards ceremony at Craigie High School, the group picked up the coveted Harry Wilkins shield and a cheque for £100 for the best Company Report and in doing so, won the right to represent Tayside at the Scottish final in June.  The trophy represents a tremendous amount of work on behalf of the pupils, and their commitment and enthusiasm has been outstanding.  It is truly amazing what our pupils can achieve when they are determined to succeed.  In the words of our presentation team,  Simon Fraser and Sarah Duncan, “Running a company has been about what you put in and what you get out and the money, well that has been the bonus”.

 

December 2004

Business Dynamics Conference

 

Around 30 S5/S6 Business Education pupils took part in the Business Dynamics conference, which was held at the Educational Development Service, Gardyne Road. Guest speakers were invited along from industry and gave presentations on Finance, Operations, Marketing and Human Resources. Pupils participated in workshops and business games. The feedback from pupils was extremely positive and all pupils were presented with certificates of achievement by representatives from MichelinTyre plc, sponsors of the event.

 

Stock Exchange Challenge

On 1 December S3 pupils Kathryn Warden, Steven Smart, Malcolm McKenzie, Stuart Mitchell and Annie Hogg participated in a Stock Exchange Challenge competing against 24 schools from Dundee and other parts of Scotland. The challenge consisted of investing £35,000 in stocks and shares and involved the pupils listening to news and radio reports and other financial analysts in order to decide whether to buy or sell. Throughout the trading period, the pupils were given information on company performance on a large screen, so they could keep track of their competitors. Although the pupils are not yet millionaires, they enjoyed their insight into the operation of the Stock Exchange.

 

Young Enterprise

As part of the Young Enterprise business programme, twenty of our S6 pupils started up a business trading under the name of "Scope Innovations". With guidance from their business adviser, Dave McRitchie, the pupils have been involved in many activities culminating in the production of quality, hand‑made Christmas cards. Other activities have included:

Young enterprise Entrepreneurship Master Class

Around 20 pupils attended this event where they were able to meet pupils from other schools throughout Tayside. Mr David Rollo, Chairman of the Young Enterprise Tayside Area Board, welcomed pupils to the event and they also heard from Allan Myles from the Indigo Group. The pupils participated in a business activity where they formed their own companies manufacturing and selling paper aeroplanes. Negotiations with the bankers and Quality Assurance teams led to some enterprising pupils making a tidy profit! Guest speakers at this event were Jamie Russell and Derek Walker from "The Tree of Knowledge" who told the achievers how they set up their business and how they motivate their staff.

Young Enterprise Scotland Conference, Edinburgh

Simon Fraser, Johnny Li, Sarah Duncan and Jenny Speedie attended the Young Enterprise Annual Conference, which was the biggest event in Scotland with a turnout of about 1200 young people. The conference started with an introduction from Jackie Bird, BBC Newsreader and Presenter followed by Stuart Miller, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise. Guest speakers on the day included Heather Wright, motivational speaker, Michael A Jackson, entrepreneur and Chris van der Kuyl, Chairperson of Young Enterprise. Depute First Minister for Scotland, Jim Wallace gave a presentation supporting "Enterprise in Education".

An awards dinner was held prior to the conference. Jenny Speedie and Sarah Duncan were chosen to represent the Tayside area at this high profile event. A good time was had by all.