Junior Entrepreneur Programme
SKILLS
Through the JEP curriculum, games and learning aids, pupils get a clear picture of what creating a business is all about. Every step mirrors strands in the primary school curriculum. Pupils are learning new life skills as well as their core subjects.
THINKING LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR
The learning that takes place during JEP will give children a greater understanding of many things that happen in the real world. They will get to understand how the value of goods and services is created and how skill, talent and creativity can create more than the sum of their parts in an entrepreneurial enterprise. Whether they ever become an entrepreneur or not is irrelevant. They will have a better understanding of what happens in their lives and will have their first opportunity to think in an entrepreneurial fashion.
WORKING WITH A LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR
The programme works closely with the local community – involving local entrepreneurs who share their story and that of their business with the pupils. Every pupil gets a chance to uncover their own strengths and play a key role in one of five distinct teams – Finance, Marketing, Design & Production, Sales and Storytelling.
St. Aidan’s National School & The Junior Entrepreneur Programme
Pupils in the senior room participated in the Junior Entrepreneur Programme last year.
They deserve much credit. Each project was totally different and each one of them has the potential to be a real money earner! Sincere thanks and congratulations to Iona, Saoirse, Maegan, Kevin and Finn who created and developed good, solid business ideas and presented their projects along with their teams in the Dragons’ Den Forum early last year. Each project was a worthy winner! Saoirse McCann’s Store It Chair Bags was the business idea chosen by the Dragons to represent the school in Dublin at the RDS in June!
As a result of this the whole class divided into the following teams to help develop and sell the product:
Finance Team
Sales Team
Design Team
Production Team
Marketing Team
Story Telling Team
All team members became very busy as a result. All of this culminated in a Show Case on 17th April. Parents and the wider school community were invited into the school during which a presentation of the Chair Bags was made and everybody was invited to visit the different teams and if possible place orders to purchase the Chair Bags! It proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience and very productive! The finale came in June when the children traveled to the RDS in June.
