Exciting 'Dragons' Den' finale for The Big Deal
A Dragons' Den-style event at the University of York provided an exciting finale to The Big Deal enterprise competition for students from across Yorkshire.
A team of four Year 9 pupils from Oakbank School in Keighley scooped the top prize of a trip to New York after impressing the 'dragons' with their idea for 'Bully Bear', a teddy bear which helps bullied pupils talk about their problems.
The Big Deal has had another fantastic year. All the teams worked extremely hard over the ten weeks and we had a very exciting final
Programme co-ordinator Amy Clow
The competition has involved more than 100 students, aged 13 to 15, from nine schools across the region working for ten weeks with University staff and 29 business professional mentors from multinational companies including Google, HSBC and PKF.
After completing an online curriculum using the www.bigdealblogs.com website, the students, in teams of three or four, faced their biggest challenge – presenting their business plans to a Dragons' Den-style judging panel in the final.
Held at the Ron Cooke Hub, the centrepiece of the first phase of the University’s campus expansion at Heslington East, the students faced nine ‘dragons’ including Kersten England, Chief Executive of City of York Council, David Smith, Senior Account Director at Google, Tessa Stone, Chief Executive of educational charity BrightsideUNIAID and Andy Gibson, Regional Manager of Yorkshire Bank.
There were three dens throughout the day, with a winning team from each heat progressing to the final session. The winning team from Oakbank School – Charlotte Wood, Charlotte Bowen, Louisa Baxendale and Lucy Walsh - were mentored by Jodie McCormac from RPM London. The other finalists were from Burnholme Community College, York mentored by Nick Hughes from HSBC and Cockburn High School, Leeds mentored by Martin de Fleurian from Google.
The
team from Burnholme won through to the final with Talk to the World, a pen-pal website for language learners
in schools across the globe, while the Cockburn team impressed
judges with Brilliant Baby Bottle, baby bottles which change colour if the milk
is too hot.
The Big Deal aims to excite and inspire students from disadvantaged backgrounds about enterprise and careers in business. It is run by the Excellence Hub for Yorkshire and Humber, West Yorkshire Aimhigher (Leeds) and London-based charity Brightside UNIAID, in partnership with the University of York.
Programme co-ordinator Amy Clow said: “The Big Deal has had another fantastic year. All the teams worked extremely hard over the ten weeks and we had a very exciting final. I am always surprised by how enterprising the students are.
“The Big Deal could not run without the support of the business mentors, who give up their time voluntarily to mentor their team. They do a wonderful job and the students really value their input.”
The Big Deal, which is in its fourth year, was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Widening Participation Initiative of the Year 2010.
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