On Monday 3 July we ran the four-day intensive Classroom to Boardroom programme in conjunction with Entrepreneurs in Action. Fifty of our Year 11 students took part in the programme, which is an exciting work experience opportunity that aims enhance their understanding of business and enterprise through a real-life business challenge.
On day one, pupils were split into two teams. One team worked with the British Red Cross and were asked to develop an idea to improve their current School Emergency Beacon, making it more appealing to young people. The second team worked on a recruitment campaign with London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), a social enterprise, with the aim of repositioning their brand and increasing staff retention.
Once students were given their tasks they split themselves into focus groups: IT, Finance, Marketing, Market Research and Ideas/Innovation and worked on their ideas over three days.
On the final day, they visited the organisation’s boardroom in London. The students presented their ideas to a group of senior executives, who thought their ideas were ‘phenomenal’, and commented that they were ‘blown away by the level of detail and maturity they showed when pitching to the board’.
Sevenoaks School has run this programme on five previous occasions and it has been tremendously successful, with students finding it challenging but exceptionally rewarding. We are looking forward to next year’s programme.
View the photo gallery here
