Objective:
- To give learners opportunities to engage with realistic enterprise challenges set in conjunction with industry
- To develop learners confidence, team work, enterprising and entrepreneurial skills, presentation skills, numeracy and literacy.
- To select teams of learners to represent Coleg Cambria at the Global Enterprise Challenge.
Overview:
At North East Wales based FE College, Coleg Cambria, students teams are selected to represent the college at the Global Enterprise Challenge by taking part in the college-wide ‘Team Enterprise Challenge.’
The Team Enterprise Challenge engages hundreds of learners across each of the college’s sites where, working in small groups, they develop ideas, business plans, financial forecasts and pitch presentations to meet a given brief, often set in conjunction with an industry / professional partner.
In previous years, the challenge has linked the college with a local science discovery centre, asking students about the products and services they would develop to improve maths education, and with a north Wales based music festival and conference, where students were challenged to utilise technology to produce innovative new marketing strategies.
It has had a significant impact, developing the confidence and enterprising skills of all who take part, and leading, in summer 2015, to Coleg Cambria beating competition from around the world to be crowned Global Enterprise Challenge Champions (See linked case studies).
For the academic year 2015-2016, the Team Enterprise Challenge theme is bilingualism, set in conjunction with Mentrau Iaith Cymru, an organisation committed to promoting the use of the Welsh language throughout Wales.
The Challenge is introduced to students as follows;
“Coleg Cambria is committed to championing bilingualism, Welsh culture and heritage in our area. For example, in October we opened up a Language at Work Centre at our Yale site in partnership with the County Councils of Wrexham and Flintshire and organizations such as Menter Iaith Fflint Maelor and the Urdd. The centre is called CAMU (“Step” in Welsh). It is hoped that CAMU will also act as a trigger for increasing and supporting Welsh language activities in the town of Wrexham and more widely across our region.
“Mentrau Iaith Cymru is a national organisation working across Wales who work to support and promote the use of the Welsh language. They develop national and regional projects, provide opportunities to network, share information and work in partnership across all the Welsh regions – all with a view to inspire and enthuse young people about the importance and benefits of the unique Welsh culture and language.
“Mentrau Iaith would like to work with talented students, like yourselves, to develop new and innovative ways of promoting and celebrating Welsh culture and language on site at Coleg Cambria on St David’s Day, March 1st, 2016. They are looking for activities and events that will inspire and enthuse young people to use their Welsh language and be proud of their culture: initiatives that could appear on an annual basis and which could be rolled out across the country.”
Activity:
Tutors and session leaders are advised that the challenge should take no longer than 6 hours to complete. It can be delivered in the classroom, or students can be directed to complete the task in their own time.
Teams completed entries (inclusive of written plans and budgets, AV presentations and filmed ‘pitches’) are uploaded to the college’s virtual learning environment where they are assessed by a panel of judges.
To complete the 2015-2016 challenge, each student team is provided with the following information;
The 2015 Team Enterprise Challenge is to: Celebrate our Welsh-ness!
Your mission is:
To produce an innovative and creative way to promote and celebrate Welsh culture and language on St David’s Day at your Coleg Cambria site.
Why?
Two languages = twice the skills!
Being bilingual can give you an edge in life. Recent research has highlighted 6 main advantages of learning, improving and using Welsh;
- To stand out from the crowd
- Increase your thinking and creativity
- Improve your employability
- Increase your earning potential
- Provide a good service
- Open up new opportunities
Plus…
Did you know Disneyland Paris celebrates St David’s Day with Welsh-themed fireworks, parades and Disney characters dressed in traditional Welsh costumes?
Or that the Los Angeles St David’s Day Festival is the largest of its kind in the USA complete with an Eisteddfod, Celtic fair and celebrations?
So … how would you like to celebrate it at Coleg Cambria?
How?
Think of a creative, innovative way to PROMOTE and CELEBRATE the Welsh language and culture on site. Make it fun! What would stimulate students and staff to see the relevance of their language, culture and heritage to their future?
Tip: Think about what would inspire you, and why?! Link it to what you love doing now or want to do in the future e.g. in arts and music, sport, retail, engineering, finance, agriculture, computing, tourism or anywhere else –ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Who?
Teams of 6 maximum: Create teams with varied skills: creativity, organisation, ICT, presentation, problem-solving, idea-generation, business-sense
What do teams have to produce?
When the Team Enterprise Challenge brief is launched on Monday 16th November, students will be asked to create the following items:
- 1 Ideas Sheet: Be as creative as you like, it can be typed or contain images and diagrams (suggested format: Word – 2 sides A4 max).
You must identify your target market, what competition exists already and demonstrate the unique selling point of your idea (N.B. Though the target market is limited to Coleg Cambria sites, within this group you may choose to focus on males, females, non-Welsh speakers, people who lack confidence with language, or any other demographic).
- 1 Money Matters Sheet: This sheet must include the estimated costs and profit, showing justification for the figures drawn from research. This can be shown in many ways as judges are aware that students will have different levels of financial skills (suggested format(s): Word and/or Excel – max 2 pages A4).
- Think how much your activities are going to cost?
- How would you raise money to cover this?
- Could you charge for participation?
- Could you make a profit? If so, what would you do with it?
- A 5-minute sales pitch, video-recorded on your phone: This can be accompanied by a maximum of 4 PowerPoint slides to demonstrate a creative innovative and enterprising idea.
Skill Development:
- Through taking part in the challenge, teams develop their confidence, team work, enterprising and entrepreneurial skills, presentation skills, numeracy and literacy.
- They are able to engage with a relevant, real-world challenge, in this instance, promoting Welsh-language and culture.
- They are able to gain experience of working on a realistic scenario, set in conjunction with industry, working under pressure and to tight deadlines.
The winning teams selected from across the colleges various NE Wales sites will see their ideas brought to life for St. David’s Day, represent Coleg Cambria at the Global Enterprise Challenge in 2016, and be awarded with a trip to Welsh Outdoor Activity Centre Glan llyn.
Resources:
References:
- Entrepreneurship - Coleg Cambria. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cambria.ac.uk/about/entrepreneurship/. [Accessed 15 December 2015].