Scoil Mhuire NS, Broadford team win first prize in enterprise competition for primary-schools
A team of fifth class pupils from Scoil Mhuire NS, Broadford, Limerick have claimed first prize in BizFactor 2016, a national student enterprise competition, with their business idea ‘Mind and Body’, a board game that aims to give both the mind and body a work-out.
The competition was organised by BizWorld Ireland, the not-for-profit organisation that delivers free workshops, in primary-schools nationwide, where pupils learn enterprise skills by developing a business idea and taking it from company formation to marketing to final accounts.
The Scoil Mhuire NS, Broadford team, comprising of Daragh Lynch, Jack Cremin, Muireann O’Callaghan, Hannah Cremin, Yvonne Stack and Sinead Reidy had participated in a BizWorld Ireland workshop earlier in the year and were selected to participate in BizFactor 2016 because of the high-quality of their idea.
The team pitched their idea ‘Dragon’s Den’ style to a judging panel of high-profile figures from the worlds of enterprise and education including entrepreneur and investor on RTE’s ‘Dragons’ Den’, Gavin Duffy; BizWorld Ireland Ambassador and founder of Casey Games, Jordan Casey; Group Managing Director at Alternatives, Charley Stoney; Head of External Collaboration at ESB, John McKiernan; and MD at Irish TV, Mairéad Ní Mhaoilchiaráin.
Congratulating the children on their BizFactor success, Fiona McKeon, CEO, BizWorld Ireland, said: ‘Mind and Body’ is a shining example of a creative business idea and the BizFactor judges were clearly impressed with how the
Scoil Mhuire NS, Broadford team developed their business and presented their pitch. The pupils who participated in the competition demonstrate all the characteristics of future business leaders: they are naturally curious and are bursting with ideas, imagination and creativity. Clearly, primary school is an ideal time to get children thinking about entrepreneurship and to start equipping them with relevant skills so that, in the future, they might take the courageous decision to start their own business.”
Limerick was well-represented at the competition with teams from Our Lady Queen of Peace, Janesboro and Gaelscoil Sáirséal participating. Our Lady Queen of Peace presented ‘Mop Socks’, brightly coloured socks with mops attached to the sole which allow you to clean your floor simply by walking around while Gaelscoil Sáirséal pitched ‘Bye Bye to Bullying’, a workshop presentation about how to deal with bullying that is available for schools throughout the country to use in their classrooms. Both teams were awarded a merit by the judging panel.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh presented each team with their awards and certificates.
Niamh Bushnell, Dublin Commissioner for Start-Ups, delivered a keynote address at the event, commenting, “The future of business in Ireland is in the hands of young entrepreneurs like the great contestants we see here today at Bizworld. They are the role models of a future generation and their potential for themselves and for Ireland is immense. It’s also encouraging to see how engaged our current business leaders are in educating the future generations. Working together, we can speed Ireland’s growth in the global digital economy.”
BIZ Factor 2016 was sponsored by Limerick Local Enterprise Office, Bank of Ireland, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Local Enterprise Office, pharmaceutical company AptarGroup, estate agents Twomey and Associates and mediation consultants Equita. The event took place as part of Tech Week, Ireland’s nationwide festival of technology, which took place last week.