Students Head into the Dragons' Den

23rd July 2008 3:17pm - Return to press releases

Hundreds of students from South Holderness Technology College will converge on East Riding College on July 8  for a full-day ?SpeakeasyDragons? challenge.

The event will see 300 year 10 students split into teams of eight to devise a product or service and tackle a number of tasks related to its development.

Their final challenge is to pitch it to the ?dragons? who will then choose which team deserves the £50 cash prize.

Mark Lucas, senior teacher at South Holderness Technology College, said: ?This is the ultimate challenge of our students? business abilities but it?s a lot of fun too and it ties in with a variety of their subjects. 
?All the teams go through the kinds of processes companies go through in developing a product or service, and there?s a cash reward for the winner.?

The event is being run by education company Speakeasy4schools.com.
William Akerman, entrepreneur and managing director of Speakeasy4schools.com, said: ?Our team will encourage students to take risks, suspend their fear of failure, and encourage self-belief, skills that make a real difference in students? education and later in the world of work.?

Mick Mather, school and community liaison manager at East Riding College, said: ?This challenge will be a fun and interesting day for the pupils but it will also be a chance for them to see first hand what a college campus is like.
?Many of these students will go on to vocational courses at college after their GCSEs so it?s useful for them to get a taster at this stage in their school lives.?

The ?Speakeasy Dragons? challenge sees teams look for a gap in the market and invent or innovate a new product, business or service. 
They must decide which are its unique selling points and come up with a marketing campaign which includes a logo and tag-line, a poster, website, television and radio advert, and other sales boosting ideas.

Financial projections test students? maths skills before a final module on communication and presentation skills. Finally it?s time for teams to pitch their ideas to the ?Dragons?.