West Hill School, Tameside
Runner up, 2010
School award for most innovative approach to PFE
West Hill School in Tameside ran an innovative music industry-themed enterprise day March 2009, involving 120 pupils from nine secondary schools. Pupils worked in teams of ten to complete a series of challenges, including designing and costing a publicity strategy for a concert using real market values, selecting a loan deal and calculating APRs using real data. They also researched the careers of their special guests, hip hop band ‘The Furious Five’, and wrote a series of interview questions for them. The successful completion of each task was rewarded with ‘ticket sales’ for a fictitious concert. The winning team was the one who sold the most ‘tickets’. The special guests arrived in the afternoon and spoke to the pupils about the hardships and challenges involved in making it in the music industry and the different paths their lives had taken.
The event was a success with pupils and the theme proved a great motivator for young people. The pupils learned about APR, loan deals and budgeting in an innovative and positive way. West Hill School plan to share their music enterprise day template with other schools in the future.
The approach impressed the judges by showing a commitment to engaging students with an approach to PFE that was relevant to their own lives.
