Sponsors
Week 1
Team name: Beautiful Bags Squad
Tell us what you have been doing this week
This week the children watched a video from our business partners McLaughlin and Harvey. Morgan introduced herself and explained to the children what McLaughlin and Harvey do as a business. She also spoke to the children about the aims of the Birght Stars Project. After the video Year 2 had a discussion about what a social enterprise is and we also looked at some video clips of past school projects. We had a general chat about what charities or local community groups we could raise money for and the children suggested some possible business ideas.
What did you learn this week?
Year 2 have learnt what a business is and how a social enterprise is a business that helps others in the local community.
What did you find difficult this week?
We were unable to meet up with our business partners in person but the children enjoyed the introductory video and are really looking forward to meeting them next week.
Week 2
Tell us what you have been doing this week
This week we met Morgan, Dawn and Tom from McLaughlin and Harvey. They spoke to us about what their company does and what a social enterprise is. We discussed lots of ideas for our products and we also discussed what social cause we might support during our Bright Stars project. We had lots of fun thinking of ideas and trying to decide what product would be best for our social enterprise.
What did you learn this week?
We found out more about how a social enterprise works to make money to support the community. We found out that for a business to sell a product it needs to consider lots of different things including the cost of materials and how the product can be made.
What did you find difficult this week?
This week we found it difficult to agree on what product we should sell. We had lots of ideas so we had to work together to decide which one would be the best one for us to try to sell.
Week 3
Tell us what you have been doing this week
This week Tom and Paul from McLaughlin and Harvey came in to speak to us about some of the job roles that are needed to help a social enterprise run smoothly. We discussed how all job roles are important and that working as a team is vital. We filled in application forms for the job role we would like. We also sold some ice pops after school to help raise funds for the materials needed for out project.
What did you learn this week?
This week we found out about some of the job roles and the different skills needed for each role. We found out about managing directors, production teams, design teams, marketing teams and finance teams. We never knew all these job roles were needed when running a business.
What did you find difficult this week?
This week we found it difficult to choose which job role to apply for and we also found it tricky to estimate how many ice pops we might sell.
Tom and Paul spoke about teamwork and job roles.
We found out about the different jobs needed for a social enterprise to be successful.
Our logo designed by Elis from Class 1
Our session on finance by our business mentors McLaughlin and Harvey
Week 4
Tell us what you have been doing this week
We have had a busy week this week. Firstly we decided on our business name which is Beautiful Bags Squad and we also chose our logo. All of Year 2 designed a logo for the business and after voting for Elis's design we used AI to make the design more professional looking. We are really pleased with the end result. We have also started to decorate our first batch of bags. We enjoyed our visit from McLaughlin and Harvey who spoke to us about finances. It was interesting to hear all about how a social enterprise can make a profit to help charities or local community groups.
What did you learn this week?
We learnt what a profit is and found out how to reach a decision on what to charge for our product. We had to think about all the costs involved (bags, paint etc) and then work out how much to charge so that we could make a profit. We learnt that it is important not to try to charge too much!!
What did you find difficult this week?
This week we found it difficult to decide on a price to charge for our product. Even the adults found this tricky!!!
Week 5
Tell us what you have been doing this week
We have done lots for our Bright Stars Project this week. We have continued to decorate lots of bags so that they can be sold after half term. We posted on our Facebook page and have started to receive orders for our beautiful bags. Morgan has even taken some to sell at an event in Edingburgh!! We had two interesting sessions with McLaughlin and Harvey where we found out about marketing and market research. We also sold another batch of ice pops to help cover the costs of our bags until we start to sell them and make lots of money for our charity.
What did you learn this week?
Laurie from McLaughlin and Harvey told us all about marketing and how it helps a business to sell lots of their products. We found out all about the 5Ps and learnt what makes a good poster. Morgan also spoke to us about market research and why it is important.
What did you find difficult this week?
This week it was tricky to work out the best way to advertise our beautiful bags to our parents. We decided on a Facebook message and some photographs showing our bags.
Our marketing session from McLaughlin and Harvey
Decorating out beautiful bags
Week 6 - Half Term
Tell us what you have been doing this week
What did you learn this week?
What did you find difficult this week?
Week 7
Tell us what you have been doing this week
This week we were visited by Katie from McLaughlin and Harvey. She told us all about trading and sales. We enjoyed making our own sales pitches and we even posted one of our sales pitches on our school Facebook page. We have made more of our beautiful bags and we have been receiving lots of orders. It has been another busy week.
What did you learn this week?
This week we found out how to make a successful sales pitch. We talked about what key information needs to be included. We also found out how important it is to work as a team to successfully sell our beautiful bags.
What did you find difficult this week?
This week we found it difficult to remember the main information needed for a successful sales pitch. It was also tricky to film ourselves making the sales pitches.
Finding out all about Trading and Sales
Discussing our sales pitches
Our final Bright Stars Session with Dawn, Morgan and Tom
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Week 8
Tell us what you have been doing this week
This week Dawn, Morgan and Tom came for our final Bright Stars session. We had a lovely time reviewing everything that we have done over the past 8 weeks. We spent some time discussing the new skills we now have. We also tried to work out how much money we have made for our school and for Furness Homeless Shelter. This week Claire from Furness Homeless Shelter also visited us to tell us all about what support they give to people in our local area and she also told us how the money we have raised will be used.
What did you learn this week?
This week we found out how to work out the profit our Beautiful Bags Squad had made. We also discovered what work Furness Homeless Shelter do to help people in our local community. We also found out how our donation will be spent to help others.
What did you find difficult this week?
This week we found it tricky to work out our profit. There were a lot of large numbers to work with. Even the adults found this tricky!
Week 9
Tell us what you have been doing this week
We filmed a video about our Bright Stars project! We explained what we learnt, what we enjoyed most, and how our donation will help Furness Homeless Shelter. Running our bag business made us feel so grown up, and we are proud to help our community!
What did you learn this week?
By filming our video, we learnt how to speak clearly, present confidently, and share our ideas with an audience. We also learnt how to explain our business journey, from making bags to helping the Furness Homeless Shelter, showing everyone how much we grew as a team
What did you find difficult this week?
Filming was tricky! We had to remember our words, speak loudly, and not laugh on camera.
For pupils to answer:
In one sentence please tell us what bright stars has meant to you?
Bright Stars made me feel so grown up running a business making bags, and I am so proud that we helped people in our community!
For teachers to answer:
Can you tell us the impact this programme has had on your school?
Our children dramatically increased their teamwork, creativity, and confidence. Partnering with the McLaughlin & Harvey team brought business to life. Most importantly, it proved to them that they can make a real, positive impact on their local community!
Please provide your business plan.
Please provide your marketing plan.
Please provide your finance report/template.
Charity name/money donated to.
Furness Homeless Shelter
Final profit (minus the £50 seed funding).
£802.50
Prize categories and reasons
Best team work, collaboration and leadership
The Beautiful Bags Squad deserves to win because ALL 52 Year 2s collaborated perfectly! We communicated, solved big problems together, supported each other when it was hard, and never gave up. We proved that teamwork makes the dream work. No matter how small you are you should always Dream Big!
Most profitable social enterprise
We turned our £50 into a massive £802.50! We didn't just spend our seed money; we cleverly reinvested ice lolly profits to buy more materials and cover all our costs. This helped boost our total profit and proved we are ultimate mini-entrepreneurs!
Best logo and marketing campaign
We deserve to win for our incredible marketing! We held fun poster and logo competitions, and even used ChatGPT to make our design look professional. We did sales pitches, wrote Facebook posts, had a photo shoot and made a brilliant video to advertise our products. We are marketing superstars!
