"Think Big" Inter School Final, Vodafone Pavilion

I am always pleased to be invited to schools and the schools “Think Big” competition final between four local schools was not to be missed. The Think Big project is to introduce year 10 students to the business environment of financial, business planning, sales, creativity and marketing. Working as teams with the guidance of school staff and members of the business community, they developed a new product for the year 2020. This they then have to present, including the prototype of the product, a financial statement on the product and anticipate sales together with a business strategy.

The four school teams were the Downs, Willink, Trinity and Theale Green. They had set up their respective projects on exhibition boards and each team were visited by the judges, Adrian Martin of NWN, Ali Conway of Vodafone, Ian Vickerage of Imago and David Danielli of Vodafone. The teams were then invited to give a stage production of their products. I did not envy the judges their task in deciding the winners, as they all produced high standards of work and their presentations were both dramatic and effective. The judges concluded that the Downs School was the best, the product being pixel chameleon paint, which changes colour on a product whenever needed.
The competition was very rewarding for the students, teachers and business community, the latter in particular, as they would benefit in the future from young people who are confident, articulate and who want to be successful. I congratulate all concerned for their excellent work.