Junior Entrepreneur Programme
The Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP) is a 12-16 week entrepreneurial education programme for primary school children. Developed in Ireland, this innovative programme opens the minds of pupils to the joy of entrepreneurship while developing a number of skills including literacy, writing, presentation, drawing, technology, research skills, numeracy, financial, consumer awareness, storytelling, listening skills, creative thinking, problem solving, team building and collaboration skills.
During the programme the children taking part propose a number of ideas, with one of these being chosen as a class business.
The programme also has a significant impact on building confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem, and an appreciation of individual skills and talents of each child.
Check out the Junior Entrepreneur Programme for more information. www.juniorentrepreneur.ie/howitworks/
Junior Entrepreneur Programme 2022
Showcase Day!
5th class had a great time at our Showcase Day for our School Crested Bobble Hots product launch. We set up in our classroom with our JEP banner we made and placed our hats on tables for each class. The classes came at different times to collect their bobble hats.
We are looking forward to calculating our profit and organising our school fun fun!
We are looking forward to calculating our profit and organising our school fun fun!
Team Work makes the Dream Work!!
5th class have been learning about the different teams that are needed in business for them to run effectively. In our class we are focusing on five different teams - Marketing, Sales, Finance, Communication and Design and Production. The class have split themselves into the team that they feel they will work most effectively in given the talents that each of them have.
5th Class carry out some Market Research!
Rang a Cúig carried out some market research for our Big Idea - School Crested Bobble Hats. We conducted a number of surveys with a random selection of children and adults in our school. We then used an excel sheet to gather all of our findings. We made bar charts and pie charts to depict our findings. We presented these findings to the class
We are looking forward to the next chapter, setting up our teams!
We are looking forward to the next chapter, setting up our teams!
Business Visitor Gary Valentine visit 5th class
Gary Valentine came to visit Rang a Cúig. Mr. Valentine owns an estate agency business called ‘Blue Sky Property’ in Dundalk, Co. Louth. During his visit to their class the children learned lots of interesting things about him and his businesses. He gave them lots of tips and advice to help them with selling their own product, including the importance of ‘giving their customer a hug’ ... well not aatually!! But what he meant was that it is important of make your customer feel special!
Gary explained to 5th class about the importance of having a product that was designed to be fit for purpose. He gave the children some tips on marketing their product also.
Rang a Cúig had a great afternoon and got lots of helpful tips from Gary. He was really generous and gave the class a 250euro investment towards their Bobble hats, along with sweets and keyrings! They even got to test out an auctioneer’s gavel!
Rang a Cúig can’t wait to move on to the next step of their JEP and carry out some market research for their own product!
Virtual Business Visitor
5th class enjoyed listening to Michael Carey, owner of several companies including the East Coast Bakehouse, Ireland’s leading biscuit company which is based in Drogheda, Co. Louth. The class learned lots about entrepreneurship, investment, marketing and creating new products!
Meet the Dragons
Rang a Cúig had a great time in school when we held our ‘Meet the Dragons’ morning. Our dragons were Caroline Mulligan and Cillian Mulligan, both of whom are local entrepreneurs. The dragons were really helpful and friendly!
The children presented four products to them, Plushies, Movie Box, Cookie Bags and School Crested Bobble Hats. They found it very difficult to decide as they thought each product was so good, but they chose the School Crested Bobble Hats.
The Dragons gave the class lots of feedback on their products and useful tips on moving forward with their School Hat idea. The Dragons were so kind and gave all of the children a bag of crisps each for their superb efforts!
5th Class had so much fun meeting the dragons. They are looking forward to moving forward to the next phase of their Junior Entrepreneur Programme!
The children presented four products to them, Plushies, Movie Box, Cookie Bags and School Crested Bobble Hats. They found it very difficult to decide as they thought each product was so good, but they chose the School Crested Bobble Hats.
The Dragons gave the class lots of feedback on their products and useful tips on moving forward with their School Hat idea. The Dragons were so kind and gave all of the children a bag of crisps each for their superb efforts!
5th Class had so much fun meeting the dragons. They are looking forward to moving forward to the next phase of their Junior Entrepreneur Programme!
Exploring New Ideas
The children have started to brainstorm ideas for potential class entrepreneurship projects. They worked together to negotiate and agree a number of team projects which will be presented to the Dragons for consideration, these include Chocolate Bombs, Plushies, Crested Bobble Hats, Cookie Trays and Doorstop Gnomes. They also completed a group exercise exploring their own 'Strengths and Qualities', this was called 'Our Helping Hands'. We discussed all of the positive qualities that they felt they had and their classmates felt they had and they each selected the top quality or strength which they felt would help them in their JEP journey.
Our Helping Hands
What is Entrepreneurship?
The children in 5th class have just started their JEP journey. They have begun by discussing what it means to be an entrepreneur. We discussed people in our own communities who are entrepreneurs, people in our own families and also famous people. They completed a task in their JEP booklet and came up with both local and international entrepreneurs and words that come to mind when we think of what it means to be an entrepreneur.
The children in 5th class have just started their JEP journey. They have begun by discussing what it means to be an entrepreneur. We discussed people in our own communities who are entrepreneurs, people in our own families and also famous people. They completed a task in their JEP booklet and came up with both local and international entrepreneurs and words that come to mind when we think of what it means to be an entrepreneur.
2021 - Junior Entrepreneur Programme
Bangle Jangles Showcase Day!
5th class had a great time at our Showcase Day for our Bangle Jangles product launch. We set up outside our classroom in our school with our JEP Bangle Jangles banner we made. We couldn’t believe the demand for our Bangle Jangles. All of the school came at different times to purchase our product. We had a really fun day!
Entrepreneur Vincent Mulligan
visits 5th Class
5th class had Vincent Mulligan in to visit our class. Mr. Mulligan owns a restaurant called ‘The Spotted Dog’ in Dundalk, Co. Louth. During his visit to our class we learned lots of interesting things about him and his restaurant, and he gave us lots of tips and advice to help us with selling and producing our own product.
Vincent told us the importance of having a product that was designed to be fit for purpose, something that was catchy, that people would like. He suggested that we do some market research on our products to find out what people would like to change about our product. Vincent also gave us some tips on selling our product.
We had a great morning with Vincent and got to ask him lots of questions. We can’t wait to carry out some market research on our own product!
Vincent told us the importance of having a product that was designed to be fit for purpose, something that was catchy, that people would like. He suggested that we do some market research on our products to find out what people would like to change about our product. Vincent also gave us some tips on selling our product.
We had a great morning with Vincent and got to ask him lots of questions. We can’t wait to carry out some market research on our own product!
5th class have been busy brainstorming ideas for their JEP programme this year. They have settled on four different products to present to the dragons. These are 'Box 'em Up', 'Bangle Jangles', 'Bath Bombs', 'Stress Stealers'. Below is an outline of these products and the team members. The next step will be to present these products to the dragons, the dragons will choose one of these products for the class to continue working on.
2020 Product: Super Spinners!
Market Research in 5th Class!
5th class conducted market research in school over the last few days. We decided what we would like to know from our potential customers and typed surveys on our school chrome books. Then, we surveyed some of the classes in our school, from 1st class to 6th class! We gathered all the children's responses, and used the school chrome books to create pie charts and bar charts to represent our findings!
Our Business Visitor - Adrian Conlon
Thank you so much to Adrian Conlon, Dad of our own Adrian, who came in as our Business Visitor this year. We learned so much about starting a business - both the good and the bad. We asked many questions about where Adrian gathered his ideas and the challenges he faced. We also received some great advice - to believe in our product!
2020 Junior Entrepreneur - Our Ideas and the Dragons Visit!
A big thank you to Lorraine, Vincent and Fergus who acted as our Dragons within our Junior Entrepreneur Program. They listened to us pitch our ideas, and decided which idea they thought would be suitable to pursue - which idea would be original, gain market interest and help us make a profit. They listened to fabulous product ideas, from Hot Cocoa Kits, to Pencil Toppers, Recyclable Plant Pots and more. They decided our best bet would be to try and sell Super Spinners - a fun, homemade spinner made from wood! Thank you again to our Dragons, and well done to our Teams!
2019 Product: Party in a Pot - Slime Madness!!
5th class attend the JEP Showcase Day in the RDS
5th class had a brilliant day in the RDS today at the Junior Entrepreneur Showcase Day, we were nominated for two awards ‘Marketing Gurus’ and ‘Creative Pioneers’, we met lots of famous entrepreneurs and got to present our product at our own stand! What a busy day!! 😊
Party in a Pot Showcase Day
5th class had a great time at our Showcase Day for our Party in a Pot product launch. We set up our G.P hall in our school with our JEP Party in a Pot banner we made. We couldn’t believe the demand for our Party in a Pot. All of the school came in and out of the hall and bought our product. We had a really fun day and made a great profit. We will use this money to fund a school FUN DAY for the whole school to enjoy!
Check out our video that the Storytelling Team made, documenting our JEP Journey. Enjoy!!
'Party in a Pot' preparations ....
Production, Marketing, Storytelling, Finance and Sales teams are all working very hard. 'Party in a Pot' is in full swing!
Market Research in operation!!
We have been busy carrying out some market research for our chosen product ‘Party in a Pot’. We carried out a number of surveys on children in our school and our families and friends outside of school also. We then used our school chrome books to create spreadsheets of all of our data. We then made bar charts and pie charts to depict our findings and we presented these to the class :-)
Business Visitor comes to talk to 5th class
A huge thank you to Carol Browne, a parent in our school, who came in to chat with 5th class. Carol is an interior architect and owns her own business. 5th class got some great tips for designing their Junior Entrepreneur product and tips for running their own business!
