A near-miss traffic accident inspired students from Scoil Fhursa NS in Taylor’s Hill, Galway to create a potentially life-saving reflective strip for vehicles as part of their recent two-day Bizworld workshop.
The school’s fifth class turned into a Dragon’s Den recently and formed a company plan to develop the reflective strip in order to reduce road deaths.
Dragons Hugh Hamrock and Gerard Turley from NUI Galway and school principal Brid Ni Neachtain were hugely impressed with the idea, which was devised after a student recalled their mother mistaking a car with only one working headlight for a motorbike on a narrow road.
The reflective strip which fits on the car bumpers, roof, undercarriage and doors would also be seen by oncoming traffic in the event of a car being tossed onto its side in an accident.
During the two-day Bizworld workshop, tutored by Aidan Lennon, the children split into groups, each developing their own mini enterprise.
Bizworld is a not-for-profit organisation, chaired by Gavin Duffy, that promotes entrepreneurship skills for children at fifth class level.
It delivers simple workshops where pupils learn about money management and enterprise in a supportive and creative atmosphere.
Pupils are taken through the entire entrepreneurial cycle – from company formation and applying for jobs in their companies, to market research with younger classes in the school, and then designing, producing and marketing their business idea.
They learn about pitching for investment and get the opportunity to do so in real-life to a visiting Dragon who hears each company’s pitch and decides how many BizBucks to invest in their company.
Over 40,000 children have taken part in their free workshops around the country in the past two years, with more than 200 schools hosting programmes this year.
“Bizworld aims to address the lack of business education in primary schools and feed the students’ appetites for making commercial subject choices at second level,” said Bizworld CEO Fiona McKeon. “Our idea is not to produce products, simply to inspire and give children the confidence to say what is in their heads.”
To register a school for Bizworld see bizworldireland.org
