Youth Speaks!

Patricia was excited to be invited to judge the first round of Rotary International's YOUTH SPEAKS Competition recently.

Staged at the SandPit Theatre at Sandringham School in St Albans, this competition saw 12 teams from local schools compete for one of the coveted spaces in the next - District - round of this national event (the UK final takes place in Surrey on May 1st 2011).

On the night, the Intermediate teams convinced with their well-structured performances and their emotional arguments on topics ranging from 'Taboos' in modern youth society to overrated and overpaid football stars compared to the real heroes of hardworking emergency services staff. Appropriately entitled 'I need a hero' took first place for Verulam School, with the judges being especially impressed by Speaker Delyan Yanev's ability to field questions concerning his main points in a confident and self-assured manner. His team members were Isaac Keeley (Chair) and Kieran Zielinski (Proposer).

Things hotted up after a brief interval, as the Senior teams took to the stage. Passionate delivery and well carried out research into topics such as 'Penal Reform', 'Prejudice' and 'Free News' impressed the judges and audience alike. Rupert Neaves, Angus Keeley and Fraser Reid of Verulam A presented a moving case for the legalisation of euthanasia ('Whose Life is it anyway?'), which was counteracted by a more humourous review of George W Bush as set in scene in a most entertaining way by Sandringham's Sassoon Moskafian, Jack Wheater and Andy Lazell.

The winning spots, however, went to Verulam and Beaumont. Verulam's B Team, consisting of Andrew Sear-Black, Alex Astley and James Biggs, were awarded with second place for their convincing argumentation against Penal Reform. They were runners up to the deserved winners from Beaumont School - Hugh Ingamells (Chair), Sam Went (Speaker) and John Clough (Proposer) - who delivered a perfect speech entitled 'Elitism in Education'. Their thought-provoking reasoning as to why Public Schools are counter-productive to today's society coupled with their confident yet relaxed presentation style, made it easy work for Patricia and her fellow judges to declare them overall winners of the Senior event.

Both Beaumont and Verulam B Senior Teams, as well the Verulam Intermediate Team are through to the next round of the competition, but we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all participants on their hard work and entertaining entries.

Public speaking is an important life skill, which is why Eureka Schools CIC were only too happy to support this event. As part of our bespoke business and enterprise programmes, which we run for primary and secondary schools as well as for councils, we also give young people the chance to maximise their employment potential by presenting themselves in a positive, self-assured manner - confident speaking is one of the many areas our professional facilitators can offer support and coaching in.

Why not contact us for a no-obligation chat to see what we can do within your school - our workshops range from 1 day taster sessions through to long-term programmes delivered at times to suit you. All our sessions are fun and educational at the same time, and are delivered by facilitators with strong backgrounds in business, enterprise, sales and marketing.

kwhitehouse@eurekaschools.co.uk

Interview with Patricia Seabright, Eureka Schools - listen now...

Patricia had the chance to explain Eureka Schools' work and concept on local radio recently. In an in-depth interview with Radio Verulam's Friday Focus presenter John Stephenson, she eloquently set out her vision on how we can help young people who find themselves out of education, employment or training to regain some sense of self-belief and a feeling of self-worth, whilst also equip them with the necessary life skills and business knowledge to help them become employable or start up a business venture of their own - thus easing the pressure on the public purse as well as giving them much-needed direction and focus for a better life.

It was very fitting that Patricia's interview was followed by a discussion with the current Minister of State for Business and Education, Mark Prisk MP.

To hear Patricia's interview, which also offers some valuable insight on the work Eureka does within primary and secondary education, listen to the podcast now.

On the radio....

Eureka will be on local radio next week!

Tune into 92.6 fm (Verulam Radio) on Friday, 19th November, at 2.30pm to listen to our very own Patricia Seabright being interviewed on the Friday Focus Show by John Stephenson.

Towards the end of Global Entrepreneurship Week, it will be a great opportunity to discuss current enterprise and business issues, with a focus on how to get young people, including those who are not currently in education, employment or training (NEET) interested and involved, too. As ever, Eureka is pleased to have the chance to explain how important it is to work with young people and to provide them with necessary business, enterprise and life skills, and how this can be achieved in an easy, fun way and relaxed environment.

See www.eurekaschools.co.uk for more information on what we believe in and how we achieve it!

5 minutes with Lord Sugar

Eureka! Came across the most fascinating interview with Lord Sugar today. A brief 5 minutes, but a frank review of his life. Lord Sugar remembers being very poor as a child, his hard teenage years and starting a business 'out the back of a van'.
Fast forward to today and he regularly appears on the Times Rich List, has been appointed to the House of Lords,where he advised the government on the Business Link and is often referred to as 'the man who revolutionised British business'.

It just goes to show - with a little bit of guidance and some self-belief and hard work, everyone can succeed, no matter what their beginnings in life!

Watch the interview by clicking here!

We really feel for local councils who stand to receive 12% less funding for their most important Youth Services, as announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review last week. Children are our future! - which is why Eureka put so much into providing children and young people with life skills and thus preparing them for the real world!

Dragons' Apprentice 2011

Eureka were invited to St Columba's College last week for the launch of The Dragons' Apprentice 2011.
Now in its second year, this great initiative offers young people from local secondary schools the opportunity to try their hand at running a business - starting out with £100 which they are supposed to turn into £1000 by the end of January 2011 - with all monies raised going to their chosen charity.

Eureka are looking forward to working with 'The Men in Black Productions' from St. Albans School, offering them guidance and support where needed, whilst already getting excited about their various business ideas.

The team will be trying their hardest to raise funds for St. Albans City Youth in order to support their important community projects, including giving boys, girls and children with special needs the opportunity to play organised sports.

The Dragons' Apprentice 2011 is organised by the CVS St. Albans.

For more information, contact kwhitehouse@eurekaschools.co.uk

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010

Global Entrepreneurship: Driving recovery, seizing opportunity

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 will take place from 15 – 21 November at the British Library. It is an opportunity to showcase and celebrate all the amazing work that goes on year-round. It is a rallying point for a worldwide movement of entrepreneurial people, exposing millions to life-changing entrepreneurial experiences.

• What will your school do during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010?
• Are you planning to run a Global Entrepreneurship Week event?
• Do you need some advice on running your enterprise events?
• Are you ready to go for future Global Entrepreneurship Weeks?

As a dynamic training company specisling in business and enterprise courses for young people, Eureka's mission is to unlock young people's entrepreneurial potential, and empower young people with financial, business and entrepreneurial skills through innovative education ......'making it real'!"

Eureka agrees with what Gordon Brown claims that "Every young person has something to offer; every young person has a talent if unlock will make a contribution to the economy and their society. It's our duty to do everything we can to help young people to unlock these talents for the future"!

Eureka believes that Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 It’s not just a week! It’s a life time!


If you or your school is thinking of a business and enterprise event, or you want to expose your students to life-changing entrepreneurial experiences, or are interested in preparing for the Global Entrepreneurship Week, please contact Donna Cranny, Eureka Schools' Manager

T: 01727 850668
M:07758 414091
E: dcranny@eurekaschools.co.uk
W: www.eurekaschools.co.uk
Eureka House, 6 Althorp Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3PW

Eureka’s Business and Enterprise Project – Final Competition
Maple Primary School

Having described how successful Eureka’s Business and Enterprise trading day was in our last case study (see below), the final competition of Eureka’s Business & Enterprise project among Year 6 students @ Maple School was as impressive as the trade day.
The final competition was in the form of a presentation and took place on 23rd June 2010 @ Maple School where both Year 5 & Year 6 students took part. Eureka judges Donna, Patricia and Jana participated in this event and were impressed by the lively and professional way the presentations were delivered.


Six teams - Sweet Stuff, Nice Cream, Funky Fruit, X-Treme Style, Quake Shark and Style Sensation - presented on the stage in turns. The presentation itself demonstrated the students’ great team work skills with good delegation tasks for each presenter. Students were wearing their marketing t-shirt and sandwich board, holding their posters and advertisements on the stage. The presentations were well structured with informative content and brilliantly delivered with the use of drama, dancing and singing. Presenters smartly handled judges and audiences’ questions and showed full competence in running and managing their businesses.


The final result of each team’s business project considered the business project as a whole over the last 6 months:
• How good was the business idea
• How much money did the business make
• How well the business was executed
• What they have learnt
• How well it was presented.

Having considered all the aspects that show students’ business and enterprise skills, team work skills and presentation skills, Eureka judges awarded the Winning Team to Sweet Stuff; Nice Cream were runners up, and third place went to Style Sensation! Prizes (books) and winning certificates were awarded to the winning team and runner-up team members. Congratulations are due to all the teams who did a fantastic job! Eureka believes that Maple School Year 5 students must have learned a lot from how well their seniors have done.

The success that Maple School year 6 students achieved demonstrates how Eureka brings real commercial expertise and business experience into the class room and makes it part of young people’s learning experience. Eureka believes that the success the Year 6 students achieved through Eureka’s Business and Enterprise project will help them develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed in the future.

Should you interested in our Business and Enterprise programmes, please contact Donna Cranny, Eureka manager on 07758 414 091 or017 27 83 23 51 or email dcranny@eurekaschools.co.uk.
For more information, please visit our website: www.eurekaschools.co.uk.

Eureka End of Term Activity - Speaking Competition

Eureka End of Term Activity - Speaking Competition

Eureka's Voluntary Community Service @ Maple Primary School
On 9th June 2010, Eureka voluntarily ran a successful speaking competition with coaching for Year 5 & 6 students @ Maple Primary School. Eureka coaches Patricia, Donna and Kathryn ran this Event.

The event started with interesting and engaging exercises in voice, breathing, body language and handling nerves, all of which are important for a speaker to make a good speech. Through these sessions, students not only had fun but also learned a lot of the important aspects enabling them to make an impressive speech.

After a break, each student made a ‘Just a Minute Practice’. First, each student was asked to come up with a topic, write it down and put it in a hat. Then, each of them had to randomly pick one topic and do a ‘one-minute’ speech in the front of the other teams. After each speech, Eureka coaches pointed out each speaker’s good practices and shared these with others; on the contrary, negative points were discouraged and made speakers and audience students aware. The speaker was given a chance to do a self-evaluation. Under Eureka coaches’ instruction, positive and negative points of each student’s presentation were collected from the audience. Feedback made students aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, and ideas of how to make a good speech.


Back from lunch break, the preliminary competition started amongst 14 groups. With the objective to enhance students’ presentation skills as well as team work, groups of 4 students were comprised of 2 from Year 5 and 2 from Year 6. Among the 4 group members, students had to nominate 1 as the Chair, 1 main speaker, 1 question handler, 1 closer with equal delegation tasks on one speech topic. Each group was given an equal amount of time for their presentation and rehearsal, while Eureka coaches went around to each team, observing and offering valuable comments and advice.

Under Eureka coaches’ training and nurturing, the preliminary presentation competition went impressively well. Presentation topics were timely, popular and interesting, from big topics like The Forthcoming World Cup, Global Warming and Music to daily discussions like schools uniforms, mobile phones and computer games. The way each student presented was extremely impressive: the fluency, confidence and team work; the correct use of voice, body language, demonstration and eye contact; the appropriate use of questions, and the professionalism, all of which made the Eureka coaches very proud.

At the end of the presentation, top performance teams went through to the final round of the competition were announced. Eureka is looking forward to coming back for the final competition - date to be confirmed.

Eureka believes that successful speakers can make great presenters and can be trained when they are young.

Posted by Donna Cranny - 14th June 2010.

Dragons Apprentice

As a sponsor of Dragons Apprentice, Eureka Schools are pround of the success that 'dragons' and 'apprentice' achieved. Your contribution to the local charity and community is highly appreciated! Well done you all!