Be ahead of the game this Enterprise Week - 16 – 22nd November 2009

Interested in offering your pupils an alternative and fun approach to Enterprise, Money and Business?

We deliver engaging and motivational training events and curriculum, with differentiated programmes, targeting students from 9 to 19 years of age. Eureka provides exciting, motivational and fun workshops, designed to give young people more choices in life based around starting a business and personal money management.

Are you looking for an exciting activity day for your students?
Are you prepared for Enterprise Week – 16 – 22nd November 2009?
Do you want to broaden your school’s Enterprise and Financial Literacy programmes?
Would you like help with your Enterprise Activities?

Eureka workshops cover the following national curriculum areas:
Enterprise
Work Related Learning
Life Skills
Citizenship programmes.

We deliver engaging and motivational training events and curriculum, with differentiated programmes, targeting students from 9 to 19 years of age. Eureka provides exciting, motivational and fun workshops, designed to give young people more choices in life based around starting a business and personal money management.

Why choose a Eureka Schools programme?
Wide choice of modules covering: Entrepreneurship,starting a real Micro-Business and Financial Literacy, Designed to coach students in developing new personal skills.
Flexible and suitable to any timetable.
Delivered by expert trainers (all CRB checked)
Aimed at increasing staff and students personal performance so that everyone reaches their full potential Why not be ahead of the game and find out how Eureka Schools can help you to deliver your enterprise curriculum?

For more Information and Details of our Programmes Contact:
Donna Cranny on 07758 414091Or email dcranny@eurekaschools.co.uk or visit our web site www.eurekaschools.co.uk

Maple school (St Albans) year 6 graduate as mini dragons

Maple school year 6 graduate as mini dragons

Maple School has instigated an innovative enterprise education programme where year 5 and 6 pupils benefit from a day a term of learning on enterprise. The programme, run by us, uses games and exercises to teach children life skills around business, money and social enterprise.

This week year 6 pupils staged a business fair where businesses that they had come up with, sold their wares to the rest of the school and parents. The businesses they had varied from enterprises selling popcorn, greetings cards, fake tattoos, cot mobiles, juices and ice cream floats. The profits they made went to fund a commemorative autograph book for each member of year 6 and to the PTA fundraising campaign for new computers for the school.
The fair was followed by a presentation where Maple school year 6 graduate as mini dragons

This approach has been particularly successful because it represents a consistent and consolidated learning rather than a one off event. One of the children said, “I’ve learnt that business is fun” another said “money is important and I need to take care of it and save it”, perhaps a valuable lesson for all in the wake of the credit crunch! Who knows maybe the next generation of junior apprentices or Dragons Den entrepreneurs will come from Maple School!
he teams presented their business results and the learning they had derived from the 2 year programme. A judging panel of local business people then awarded prizes and “business graduation” certificates to all.

Post by Donna Cranny - 18th June 2009

Growing the next Apprentices

News Release: Eureka Schools - June 2009

Growing the next Apprentices

Eureka Schools is a business of which Sir Alan Sugar (soon to be the Government’s new Business Tsar) would surely approve!

Based in St Albans, The Eureka Schools programmes offer, fun and interactive workshops that teach children from as young as 9 up to 16 years old the essential financial and business skills needed to survive in today’s competitive world of business.

As with the BBC Apprentice programme, the pupils learn through interactive activities. They explore the origins of trade and business, learn the importance of research and grasp the concept of supply and demand. Pupils also identify their own enterprise skills, consider the benefits of competition in the marketplace and explore the moral dilemmas that businesses face. These engaging lessons allow students to develop life-long personal, social and enterprising skills and attitudes.

Donna Cranny of Eureka Schools says “A Eureka Schools workshop certainly isn’t as gruelling as the 12 weeks that Kate and Yasmina had to endure to reach the final. But the lessons we teach during a Eureka Schools workshop certainly have similarities to those learnt by the Apprentices!”

During the 12 weeks Sir Alan’s apprentices washed cars, chose new products to sell to retailers, sold skeletons to strangers in pubs - and who can forget the creation of Pants Man! At every step along the way candidates failed to grasp the essential nature of the task and heard the immortal words ‘you’re fired’.

Donna Cranny says ‘At Eureka Schools we certainly don’t fire the pupils! Instead we give them the skills and confidence that they can then build on so that one day they will be the one that hears the words ‘You’re Hired”

And now Sir Alan is adding a search for a young apprentice and the programme makers are currently seeking apprentices aged between 16-17 years.

We will have to wait and see if any of Sir Alan’s chosen candidates have the benefit of Eureka’s training!

Eureka is a dynamic training company specialising in delivering tailor-made training courses for primary and secondary schools in financial literacy, enterprise capability and entrepreneurship education.

Their specialised programmes include:

Youth Programmes delivered through in-school classes, workshops, courses and customised programmes that offer participants exciting and engaging activities. These programmes are designed to develop personal finance, investing, entrepreneurial, business and life skills within students of all ages.

Developing life-skills is integral to the programme delivery. All programmes teach practical skills in managing money and preparing young people for jobs. In addition, they raise students' self esteem, confidence, problem-solving ability, motivation and communication skills through challenging games and activities, teamwork and goal setting.

A day in the life of Donna Cranny.......of Eureka Schools

A day in the life of Donna Cranny, Business Manager of Eureka Schools ............

HT (Headteacher) ; we’ve had a bad ofsted on enterprise , unfair on teachers no time etc how can you help ?

DC:- well firstly let me just say that we can certainly offer Enterprise, business and life skill programs and a range of activities to fulfil your requirements, but also deliver them for you! No burden for you allowing you and your teachers more time......Our trainers and our people have a wealth of business and education experience to share!!!.

HT:- what age groups do you work with ?


We start from as early as year 5 (aged 10) primary school level all the way through to age 16 and in fact we now offer ‘youth interview Coaching’ too, which is other string to our bow!!! We feel it’s important to start these all important life skills as early as possible!


HT:- won’t the kids be bored by biz ?

Gosh NO!!...they are living and breathing it as we sit here......The Apprentice, Dragons Den, The Speaker......we can build on what’s all around them and put it into practice in their working / school environment!


HT:- how do you make it interesting?


Always fun, interactive, and game based...to give you an example of this....price is right – one of our modules is where we get the children to consider which is the most expensive - house, diamond ring, holiday or car......interesting enough they often say (especially the girls) the diamond ring, as not many people have one of these!!! Another example of this is when we ask each group to ‘get creative’ and propose via a presentation their Business Ideas to a panel in a competitive way!!!

HT: - you say you do financial education too, but we don’t want to turn them all into grasping bankers


Well I think there is so much press about bankers, credit crunch, but do they really know what it’s all about!! We help and teach them about all the different aspect of money and how it impacts on them and their world, mortgage, credit card, loan, interest rates! There is so much available but no teaching available!!! ....example £200 budget/board game - life decisions...Nike trainers v’s House Brand, Saving or Investments!!

HT:- sounds good but I’m not sure a 1 off workshop will make much difference I agree we at

Eureka could work in partnership with you to mould a consistent message to be woven into school life. To give an example, some schools we work with have one day per term with additional sessions / activities built into their school timetable so there is a consist theme throughout the school year.

HT:-Does it costs a fortune?


No it’s great value for money, considering what you get - valuable input, resources, content and our wonderful experienced people and some schools have found if budgets are a challenge, they can ask their PTA for support!

HT: - so is it just Biz/ finance training?

No we offer a wide range of programs / activities to support young people ....recently we have just initiated a new program called The Speaker Program, as I mentioned earlier...we also offer young interview coaching - our aim is to offer a well rounded approach to Life Skills to support the next generation of dragons!!!

‘Non-offending career!’ With Eureka - Life and Enterprise Skills for our next generation!

‘Non-offending career!’ - With Eureka - Life and Enterprise Skills for our next generation!

Combining a cognitive-behavioural approach with experiential methods, we create programmes, which involve participants in a series of group and/or individual games and exercises. These are designed to help individuals understand more about the values, behaviours and skills people need to begin and develop a non-offending career or business for them-selves, but in an enjoyable, accessible and memorable way!

This gives our facilitators an opportunity to identify the areas for development which is then the focus of the skills-practice based sessions designed to engage and motivate individuals and leave them with the confidence and understanding to take steps towards an exciting future!
Our work can last for anything from ½ a day to a 3 - month intensive programme and will address how to earn, manage, and enjoy money covering, issues such as;
An introduction to the possibilities of entrepreneurship

• The value of making smart money decisions while young
  
• The impact of advertising
  
• Representing yourself well
  
• Being a wise consumer and how to avoid the overuse of credit
  
• The value of money and their own attitudes to spending & saving
  
• Communication, problem solving, time management and business speaking
  
• How our attitude to money is shaped by the world around us
  
• Social responsibility in business and the world around us
  
• Money making opportunities in meeting the needs of their communities
  
• Using their own skills and talents to kick start their Life Journeys
  
  
  Our team is drawn from Business, Education, Commercial, Criminal Justice System and The Media. All of our facilitators have an understanding of Cognitive-behavioural Theory(Beck, 1976; Ellis and Grieger, 1986; Beck and Freeman, 1990), and Eureka’s work is underpinned by Social Learning Theory (Bandura 1977). We believe our all-rounded approach to Life Skills is essential for the next generation of adults.
  
  For more information or to talk to us about how we can support you and your teams, give us a call on 01727 850668 or 07758 414091.
  

Are schools producing young people who are work-ready.

There's a perception that schools aren't producing young people who are work-ready.
Research by CBI reveals some sad facts about how employers see today's school-leavers.

· 74% said school=leavers lack business awareness
· 67% said they don't know how to manage themselves
· 53% said young people lack knowledge about their chosen jobs and careers
· 50% said that young people don't have the skills needed for work.


Depressing, certainly. But perhaps not all that surprising. For too long the worlds of education and businesses have been too far apart.

That's why we at Eureka help children prepare for the real world.

Eureka is about nurturing the next generation, about bringing commercial expertise and business experience into the class room, providing a all rounded approach to Enterprise Education by inspiring commercial acumen, business and financial skills in school children, through play and games.

A Town Called Eureka .......

A Town Called Eureka .......

Great minds!!!....I’ve just discovered a TV Series namely ‘A Town Called Eureka’...!!
Eureka takes place in a high tech community of the same name, located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (implied to be Oregon, due to the presence of Oregon maps and flags.) and inhabited entirely by brilliant scientists working on new scientific advancements for the United States government that frequently go disastrously awry. The town's existence and location are closely guarded secrets.

So in the same vain Eureka Schools are building ‘A Planet Called Eureka’ with our innovative and brilliant Life Skills and Enterprise Education Programs for Young People!!!

Posted by Donna Cranny 29th April 2009