In the second week of term, we were delighted to welcome back the Year 5 classes from Mile Cross Primary School for the finale afternoon of our Dragons’ Den event.

Now in it’s 5th year, this project brings together pupils from the Norwich-based primary school and Norwich School’s very own L6 Business Enterprise A Level pupils. In November, the Year 5s visited for an afternoon of workshops run by Norwich School’s Business and Economics team, all designed to introduce the main challenge: to devise a product and business idea to pitch to the dragons!

Each Year 5 team was assigned a L6 Business mentor for the afternoon, who could help offer advice and guide the ideas into workable business plans to impress the dragons. The mentors were impressed with inventiveness of the teams, but most of all their enthusiasm.

During the afternoon, the teaching team guided them through how to form a team, where business ideas come from, how to market a product and the all-important finance element – how to make money from their product!

In the intervening weeks, pupils have been working back at their school to finalise their ideas and finesse their presentations.

We were very grateful to be joined by some real-life dragons from Norwich’s business world, Karl Sandall, business consultant and former Group Chief Executive of TaxAssist and Jack Weaver, Chief Operating Officer of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce. Mr White relinquished his role as honorary dragon and compere.

The teams brought forth some very thoughtful ideas, including a wardrobe which gives outfit suggestions, an eco-friendly refillable pen and interactive life-organising sunglasses.

Our eventual winning product was a teddy bear which helped children talk through their worries and improve wellbeing. The judges thought the team’s product was likely to be a hit with parents and the team had put careful consideration in how they would finance their business.

The Dragons’ Den project with Mile Cross aims to give younger pupils an experience of learning outside their normal classroom and an introduction to into the world of commerce. Older pupils benefit from gaining experience in mentoring younger pupils and imparting their business skills. We look forward to next year’s event!