Flying high with a cool £200m budget
Last updated 11:10, Saturday, 22 November 2008
Exotic place names such as Jamaica and Tenerife are bandied around the hall at Beacon Hill School in Aspatria.
Some pupils are busy working out budgets, while others are designing colourful uniforms and tail fins.
This flurry of activity will last for the next few hours, with 74 pupils taking part in an all-day Enterprise Week event.
They have been given their brief: to set up an airline with a budget of £200 million.
Not only does it focus on finance, pupils get a chance also to develop a range of different skills.
They have to take on one of five roles: managing director, financial controller, marketing manager, sales manager or destination specialist.
Working as a team, they then have to come up with a name for the airline, design a logo, find information on different destinations, decide where they will fly to, and choose from a range of planes.
After pupils have calculated their costs, they have to negotiate a deal with one of three volunteers, Richard Morris, Stephen Moore or Gill Cullen, who all work for local firm Innovia Films.
The afternoon session is just as busy. The pupils have to plan in-flight entertainment and menus, design a tail fin, design the crew’s uniform, calculate costs, apply for a flight licence and sell seats.
A team of year nine pupils, who named their company Experience Airways, had chosen Tenerife and Switzerland for their destinations.
“It’s because it’s hot in Tenerife in the summer, and in the winter people can go skiing,” explained Andrew Donald, who had taken on the role of destination specialist. Fellow team member Jeven Harrison said: “It’s been a good day, we’ve learned how to do cheques and how to approach a business manager, useful things like that.”
Year 10 pupils Lisa Rumney and Stacey Miller, who called their business Pudsey Airlines, were in charge of marketing for their team. “We’ve got the creative jobs so it’s fun,” said Stacey. “We are designing everything, including the logos.” Lisa added: “We have learnt a bit about the financial side too, managing money and budgets.”
Adam Young is the school’s enterprise co-ordinator, and organises events throughout the year for pupils at Beacon Hill.
“This event is good because it reaches every pupil in one way or another, in an academic and practical way. There’s a role for everyone,” he explained.
“They see that skills they learn in school will also be used in the workplace so it puts things in perspective. We also have two different years working together here successfully, which is really good to see.”
Pam Oddy, area manager for Young Enterprise North West, said: “This is one of our most popular events. It really captures imaginations, I think because there is a holiday destination involved, and also they are interacting with volunteers, where they have to negotiate and buy and sell.
“They get basic instructions at the beginning and can be helped individually during the day, but overall they have to use their initiative and think about what they want.
“Do they want to opt for a cheap, no-frills airline or more of an upmarket one? Then they have to calculate costs, by looking at the flight distance and number of seats they are selling. Geography, maths and sales are all involved. It’s not just for very academic students; everyone can get involved.”
The final task for the groups is a two-minute presentation. This should include the flight captain’s welcome, a safety demonstration by the cabin crew, an explanation of in-flight entertainment and menus, and a fly-past of the finished tail fins.
It is easier said than done, given that the pupils have to stand on stage and speak into a microphone in front of all their peers.
Richard, Stephen and Gill are the judging panel and choose Pudsey Airlines as the overall winner. But of course it has been the taking part that has been just as important.
Pam added: “We are trying to teach them to be creative and innovative, and to get an enterprising spirit going. And hopefully they have had fun too.”
