As part of the Year 7 Computer Studies lessons this year we have been holding a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition in school. With the support of Lazy Grace Web Design Studios in Rothbury the students were asked to work in groups to formulate a business plan for a web based business idea. They were then selected to pitch their ideas to a team of judges.

The judging panel, which consisted of Ian McAllister, of design and marketing agency Lazy Grace, Jill Fenwick, of The Sewing Box in Morpeth, and Jacqueline Brewster of Miracle Aloe Vera, were judging on strict criteria – innovation, real world application and website design.

The students were given constructive feedback from the judges and they then had to plan, develop and create a website for their internet business, over several weeks, during their Computer Studies lessons. Twelve teams were then chosen to go through to the ‘Dragons Den’ style final where they once again pitched their ideas and showed the panel of judges their completed websites.

Ian McAllister said “Considering the students are all aged 11 and 12 and have no real world business experience, some of the pitches we saw were better than the graduates we see coming into the office wanting to start their own business.”

The winning team ‘Care Home Entertainment’ were chosen for their innovative and worthwhile business idea. The prize for the winners was a trophy, iTunes vouchers and a visit to the Lazy Grace Design Studio in Rothbury to make their idea become a reality and have their website and business hosted on the internet for a year, courtesy of Lazy Grace.

The winning team consisting of Grace, Ethan, Rachael and Karla will be visiting the Lazy Grace Design Studio on Wednesday 4th June. We will keep you up to date with what happens next.

See below for links to newspaper articles about the event:

BDaily

News Post Leader