Year 11 Business Studies held a Market Day on Monday 1st May which offered students the opportunity to run their own small businesses.

 Experiencing what it is like to run a business and then reflecting on the process, enables students to better understand and connect to the theory and ideas presented in class. As a teacher, I can not think of a more effective method to help students connect with their learning than lived experience. What matters more is the feedback that has been offered by the students.

We had so much fun running our business and sharing our group’s culture with the rest of the school. The turnout from school was better than many of us had expected, and we appreciated the support from both staff and students. Seeing the school and community come together to support our classes’ variety of businesses was amazing and at the end of the day, we made a good amount of profit. We also gained experience in running a business and learning about the process you have to go through before the launch of your business. Katea Tangifolou said "I definitely know more about what it takes to run a business and am excited about what the business classes in the future will come up with".

Mei-Li Hayes reflects "Market day was educational, fun, and nerve-wracking. Now that I have actually run a business, I can see that it’s much different than I expected it to be. Some businesses seem like they might be very profitable, but it depends on how strong your target market is, what the product looks like, and how expensive your product is. It’s quite important to be prepared for every outcome as you can easily read the market wrong". 

India Biggs enjoyed meeting new people that she had not talked to before. She found that people were very supportive of their product and how our stall was going. She now knows it takes a lot of time and effort to make what you are producing, but the outcome and sales are really cool. She learned that not everyone is going to like what you are making, but we should not take it to heart. India really enjoyed the experience and the process of market day. 

Students will now use their experience of Market Day to complete 3-4 NCEA Assessments. Thank you to the Waitaki Community for supporting our entrepreneurs.