The annual Year 7 Enterprise Week gives students the opportunity to flex both their social justice and entrepreneurship muscles by dedicating the entire week to the development of social enterprises.
At the end of Term 2, small groups of students collaborated to create businesses which addresses a social issue they see in the world around them. They are given independence to come up with their own creative solutions to help others less fortunate than themselves, starting from the concept development through to budgeting and marketing.
Invariably, all groups develop empathetic, unique and viable social enterprises which are, at the end of the week, presented to the entire year level’s students and staff along with the Principal.
We are humbled and awed by our Year 7 students’ creativity. One group’s idea was to facilitate the development of literacy for students at special needs schools, by sourcing books written by youth around the State.
‘We’ll hold a writing competition where the entry is $5 and the winner gets $50,’ Justin explained. ‘And that’s how we’ll get the money to print the books.’
The books are then read by older students at the School to the younger students, helping both to engage with reading and storytelling.
‘They’ll write picture storybooks with more mature themes, so the older kids can enjoy reading them too,’ Lucy added.
Another group combined two ideas their team came up with to develop a plan for a restaurant which will use entirely recycled tabled and chairs, and also provide jobs for recent refugees to Australia.
‘We want to employ refugees so they can have a starter job,’ Ava said. ‘And the restaurant is for everyone, but it would mostly be a place for families, because we want them to feel welcome, and like this is a place they can love, like a community.’
‘And they could make food from their home country, so there would be different things from different cultures for people to eat,’ Summer suggested.
Several teams chose to dedicate their enterprises to improving the lives of homeless people in Melbourne. One of these groups came up with an idea to enable homeless children to take part in sporting competitions, because, ‘We can play sport and have fun in that way, but homeless children don’t always have that opportunity,’ Alice explained.
By hosting fundraisers like fun runs and selling merchandise, the group would set up a league which is entirely free for homeless people, including any registration fees and equipment.
Finn remarked that they were driven by ensuring all children made the most of their childhood by having fun and engaging in sport.
‘And it’s also maybe going to help with their health a bit so they can keep active,’ Jack added.
Teaching students to understand the world beyond their own experience is woven into the fabric of the learning journey at Carey. We hope our Year 7s feel inspired to one day pursue the social initiatives they expertly developed during Year 7 Enterprise Week!
Kelly Southworth, Content Developer
Community Engagement
