Our Marr's Dragon Final took place on Monday 21st May.  Eight teams made up of pupils from S1 took part and presented their product ideas to a panel of 4 judges made up of local business people: Claire O’Donnell (The Herbary), Alison Braddick (West Coast Accelerator), Gordon Sutherland (GE Caledonian) and Lisa Anderson (Anderson HR). Students went above and beyond with some groups creating examples of social media pages, websites and advertisements…one group even baked a cake! All of the students involved did a fantastic job and were an asset to the school.
 
After much deliberation the judges decided on the top 3 teams:
 
3rd place - “Snacket” who were praised for their marketing and use of celebrity endorsement.
2nd place - “Envirobin” who demonstrated excellent presentation skills; the judges liked their idea for a solar powered bin that would automatically separate your recycling for you.
1st place - Clickk with their product “The Phen” which is a pen/mobile phone, you write using the pen and it transforms your writing into a text or email. The team had worked hard on their pitch creating their own website using html code, a plan for a billboard, a newspaper article and a mock-up of their solar powered charging case.
 
Well done to the winners and more images can be viewed on the Business Departments twitter feed @MarrBusiness

ICAEW BASE CHALLENGE – ROUND 2!
 
Well done to all the students who successfully completed round 1 of the Institute of Accounting for England and Wales (ICAEW) BASE Challenge! The following students have been successful in progressing to round 2. The first name in each team has been nominated as the captain and will be responsible for registering the team. Students can complete the game any time before 8 March 2018, and do not need to complete the task in one sitting. The top 48 teams from across the UK will win the chance to compete in the National Final in Birmingham to win prizes, such as, individual laptops.
 
There is also the chance to win additional prizes throughout the Challenge. Students can take a group photo depicting what they think chartered accountants may look like and share it on social media with the hashtag #BASE2018. ICAEW will be awarding the team with the most likes and shares on Facebook and Twitter a team experience day of their choice! So if you see any on Twitter it would be a great help if you could like and share. Good to luck to all the teams – for more information please see Miss Wyllie in Business Education.

Special Delivery!
 
Our S3 Administration class worked on a festive project in conjunction with Troon Primary and Santa in December 2017. The class produced personalised letters from Santa to Primary 3 students, as we all know how busy Santa is during December.
 
The P3 classes worked hard on writing their letters to Santa - telling him a bit about their siblings, pets, what they want for Christmas etc. They made a lovely job of decorating their envelopes! In return our S3 Administration students used their Word Processing and Access database skills to complete a mail merge -  producing a personalised letter for each Troon Primary student. These were delivered in festive envelopes with a Santa sticker enclosed for each child. The class were even trying to convince Miss Wyllie to let them hand deliver the letters dressed as elves! A big thank you to Mrs Roan from Troon Primary for her help coordinating the project.

(Apologies from the newsdesk - this feature should have been reported in December.)

ICAEW BASE Challenge - Round 1 - Were you successful??
 
Calling all senior Marr students! If you are aged 16 or 17 then you are able to compete in the BASE Challenge 2018.
 
The competition is run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW) who are a global professional body for chartered accountants, if you make it through to the National Final you will travel to Birmingham, take part in the final challenge, enjoy an employer exhibition, awards ceremony, 3 course meal and disco. Below are some pictures from our 2016 team who made it to the National Final. There are some amazing prizes up for grabs, including MacBooks and iPads for each student.
 
This is a Business, Accounting, Skills and Employability competition (BASE) which will test your problem solving, team work and communication skills. In the past we have only been able to take 6 students to compete in heats, however, this year BASE have opened this up to all students in the school aged 16-17. Round 1 is completed online and can be accessed from home. At the end of round 1 students will be given feedback on their performance and advice on their areas of strengths which should help with CVs and application forms. Additionally, there is the chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher if you complete round 1. All you need to do is give ICAEW a like and share their Facebook page, ICAEW Careers. Or follow them on Twitter @icaew_careers in a tweet. The winners from round 1 will be announced on 3 February so get liking, sharing, following and tagging. let us know if you entered and were successful!!
 

Sir Tom Hunter Bootcamp
 
Our Sir Tom Hunter Challenge finalists, Josh Murchie and Robert Hervey, have now attended 2 of their 3 ESpark Bootcamps at the Hatchery in Dundonald. Students had the opportunity to work alongside local entrepreneurs learning about their involvement in businesses such as, Gymmies Kitchen, White Rabbit and Orbit. Students took part in a variety of fun ice breaker and team building activities - which were not always as easy as they looked! They learned about ‘Customer Persona’ and how to deliver the perfect pitch! The boys have applied this knowledge to their original business idea – Solr Powr. Josh and Robert have 1 more event to attend over the coming weeks. Pictures from the events will also be posted on our twitter page @MarrBusiness.

Micro Tyco Success
 
Our S2 students took part in the Micro Tyco Challenge last term and were very successful. They did a fantastic job - raising £1,443.78. This put them in second place in the Secondary School category for the UK! They will be receiving a trophy and certificates later on in the term. Examples of the items on offer include festive box frames, personalised money pots, S1 Christmas cards, personalised glitter baubles, gift tags, sweetie jars, Christmas cards and a games room run by a team during lunchtime.
 
The event, run by The WildHearts Foundation, develops entrepreneurial, problem solving, leadership and interpersonal skills - while raising money for a good cause. To date, WildHearts have helped generate investments of over £5 million, funding their work in entrepreneurial education, microfinance and gender equality.
 
The business department would like to thank everyone who supported the students throughout the challenge.
 
Some quotes from our Micro Tyco students:
 
Poppy  (S2) - "I really enjoyed Micro Tyco because I feel like it really improved my entrepreneurial skills and I learned how to successfully promote and advertise a product. I also enjoyed the amount of teamwork that was involved." 
 
Amy (S2) - "Micro-Tyco was really different to anything I had ever done before but I really enjoyed the responsibility that came with it. I also found it really cool that an idea was able to come to life just like in a real business environment."
 
Emma, Courtney, Rosie and Ellie (CraftyKidz) – “It built up our teamwork skills and brought us together, we also liked that we could be independent and think up our own ideas.”
 
David Matthews (S2) – “It gives you a chance to have your own business for a month. It is good because you can learn skills so in the future if you want to have a business.”

Following on from our recent post on the Young Enterprise business idea, Grownade, it is with great delight we can report some early success. On Sunday 19th November they were at the Wintertainment event in Troon. The ‘Grownade Team’  are led by Mrs Thomson in Business Education and their Business Advisor Stephen McNab. The team is managed by Reece Jamieson and is made up of: Marcia Broadfoot, Bethany Stephens, Adam Russell, Craig Allen, Rachel Hughes, Ciara Inglis, Vanessa Riddle and  Liusaidh Ligertwood.

The Grownade is a 100% recyclable and biodegradable shell containing mixed natural seeds with soil. Take the Grownade, shake it to mix the soil and natural seeds, soak it on the top and throw it on to any patch of land and let it grow. It’s gardening made simple! The company has 5 varieties of Grownades;
• HumbleBee: Our bee population saving grownade, blossoms into high pollen flowers designed to help our bee’s thrive!
• BirdyBloom: Our BirdyBloom Grownade produces seeds that birds eat in order to thrive when they find it most difficult to find food.
• Flutterburst: Like our HumbleBee, this produces high pollen flowers to help butterflies thrive.
• Meow!: Your cat will love this! A plant that produces natural catnip wherever you plant!
• PoppyShowers: This Grownade produces Poppies in remembrance of our soldiers who bravely fought for our country.

With the Grownade, customers receive a free information pack containing;
• Growing tips and Blossom Times
• Information about your Grownade
• About our company and our philosophy

The day was a huge success and the team sold over 75% of their stock on one day which was brilliant. Not only this but the local community loved their product. They were full of positive comments about both the product and the students themselves. They were a real asset to the school.  The hard work that has gone into the product development and branding has certainly paid off! A huge thanks to Mrs Thomson and Stephen McNab once again for all their hard work.

If you would like to make a purchase please visit their stand at the upcoming parent’s evenings.

The Business Team