This week, Blackpool Sixth Form College opened its doors to local school pupils for an immersive, hands-on enterprise event. While designed to give a thrilling first look into the fast-paced world of industry, strategy, and entrepreneurship, the day also provided a fantastic opportunity for our visiting pupils to experience Blackpool Sixth’s state-of-the-art college facilities and meet the teaching staff.
The event was led by Blackpool Sixth’s talented student leaders from the Entrepreneurship & Leadership Academy. Combining their knowledge from A-Level Business and various specialist departments, these student mentors designed and delivered a series of high-quality workshops, to guide and inspire the younger students.
Hands-On Workshops: From Branding to Budgets
- Logo Lab: Pupils dived into the world of design and innovation, exploring how simple elements can create an iconic, memorable visual identity.
- Eat Well for Less: A pupil favourite, taste test challenge! Students compared branded products against supermarket alternatives, analysing the real-world balance between price, quality, and consumer perception.
- Pie Factory: A high-stakes production simulation. Working in teams, pupils made critical pricing and production decisions, learning first-hand the financial risks of waste versus the cost of missed sales.
- 'Stackholders': A tense risk-management challenge where pupils learned that building a business requires a solid foundation and that the higher you go, the greater the risk of everything coming crashing down.
Putting Theory Into Action
In the afternoon, the focus shifted to live market research and strategic thinking. During the Knowledge Hunt ‘C.I.A’, teams put their investigative skills to the test to crack clues, solve challenges, and uncover hidden information.
Pupils then took part in a live Market Research Activity with a local ice cream business, sampling products and utilising an online platform to gather insights, analyse opinions, and understand exactly how real businesses use data to create products that consumers love.
The Big Business Challenge
The day culminated in The Big Business Challenge, where everything came together. Tasked with showcasing their ultimate entrepreneurial vision, the teams worked to solve a real world business problem.
The final designs were presented to a panel of expert tutors and judges, pushing all the teams to showcase their very best work.
Real-World Impact: What the Experts Said
The event proved to be a wonderful bridge between high school and further education, leaving a lasting impression on both the visiting pupils and accompanying staff.
Paula Askew, Careers Adviser, highlighted the lasting benefits of the day:
"Events like this are an invaluable part of our careers development culture. Giving students direct access to high-quality college facilities and expert tutors broadens their horizons early on. It connects their current studies directly with tangible, high value career paths and shows them exactly what amazing opportunities are well within their reach."
One of the pupils shared their enthusiasm for the day's competitive edge:
"It was so much fun because we weren't just sitting and listening. I really liked the practical tasks, especially the one where we got to give feedback to a real business owner about our preferred ice cream! The competition made everyone really competitive and brought out our best ideas. I also liked the fact that there were prizes and challenges throughout the day because it made us work harder, and working with the Sixth Form students was really good too.”
Congratulations to all the pupils for their hard work, and a huge thank you to the brilliant Blackpool Sixth Academy leaders and staff for making the day such a resounding success!
