‘Sud-cess’ for young Arundel tycoons in the making

THE sweet scent of success was wafting through the corridors at Arundel CE Primary School on Thursday (March 1), as young business tycoons started up their own company from scratch.

Entrepreneurial year-six pupils from the school, in Jarvis Road, were given a special, hands-on business lesson by enthusiastic students from The Littlehampton Academy.

A team of 12 enterprise ambassadors from the academy helped to inspire the Arundel youngsters to create their own “soaptastic” business for the day, by making a range of fruit-scented soaps that would have business leader and Apprentice boss, Lord Alan Sugar, rubbing his hand with glee.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Pupils slaved for more than three hours, designing their soaps, scents and packaging to the last, intricate detail, under the watchful gaze of the academy’s ambassadors.

Madalin Thompson, 14, who joined the ambassador scheme, last year, explained that the day was about more than just making soaps. She said: “This is a great experience for the kids. It really gives them a chance to learn just how a business works, from the ground up.

“We come in and help them with pricing and costing, as well as a bit of marketing, too. It’s then totally up to them what they do afterwards.

“They can sell their products, or keep them as gifts to show their parents.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This is just a brilliant opportunity for them to experience life, running their own business.”

Year-11 student Sam Kirkwood, who is also an ambassador with the academy, hopes to take his role as a junior business mentor to new heights later this year, after applying for a much-sought-after place on Lord Sugar’s hit BBC programme, the Young Apprentice.

The 15-year-old said that the scheme had given him the drive and ambition to apply for the position.

This is the third school students from the academy have visited in the past few months, with St Philip’s Catholic Primary taking part last Wednesday. St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School, in Littlehampton was visited in December. Pupils from the school even managed to sell their soaps to their parents.

Robin Josephs, enterprise co-ordinator at the academy, praised all the youngsters for their “impressive business acumen”.

Related topics: