This half term saw the conclusion of the ABE Endorsed KidsMBA programme that our Year 8 pupils have been working towards throughout the year. The internationally recognised programme is part of the Year 8 curriculum and aims to provide future skills and business knowledge to unleash the entrepreneurship potential of the Prep School’s oldest pupils.

The ABE Endorsed KidsMBA has been identified as one of the world’s leading children’s entrepreneurship programmes by Forbes magazine (see story here) and it concluded with our second annual ‘Shark Tank’ event. The ‘Shark Tank’ event replicated TV’s Dragon’s Den, and the pupils pitched their business start-ups to three judges from both the Gresham’s and business community – we would like to thank Mr Paul Devlin, Mrs Ingrid Cox and Mr Charlie Mack for their time and support.

The business ideas varied from personalised Crocs, online stylists, upcycled sports equipment, ski safety devices and much more. The eventual winners ‘Sail Away’, sought to recycle used sails from the coastline to turn into eco-friendly, high-quality bags. This company idea will now be entered into this summer’s global competition, and all pupils involved will receive their certificate of course completion on Speech Day. Lloyd Stephenson, Head of Teaching and Learning at the Prep School, says “I would like to thank the parents, teachers and ABE for supporting the programme this year, and the pupils for being so creative and engaged throughout. We look forward to running the programme for the third year in September 2023 with our current Year 7 pupils”.

If you would like to read about last year’s Shark Tank event on the ABE website, please see this link.