Well, now that the weather is looking kinder to us across most of the UK we hope you’re feeling better and travelling is becoming easier for everyone.

We’ve taken advantage of the ’shutdown’ to get some new ideas down on paper, products created and materials off to the printers. Our next edition of The Courier newsletter will be sent out in the next 2 weeks so look out for that in your pigeonhole, on your doormat or through your letterbox.

MouldIT is our new competition to see what kind of creativity can be unleashed across the D&T departments at schools in the UK. We’re looking for prototype designs for moulds that can be put inside the Enterprise Soapbox kit and liven up the kits we send out to scholls across the UK and Europe. The website at www.mouldit.net will soon be live with full details of how to enter the competition and how to win an Enterprise Soapbox kit with YOUR mould design inside!

We have designed a new Enterprise Soapbox kit for Primary Schools called DeepBlueSoapbox which will be available from February with new lesson plans and ideas for workshops and products. Keep an eye on www.enterprisesoapbox.co.uk for order forms etc.

There is a new Eco-Fish kit for Primary Schools which will be available from March to enable younger students to benefit from the teambuilding, discussion, geography, citizenship and problem-solving learning skills in Eco-Fish. www.eco-fish.co.uk for info and details of our AMAZING 50% OFF DEAL on the KS3 and KS4 kit!

Finally we’re very excited to say that Matt at IE HQ has been putting the final touches to the new MILieU game cards which will enable students from KS2 through KS3 and KS4 through to Sixth Formers to discuss, research and carry out tasks that will link to their understanding of real-world issues. The cards will link to Citizenship, PSHE, Politics, Sociology and General Studies amongst other things and wil be available from the end of February. We’ve got a few sets to give away to triall so if you’d like a set, please Email Matt by clicking on his name.

Phew - that’s about it! If you need any mroe information please contact us through the websites, via @EnterpriseSBox on Twitter or via good old telephone on 0845 326 4818.

Bernie

We ran a SoapScience4YourSchool event earlier in this term for Duston School’s dual Specialism launch - they became only the 5th school in the UK with dual Science and Business & Enterprise status. As a linked launch event we were asked to provide materials and equipment to make soap products with all of their 1200 students. They did a superb write-up of the day from page 3 in their newsletter here:  http://www.thedustonschool.northants.sch.uk/sites/default/files/file/newsletters/Newsletter2009October.pdf

Remember if you want anything tailored to the EXACT needs of your school - whether it’s 120 or 1200 students, we can find a way!

Just call on 0845 326 4818 and speak to Bernie or Matt.

It seems like no time at all has passed since the last Global Entrepreneurship Week was here! As ever, we are busy delivering workshops across the UK during the week commencing 16th November, so if you have a requirement for a workshop or Soapbox kit, please let us know.

Since the last Enterprise Week we’ve developed the Enterprise Soapbox kit further by increasing the business content (look out for a new Business Pack CD Rom), improved the perfume choices, included more design flair for the carton packs and also changed the moulds.

We’re soon going to be launching a Mould-IT competition to get your D&T, science and business departments to be more enterprising and designing moulds for us to buy, use and replicate - so look out for the flyers and the next edition of the Courier newsletter for fulkl details.

Fancy a ‘SMELLOWEEN’ treat to give away, making ’SUDSEY’ Bears or maybe a visit from ‘SCENTA-CLAUS’!? There’s no better excuse to get making (and selling) soap than for these important dates in the calendar.

Excuse the appalling puns and have a think about how you could raise funds for charity, raise funds for the school or raise a laugh with friends by using Enterprise Soapbox kits at your school or Youth Club. Remember there’s 20% off before Children In Need day!

Yesterday we fortunate enough to work with Duston School in Northampton to help them to launch their new double specialism Business & Enterprise and Science. In an extremely ambitious day, 1200 - yes TWELVE HUNDRED - students made soap in business teams of six using our Enterprise Soapbox kit and competed to win a competition for 1000 VivoMiles reward points.

The year 10 students narrowly pipped the DSP Unit for the top prize by one point and were crowned the winners of the day, as judges by governors, local business people, Brian Binley MP for Northampton South and Rowena Bird co-founder of LUSH and an ex-pupil of Duston School. In a spirit of generosity and fair play, the head Jane Herriman awarded the DSP team 1000 Vivomiles as well!

The day was orgainsed by the Director of Specialism, Paul McFadden and his team including Amy Hunter, Julie Ricketts and Ashley Elliott. The day was a resounding success and thanks to all the students and staff there were some amazing designs created and some brilliant ideas brought into life. Much of the event was captured on BBC Look East.

Congratulations Duston and we look forward to seeing the school progress from strength to strength!

Children In Need is 20th November this year - where we all do daft things for cash to raise money for kids in the UK. The charity event with it’s roots as far back as 1927 has been a ‘telethon’ since 1980 and Pudsey Bear made his first appearance in 1985. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/

Many schools up and down the country will be doing something for Children In Need - in the past, some have even made soap! As Enterprise Week is the week before, we’re offering our full Enterprise Soapbox kit to you with a 20% discount if you want to use it during Enterprise Week to learn about enterprise through the kit, and then sell the products you make (real soap) for Children In Need!

If you want to take us up on this offer - just use the usual ordering processes on the contact/buy page and mark the order ‘CIN 09′ and we’ll do the rest!

One of our customers - Kings’ School in Winchester - must be one of the most enterprising in the UK!  They have 28 student businesses - some earning as much as £ 6000 per annum and one of the businesses is based on Soap - using our Enterprise Soapbox kits.

In a unique model, Stuart Johnson the Head of Enterprise at Kings’, takes a ‘KAT’ levy of 15% from all profits which goes towards real awards and rewards for the students and helps to keep the initiatives in the media and on the student agenda.

We’re delighted to support the Kings’ School and their enterprising young people with Enterprise Soapbox.

Thanks for looking at our website, there are loads of links to news on our Twitter page which we update frequently and also more details about how people have used the kit and our workshop SoapScience4yourSchool can be seen in the Case Studies section of the site - just see the navigation links at the top of the site.

As we always say, none of the programmes we do is ’set in stone’ we can adapt them all to your EXACT needs so get in touch if you want more of this, less of that or something other added!

Matt Kerslake has joined Innovative Enterprise and Enterprise Soapbox as Customer Support Manager - and will be looking after your needs from the start of our relaionship and then continuing to see you’re kept delighted with our workshops, products and service. You can contact Matt on 0845 326 4818 or through the info@innovativeenterprise.co.uk Email address.

We’re very keen to hear about what you want from Enterprise and Personal Development activities for the forthcoming academic years and so Matt will also be asking some questions about YOUR needs as a school and how you see your needs developing for KS3 and KS4.

So, please have a look round the site, and www.innovativeenterprise.co.uk and www.eco-fish.co.uk  if you need any more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me (Bernie) or Matt on the numbers included above.

Cheers

Bernie

Hi all,

due to popular demand (and a number of people saying it ’smells like Toilet Duck) we have replaced the Citrus Delight perfume in the Enterprise Soapbox kits and refill kits with a much more acceptable ‘Baby Powder’ scented perfume! Obviously this gives yet more choice for schools and organisations that make soap for sale to attract new markets.

With the workshop packs we have created designing soap for babies and children is a close second behind sports and glamorous people, so updating the perfume choice made a lot of sense to us.

If anyone would like a sample of the scent - or to suggest another alternative, please get in touch!

Cheers

Bernie

As well as Sir Alan’s Apprentices, we’ve been doing some homework and sums on the whole idea of Business Days using Enterprise Soapbox. As well as the hands-on fun students and staff experience, there’s a load of real-world business learning that can come from using Enterprise Soapbox.

As the year comes to a close and you’re looking for a way to help students relax, yet learn as well, why not try using Enterprise Soapbox as a fun super-learning / STEM / Time-Out activity?

Either just get the kit or we can come in and deliver it for you - so you get a relaxing day as well!