'Business Time!' - Market Day 2020

Promoting our wares in Tautoru prior to Market Day

Market Day 2020 was a roaring success, providing a host of wonderful learning opportunities and bringing our community out in force. Māhutonga Matariki are so grateful for the support shown to us and we invite you to watch this space as we decide how to do some good with the proceeds! 

It all began with our inquiry, 'Business Time'. We heard from our friends Bobby of Reusabowl and Andy Campbell, getting great insight into what it means to be an inventor. We learned how to go through the Design Process, from blue sky thinking to prototyping and creating. Promotional skills came to the fore as Market Day neared - posters, slogans, advertisements and jingles. In Maths we practiced dealing with money and calculating profit. Read on below for some student perspective. 

We started our Inquiry by going through the Design Process of an invention and looking at 'Thinkers Keys' to get our minds creative. We also made inventions, well when I say 'made' I mean thought of inventions to fix a big problem in the world - cats killing native birds.  When we finally started coming up with ideas for market day it was really easy, but funnelling it down to my top five was really hard. When I did finally 'funnel' them I didn’t pick what I thought would be the easiest or most fun, I picked them by what was the most sustainable and what was the most likely to get bought. All that work was actually for nothing because I ended up joining a group that already had an idea but I wasn’t that mad because it was a really fun idea - Cups (of lemonade, Cakes and Comics! 

- Hunter J

We had to identify a problem for little kids - but what? Little kids have lots of problems... they are always bored and need to learn to grow things. That's where we got the idea of Enviro Jar. When it came to getting absorbed I would give myself a 4 out of 5 as we would often lose track of time and do lots of work, then be amazed to discover it had only been half an hour. We had to think like inventors because we had to be original and also not too costly, especially because people had similar ideas and we still wanted to make a profit of some sort. This is why we partnered with another group doing something similar. I think our work was quality but that's not mine to judge, I'm just glad I did that inquiry and got such an opportunity.

- Greta L

Yesterday Market Day went really well and all of our products were sold. The cost for our product was $2.00 and our profit was $20. I bought a banana seal with a jersey, hat and a tutu/skirt, two jelly cube drinks (strawberry jelly and lemon jelly), a how to draw Homer Simpson book, a Harry Potter spell book with a wand, a cupcake and cookie, two little gardens and lots of other things!
- Aila B

We took a lot of time with our product, going through a complete Design Process, to make sure it was eco friendly. Also we thought about how it would be a reasonable price fair for us and others. Our group made exactly $51.10. We would have made around $66.10 but we needed to minus the costs. I am so proud of us, none of us were expecting so much. Next time I want a bit more time so we can make it better, but overall it was really fun, The design process, Making it & Selling it was AWESOME!
- Anastasiya SP

Transition Year 3, 4 and 5: The BAR key

Every Friday, Year 3 students work with the Year 4 and 5 students to get to know their new space, friends and teachers. 

Today we did a thinking activity called the BAR key. BAR makes things BIGGER, ADDS something and REPLACES something. We brainstormed lots of ideas and came up with some new inventions. Our students are very good at thinking outside of the box.

Thinking Creatively About Business With Jason

Jason came in to talk to us about how he uses his creative ideas to develop business ideas.  

We asked Jason questions we had thought about before, about the ideas which go into making a good business. He told us that he got sick of giving his good ideas away to other people and so decided to follow through and develop some of these ideas himself.  That is how he has ended up involved in so many different things.  He said he has a short attention span so likes to be involved in lots of different things.  

“I will touch a project at the start and at the end but don’t do much of the work in the middle”

Sounds great!  Some of the other things Jason said were:

The thing I’ve learnt in business most is that timing is everything. Timing is everything! The way you know the timing is right is by listening. I’m not a great talker but I’m a good listener.  By doing that I can work out what the problems are, what the problems people are facing and if it is a lot of people then we’ll set up a business.

When asked if his new business Dot Loves Data was a ‘want or a need’ he said that it was a need.  “There’s lot’s of data out there and people need to understand it.  Everybody is talking about data, there is a huge need for it and a huge want for it. Data can help play a part in tackling issues like obesity.”

It’s amazing to think that data packages they sell can do things as diverse as predicting the amount of customers a restaurant might cater to on any given night, how many hot meals they will sell and on the other hand, how many people will turn up to Wellington Zoo.

“I think in business and anything you are doing you should always looks to make improvements.  That’s the thing that’s exciting.”

When asked what his business would be like in the future? Jason said, “Someone else will be running it.  I will be sitting back, playing golf!”

It is great to see somebody who is thinking creatively and doing so much with it!  

Thanks Jason!