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
Team Terrarium have been working hard to produce some beautiful pieces. Wouldn't they be great for xmas pressies! Low maintenance and easy on the eye. These terrariums will be selling from $10-$30 dollars so make sure you pop along on Friday afternoon with some cash.
As part of our Business Time Inquiry, we are trialling the use of a programme called Banqer. Under this online programme all the students have an account and learn the basics of having a bank account and the idea of earning money, having costs and how interest affects them.
We had an interesting afternoon negotiating with students how much they thought they should receive as a daily amount, and what costs they should be paying for. In the end we agreed that they would each receive $200 a day and would have to pay the teachers (collectively) $70 a day, rental costs would be $70 a day and an additional daily charge of $10 for electricity and water. There were also a number of additional payments that we have discussed, which will be rewarded with Banqer payments - such as taking action for Student Council groups; volunteering for road patrol when someone is away and putting great effort into their work, etc.
We have introduced the idea of Banqer this week and are in the process of rolling it out to them. If you'd like to know more, please follow this link. Once everyone has their passwords they will be able to log on at home too.
After Jason had come in and spoken to us today about how he gets his ideas for new businesses, we thought about what ideas and skills we have that we could use to earn some money. We thought about what we could make and sell, and also what skills we had that we could use to perform a service for someone.
After a brainstorm in small groups, here are some of our ideas:
- smoking fish
- drawing - real fruit ice cream
- art
- doing gardening
- dollhouse
- designing
- soft drinks
- doing cleaning
- cupcakes
- pottery - football club
- bath bombs
- gmynastics lessons
- hot chocolates
- plants
- football coaching
- hairties
- making putty/slime
- drawing comics
What a talented bunch! Watch this space to see what we do...
