Enterprise in Ramsgrange Community School
As Christmas approaches, Enterprise Season is in full swing for the students of Ramsgrange Community School who have been busy creating their own enterprises and selling their products. For most groups, the process started back in September when they began devising their ideas and developing their products. They are now all up and running and busy
The annual Christmas Market held in Ramsgrange Community School at the end of November would normally be the focal point for each of the Enterprise Groups where they would have the opportunity to showcase and sell their products to patrons who would come from near and a far. With Covid and current restrictions, it was unfortunately not possible to hold the Christmas Market this year however, that did not hinder the budding entrepreneurs who have been travelling to a variety of Christmas Markets across the region as well as selling directly through their own social media pages.
A selection of the enterprise groups include; Sunset Jewellery, run by Maggie Byrne (1st Year) who makes handmaid jewellery to order, Glassea, established by Eanna Grennan (1st Year) who creates art made from sea glass, Erin McNamara and Ellen Chapman teamed up for their enterprise, Simply Recycled, to design and make handmaid cards using recycled tissue paper from the dispensers in the school.
Since September 2020, a group of 2nd year History students, under the guidance of their teacher Ms. Dee O’Donohoe, have been busy collecting local stories and lore from their families and have compiled these fantastic stories into a book titled “Little People, Big Pasts”. The book contains a collection of over 25 stories gathered throughout lockdown by the group based on the past experiences of relatives of the students.
All the above groups travelled to the RDS Arena last Friday with Ms. Louise Walsh who spearheads Enterprise in RCS to attend the “The Contemporary Craft & Design Fair” which was run by Gifted. There they each had their own stand to display their products as well as being able to sell alongside well established professional craftspeople.
Other enterprise groups running at present include; a group formed by Anna Murphy and Emily McCabe (1st Year) who have made handmade & sustainably packaged bath bombs with their enterprise Bath Bliss, 2nd Year student, Evan Brennan, who creates Lego Mini Decals with his enterprise EB.Troops and also Kraveable Kookies, an enterprise run by Noah O’Connor (1st Year) who has combined his passion of baking with his desire make a positive contribution to the environment by baking and selling homemade cookies. Noah has pledged to donate 25% of all profits to Oceana, a non-profit ocean conservation organisation which.
Although the Christmas Market could not go ahead this year, a Student Enterprise Week has been planned for this week in the school where all Enterprise Groups will have their products and goods on display for staff and students to sample and buy.
All Transition Year students are also in the process of creating their own mini enterprises and are nearing the completion phases of their projects. All enterprise groups will be entering both the NFTE competition run by Foróige and the Student Enterprise competition (SEP) run by the Local Enterprise Office. Students of Ramsgrange Community School have been very successful in these competitions in previous years and this year’s Enterprise Groups will be eager to emulate the success of groups in the past.
You can keep up to date with all of the Enterprise Groups and more by following RCS Enterprise on Facebook which includes details of all current Enterprise Groups as well as snapshots of past groups.
