Eden Girls’ School hope to take 2018 Mosaic Enterprise Challenge title
A team of young entrepreneurs from Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest are set to compete for the title of 2018 Mosaic Enterprise Challenge grand final winners.
The five Year 8 pupils formed Team Ed-Wise when they devised an app to revolutionise how supply teachers are sourced in schools through their involvement in the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge.
Delisha Naaz, Imaan Abdalla, Mariyah Saddique, Saara Ahmed and Sedra Afzali together beat teams from other London schools in the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge regional final in March. The teams of 12 and 13 year olds pitched their business ideas to a panel of acclaimed judges from industry and enterprise.
Now Team Ed-Wise from Eden Girls’ School is preparing to compete in the grand final on Tuesday 8 May in London, at the offices of international law firm Hogan Lovells. Here they will pitch their business idea alongside finalists from other regions of the UK including the North West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Glasgow.
Pupil Mariyah from Team Ed-Wise commented:
“We are very excited to be competing in the Mosaic National Finals and represent London, Star Academies and Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest. We have been busy preparing for the final pitch and we hope to do everyone proud on the day!”
Pupil Sedra added:
“We are feeling very confident about the Mosaic National Finals as we have been working very hard. Our mentors, Mr Khalid Khan and Ms Holly Bathgate, have been supporting us tremendously throughout the process and we have learnt so much about business from them.”
The overall winners of the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge 2018 will win a prize of £2,500 for their school plus a further £500 to invest in developing their business idea and making it a commercial reality. Previous winners have also enjoyed tea at 10 Downing Street and a unique tour of Clarence House.
This is the second time a team from Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest has got through to the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge National Grand Final. Back in 2016 Team S-Mart from Year 7 became the youngest ever Mosaic winners; their winning idea was an e-commerce site where students could sell items including up-cycling goods to reduce waste.
This year Team Ed-Wise have come up with an ingenious idea to connect supply teachers to schools directly without the ‘middle man’, therefore saving on costs in the current environment of school budget cuts. This money can then be reinvested back into the school to improve facilities and resources for students.
Aamena Mayet, Assistant Principal of Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest, said:
“Team Ed-Wise have been working exceptionally hard; they were in a league of their own at the London Regional Finals and we have high hopes for the National Finals. The students have developed a strong business acumen through this process and it is clear that they are future entrepreneurs. We are ecstatic and a little nervous to be representing all of London in the Grand Finals. However, we are the home team and hope that this will boost our performance on the day!”
Run annually, Mosaic’s Enterprise Challenge is a national competition that aims to inspire knowledge, raise aspirations, confidence, self-efficacy and long-term employability among secondary school pupils from some of the most deprived communities across the UK. Supported by specialist, volunteer mentors from across the business community, students compete for six weeks in an online business game where they must develop, market and sell a new product.
Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest, a free school, opened in September 2014. The school, judged ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in June 2017, has pupils in Years 7 to 11. For more information about the school, visit www.edengirlswalthamforest.com.
From left Mariyah Saddique, Sara Ahmed, Imaan Abdalla, Sedra Afzali, Delisha Naz.
Added By: Aisha Ayub | Date Added: 27th Apr 2018 | Posted In: Good News Stories, Latest News