ELvisproductionThe Elvis Production workshop started as a cooperation between the vocational branch of Sophianum Gulpen, As Videregeande Skole, L.P. Francoise Dolto in Guise, HTG Ihlow and The Ridgeway School in Wroughton.The aims were for students to work together online to improve their English language skills – possibly aiming for external certificates – and for students to emulate industry by researching and designing a product/service that can be produced by students in another school or an outside organisation and then sold.The educational rewards for students apart from the fun they have enquiring and learning are:

  1. External language exams proving that the student has a level adequate to work together, in English, with someone from abroad where applicable and desirable.
  2. ELvis certificates showing what they had done during meetings or during the whole process
  3. A school portfolio where applicable, showing international activities done by students.
  4. A school certificate where applicable, to go with the student’s diploma/final certificate with a list of Common Framework of European Competences (CFEC) achieved attached to it.

In order to make that possible individual schools did a few things:

  1. They looked at the necessity/desirability for language tuition for their students to get them on such a level that they can collaborate with peers abroad, using English as Lingua Franca.
  2. Meetings were organised to have students get acquainted with each other and think about how they could develop and design a product that they could produce and sell.
  3. The first idea for a quick success was to make things that could be sold on Christmas Markets in the participating Schools.

Guise Group cropped

After the initial stage it soon became apparent that it would be difficult to realise all that without outside help and we asked ‘Jong Ondernemen’ of Nederland Young Entrepreneurs / Enterprise without borders for help. They then stepped in and met up with us in Nijswiller (NL) to get the first Multinational Student firm they know of started with a business plan. The roles were divided and work could start in the individual schools.This production project will last until the end of school year 2014-2015. Updated on what has happened will be published in the ‘News’ section.

Presentation
Presenting ideas

Product models cropped
The models begin

The ELVIS Ridgeway School Student Workshop

31st March to 3rd April 2014

This workshop involved 55 students from 11 Schools across Europe. Students designed and made a product, including packaging and promotion, which would suit the shelves of John Lewis/Waitrose.

Ideas were:

  1. A design your own Apron kit
  2. A rice snack in a cup
  3. A pasta meal kit
  4. A custom T shirt production service
  5. A perfect pizza kit

All products were presented to a panel including John & Charles Beyton Senior Managers from Waitrose/John Lewis and James Povoas the Associate Headteacher of The Ridgeway School.
The presentations were stunning and the managers declared that they were astounded that students could from visiting their shops on the Monday have prepared product which they would be happy to stock on their shelves and the marketing associated with these products.

The winning product was the rice snack in a cup “Rice to go!”

 

Leave a Reply