Inverell High Horizons class to sell wares in Union Bar pop up shop

Required to create their own products to sell with marks based on profit, students felt overwhelmed by the daunting task. But now, as the class prepares to present their products to the public in a pop up shop in the back of the Union Bar on Saturday morning, both students and their parents are feeling confident.

“That initial meltdown I think had the children going ‘Where do I even start?’” mother Nicky Lavender said. She watched as her daughter Amber put together a children’s activity pack, tackling the problem of balancing her profit margin with value for money for the customer. 

“Where they’ve ended up is fantastic,” Ms Lavender said.

Tina Randall agreed, and admitted that at first she was “shocked” by the project her daughter Elise had been asked to do. 

“I didn’t know what to think of it, but me having my own business, thought ‘This is good, this’ll teach them a bit,’" she added.

Ms Randall was impressed by the creativity students had shown; one selling pamper packs to help people relax, another designing their own jewellery, while Elise made batches of slime and bath bombs.

She said the teenagers’ professional-looking products were impressive, and that she was pleased to see them develop their language and customer service skills.

Ms Lavender said the process of creating a business plan and learning to document and justify their decisions was a valuable life skill for the students.

As a local employer, she said “You tend to sometimes focus on people who have the experience already and are a bit more mature, and I find that there’s a generation at the moment that probably aren’t getting a chance because they are so young and naive and haven’t got the skills.”

She said project based learning gives students much-needed confidence and the experience to back it up.

“They will actually have the skills, the ability to communicate, the ability to be aware of their wider environment and not be so naive and arrogant in their approach. So I think it’s been great and I just hope it continues,” she said.

Ms Randall felt that the practical learning had broadened the year 10 students’ horizons, and taken off some of the pressure for their HSC. 

“It’s opened the doors for ‘I can be anything, whatever I want to be,’” she said. 

She was keen to see similar projects spread to the wider school community. 

“We’re really lucky that the school offers this program for the students and hopefully it filters through other classes,” Ms Lavender said.