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Local students learn about the business world with help from UEL

Monday 9 March 2009

Soft sculptures for display in the window of Morrisons bakery in Stratford

Students from the Sarah Bonnell School in Deanery road, Stratford, teamed up with Morrisons Supermarket last week to get a flavour of life in the retail and business world.

Helena Appio, a trainee teacher on the Design and Technology PGCE at the University of East London (UEL) worked with the year 7 students on a project designed to help them understand the skills, realities and complexities of business.

The students had to design and make soft sculptures for display in the window of Morrisons bakery in Stratford to boost sales and entice customers into the store. Customers were asked to evaluate their sculptures and fill in a questionnaire from the students to see what they thought about the work and if it would attract them into the store and café.

Helena Appio said: “Everyone knows that we are living in difficult times and this project is a great way of helping students get a real taste of the skills needed to survive and grow in the business arena. We felt it was important to show the students the interaction with customers and managers and provide an insight into what might become their future careers, it’s great preparation!”

Customers at Morrisons liked the project and were happy to fill in the questionnaires.

Paul Norman, Assistant Deputy Store Manager at Morrisons said: “We are delighted to be working with the local community and this project is a good example of encouraging young people to learn about the industry".

Students also felt the project was a success and their hard work had paid off.

Alexis Edwards, 11, said:" Going to Morrisons really helped us, it made us more confident because we had to go up to customers and ask them what they thought about our work.”

Helena Henry, 11, said: "It was a really helpful exercise and gave us information that will help us improve our work".

Asha Mohamed, SB school aged 11 says,"I think it was a good opportunity for us and the public to say what they thought about our work. It was really useful to know what people thought".

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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