WHILE Lord Sugar is running the rule over candidates in The Apprentice on TV, youngsters at Porchester Junior School are starting out on the road to becoming successful businessmen and women.
As part of a school project they were asked to develop products which they could sell for a profit.
They were taught about the meaning of enterprise, creativity and teamwork.
They each chose their product, researched materials and ingredients, looked for the best prices and, wherever possible, negotiated deals with suppliers.
The children then looked at marketing the product and pitching it to potential customers using i-movie adverts.
It ended in a selling day where they competed against each other to see who could make the most profit.
Among the products on offer were glitter pencils, smoothies, milkshakes, gloopy gloop and chocolate.
The overall winners were the Budget Busting 5 team, who sold milkshakes and made a profit of £51.51.
In all, £163.02 was made from the teams' efforts.
School deputy headteacher Helen Beresford said: "We have never attempted anything like this before and were unsure how things would develop. However, the pupils worked extremely hard and gained new knowledge in key life skills and enterprise.
"I decided not to give the children ideas or prompt them but only guided them, and gave advice when it was necessary. That way, each group progressed at their own speed.
"Inevitably, mistakes were made, plans changed and refinements took place, but this just contributed to their own learning journeys.
"I am extremely proud of the pupils' undoubted skill and was delighted, not only at the amazing overall profit, but with the great ideas that the students were able to bring to fruition."
In spite of missing out on top spot, other teams were also proud of their efforts, including Sweet Success, who produced a selection of smoothies called The Wacky Whammy, which sold out very quickly. They came in a variety of flavours including orange and banana.
Team member Robyn O'Shea, 11, said: "We sold them a lot quicker than we expected. We were really pleased with how it went."
Billy Housden, ten, said: "We sold out in about ten minutes. We sold around 75 in all. It was really exciting. We learned a lot from it."
Rather than keep the money for themselves, the pupils decided to give the profits to charity, with cash being split between the Make a Wish Foundation, the RSPCA and Cancer Research.
