Richard Branson praises school's £5 entrepreneurs

Sir Richard Branson says entrepreneurship should be taught in schools

Sir Richard Branson has praised pupils at an East Yorkshire school for their entrepreneurial projects.

Newport Primary School, near Brough, has been involved in the "Make £5 Grow" programme since 2020.

Under the scheme, pupils come up with a business idea and are loaned £5 to set it up, with the aim of returning a profit.

Over the years, more than 240 pupils from the school have taken part, with ideas including homemade jewellery, artisan soaps, candy floss, ice creams, and breakfast tuck shops.

Writing on his blog, Sir Richard, who is one of Britain's best-known entrepreneurs, said it was brilliant to see more than 200,000 students from about 3,000 schools had taken part in the programme since its launch in 2013.

He said he had "loved" reading about the projects at Newport Primary School, which demonstrated why entrepreneurship should be taught in schools.

Pupils say they enjoyed having the opportunity to run a business

"Their involvement began when a planned school trip to Northumberland was cancelled due to Covid restrictions [and] the school set up a school camp-out, which grew into a larger entrepreneurial project," Sir Richard said.

"The students have since experimented with various business ideas, including car washing, homemade sweet treats, ice creams, making arts, crafts, and jewellery."

Describing the experience of setting up a business, one pupil said: "The best part was seeing people love what we made."

The scheme is run by Virgin Money, which Sir Richard founded in 1995.

Debby O'Connell, the school's head teacher, said the children had been "empowered" by the programme because it had "planted the seeds of confidence, creativity, and community-mindedness that will serve them far beyond their school years".

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