Durrington High School demonstrates business acumen

The previous event, last October, involved 350 students, and the impact was felt on the whole of The Boulevard-based school.

The event was featured heavily in the Worthing Herald as it involved students working with the local community in enterprising ways to celebrate 50 years of secondary education at Durrington.

The success of the day led to the school being able to start planning its 50th anniversary this year and holding a celebration in January with the school's former students from the 1950s.

This event involved students in Year 10 working with local businesspeople such as MGM, B&W speakers, HSBC, Musicworld, Lloyds TSB and Southern Water to become entrepreneurs involved in the opening of a new theoretical music store in Worthing '“ which they then have to launch at an opening event.

Students used their enterprise skills to suggest ways that music and enterprise could combine to improve the school still further and benefit the local community.

Ideas that surfaced included an inter-school battle of the bands hosted by Durrington at the Assembly Hall, a campaign to get a big name music store to open in Worthing and a local music festival on the Durrington campus for the school's 50th anniversary in summer, 2008.

Students received a range of prizes worth more than 500 provided by CTS Computers, HSBC, Splash FM and Worthing Council.

The winning team, who were from tutor group 10J, belonged to Roddick Company (Durrington as a business and enterprise specialist school has "companies", not "houses") and won iPod Shuffles each, a DAB radio for their form room and the unique opportunity to use their business and enterprise skills to help organise the May SNAP event '“ as well as backstage passes to SNAP.

They were presented with their prizes by the mayor, Major Tom Wye, and representatives from the businesses supporting the event.

Major Tom said: "It was a pleasure to give the winning team a Worthing Council thumbs-up to give a verdict on Durrington High's whole school abilities of business sense, marketing, premises management, finance, staffing and event management '“ and say well done to the winning team.

"The council were proud to support the event and acknowledge the students' business and enterprise acumen."

Kevin Newman, enterprise leader at the school, was delighted by the high level of student enterprise skills: "Our students did us proud again and are now turning their enterprise skills to consider how we can support the community as a whole and apply these enterprise skills across the curriculum further.

"Our OFSTED report said we have an 'increasing emphasis on enterprise skills' at Durrington and these can help us 'raise standards and achievement further' still.

This is why we value our students developing these vital skills in enterprise days to prepare them for the world of work and success in life."

Durrington High is now looking forward to its final enterprise day in July, when the students will be facing an even more challenging task which will aim to help the local community as well as benefit this ever-improving school.