Middle Schooling at Millicent North Primary School

• Three classes: class sizes 30, 26 and 24
• Two classes are in an open space unit, one is in a regular classroom block.
• All three classes have a double space.
• NIT Arts teacher makes up a fourth member of the team.

• We had been looking for ways to involve all three Middle School classes in a joint project using middle schooling practice.
• There were problems because of the isolation of one class in a different building.
• Many students felt that they were missing out on things because of our different teaching styles. They saw what was going on in other classes and wanted to be part of it. This was seen as a way to give students that opportunity.
• None of the classes had done any career education during the year, and we had been looking for a different approach.

• A three week unit of work focussed on small business that produce a product (as opposed to those that provide a service).
• Students work in 26 groups of three to develop a fictitious company.
• Classes are re-divided into three new classes, each comprising of 8 or 9 companies. New class groups rotate through the teachers.
• The unit of work is divided into three main areas, Management, Employment, and Promotions. Each teacher takes responsibility for one of these areas.
• A fourth area, covered by the NIT teacher, was logos and billboards.
• It is a cross-curricular unit, incorporating English, Maths, SOSE, The Arts (Visual Art, Media, Drama), and Technology.
• Covers Key Competencies: Mathematical ideas and techniques, Working with others and in teams, Problem Solving Strategies, Collecting analysing and organising information, Using technology.
• Different teaching styles cater to different learning styles.

• Expand student understandings of the working world.
• Develop collaborative skills in students.
• Expose students to many of the Key Competencies in a practical way.
• Present some insight into why businesses operate the way they do.
• Encourage creative thinking and increased use of initiative.

• Students can communicate ideas effectively in group work.
• Students can work with people they wouldn’t normally choose.
• Improved ability to plan, manage time and use available resources.
• Students can demonstrate an understanding of some elements of small business.

• Students were divided into groups randomly. Within their own class students drew a company name from a hat. Altogether there were 26 companies. The aim of this process was to try to arrange for the Board of Directors for each company to have one member from each class.
• The staff gathered together with their lists of students and adjusted them to minimise the potential problem combinations.
• The companies were then sorted into three class groups, again with an awareness of potential problems between students.
• The program ran over three weeks, using a full Tuesday and Thursday each week. All three class teachers had their NIT on these two days, and this was used to involve the NIT teacher. Each class teacher had two lessons per day and a total of four lessons with each class group. The NIT teacher had three lessons per day and each class group a total of six times.

• Prior to the start of the program we had three introductory lessons providing the students with some background and the chance to get to know their group.

• Lesson 1: - In own classes discuss businesses and companies– local, state, national and international.

• Brainstorm ideas about what makes a productive and successful business … advertising, product with a market, etc

• Students draw their company name from the hat.

• Lesson 2: - All three classes get together and find out what will be their new class groups.

• Divide into the new class groups and a group goes with each teacher.

• Y-chart on working co-operatively: What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like?

• Within their companies students work on the tasks on the "Design and Product Creation; Consumers and Marketing" sheet, using the Action Plan pro forma.

• Three groups rejoin and outline the Rewards / Chance system to the group. (see separate explanation).

• Lesson 3: - We invited a guest speaker, Steve Chapple, to come and speak to the class about small businesses in the local area. Steve works with the local council to promote small business and attract new business to the area. Students had questions prepared and asked them after the presentation.

Money

To add to the realism of the project and give the students an extra motivation to work we instigated a money system.

• Each company started with a government grant of $1000.
• Money was earned through group work skills, staying on-task, completion of tasks, and other positive behaviours.
• Money was deducted through purchasing materials, asking questions that had already been answered, and fines for negative behaviours.
• Chance cards were used at the end of each lesson to replicate the unexpected changes that can affect businesses in any industry. These would either give the company a bonus of $50 – $100, or a deduction in the same range.
• A "Small Business Of The Year" award was awarded to the company with the highest bank balance at the end of the unit.
• A more detailed account of the money system is attached.
• We elected not to use the Stock Market idea as it complicated the financial record keeping.
• Financial records were kept by the students on the "Business Audit Form", and similar records were kept by the teachers on the "Company Finances" form (enlarged to A3 and double sided).

• Each teacher was responsible for planning assessment tasks suitable for the program they ran.
• Group skills were assessed to some degree by each teacher, covering initiative, on-task, flexibility, listening, contributing, speaking constructively, and valuing other’s point of view.
• A range of assessment methods were used including peer assessment, teacher assessment and student assessment.

At the end of the unit we conducted a "trade fair". Students each set up a display of the work their company had produced, including packaging designs, business cards, product samples, posters, billboards, job advertisements and mission statements. They then had the opportunity to discus their finished products with each other and to see what everyone else had achieved.

As with any unit, we reflected on the way things worked and how we would have done things differently. Below are some of the major issues that we felt we might handle differently if we repeated the program.

• Two full days each week detracted too much from the regular classroom program. It left us with a lot less time to work with our own classes during a term that was already cluttered with other programs.
• Many students were eager to participate and worked effectively with their groups, but as will always be the case, there were those that persisted in making life difficult for their company and cost their company a lot of money. These students deserve to be given a chance, but presenting them with an alternative option early in the unit (eg working in the front office) is important to avoid disadvantaging the rest of the group.
• Setting up the displays at the end of the unit is a time consuming process, and requires at least one or two extra sessions.
• Completing the evaluations for each section also requires an extra session.
• It was a big leap into random group work for many students who haven’t had much experience. Use of these strategies in individual classrooms over time, prior to embarking on such a project, is important.
• Our focus needed to be narrowed. We all tried to fit too much into four sessions.

The initial idea for this unit, and all the company names, came from the book "Creative Kaleidoscope" by Helen McGrath.

The staff involved were Tracey Thomson, Sophie Scott, , Andrew Fewster and Damien Nicholls.