Woodside Nursery was honoured in the Scottish Executive's Determined to Succeed: National Enterprise in Education Awards. Staff at the 60-place nursery based at Woodside Primary School set up an Enterprise Week where children took part in a range of play activities designed to raise their awareness of concepts such as enterprise, advertising, money and teamwork.
The project's aim was to improve facilities in the nursery's garden by raising funds through a raffle. To attract donations for the raffle, the children visited other classes to promote the project and also learned how to deal with money via the sale of raffle tickets.
Nursery teacher Pauline Ross, who initiated the project, said, 'Not only did the children learn practical business skills, they also got a great sense of achievement from the project because they saw it through from the beginning to completion. With the 500 they raised from the raffle, the children were given the chance to look through the nursery equipment catalogues and choose items they'd like to see in the nursery garden.'
Presenting the awards in Edinburgh, Lewis Macdonald, deputy minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, said, 'We want pupils to be enthused by developing enterprising skills and attitudes through their learning - to aim high and not to be afraid of taking risks. This has to start with the youngest children and then develop through primary and secondary school so that young people can be ready for the world of work.'
Pupils from Cauldeen Primary School in Inverness also won an award for producing their own class newspaper, The Cauldeen Infant Express.
The awards attracted almost 200 entries from schools across Scotland. Their aim was to focus on changing attitudes towards enterprise and ensuring young people have the confidence and creativity to succeed in the jobs market.
