The Tyre Challenge
On Wednesday 19 October 2022, students in L4 and 4 worked in teams to develop their Enterprise skills through participation in The Tyre Challenge.
The day began with a discussion on what it means to be Enterprising and what it looks like in the real world. We looked at the statistics for how many members of Generation Z are already running their own businesses and how that is only possible by developing skills such as communication, problem solving, teamwork and collaboration.
Students were asked to reflect on their own strengths and skills and choose the job roles and responsibilities they would take on for the day. The challenge was then set – to create and develop an idea to recycle used car tyres preventing them from going to landfill. We had some fantastic ideas from shoes, phone cases, shelves and beds to clothes, cat homes, treehouses, and skyscrapers. The atmosphere and buzz in the room was great with everyone engaging, working together, and using those enterprise skills.
The winning team was ELO comprising of Olufunmi E (4), Eunice D (4) and Lucy B (L4) who designed a project that used tyres in the soles of shoes.
73% Agreed or strongly agreed to enjoying participating in the activity
75% said they improved their teamwork skills
64% said they were able to develop their communication skills
91% of students said they understood the importance of recycling
Every single student fully immersed themselves in the activity and interacted well with the two volunteers who joined us; Kevin Tollet who owns and runs an engineering consultancy and Matteo Marchesini who works for engineering company EniProgetti.
Kevin and Matteo helped students to relate their learning and the skills they were developing to the real world and the work they do. The were able to talk to them about the importance of blue-sky thinking, branding, and working together to solve a problem.
As part of raising their awareness on the importance of branding, students had access to a short film created by Barnes Intellectual Property that explained the importance of trademarking and copywriting their ideas.
Bringing L4 and 4 together helped to break down barriers, giving students the opportunity to work with people they had never met before and begin to build relationships across the year groups.
- QAS Careers
