Competency  Curriculum  Chocolate  Challenge!  Our  Year  7  students  have  been  putting  all  of  their  TRICs  knowledge  into  action  by  becoming  Abbot  Beynes  very  own  Willy  Wonkas!  They  have  been  creating  and  managing  their  own  chocolate  companies.  The  overall  aim  of  the  task  was  to  assess  how  well  the  students  could  utilise  their  skills  with  the  TRICs  as  part  of  a  two  week  assessment.    

Students  were  divided  into  mixed  groups  based  on  their  TRICs  ability.  Their  overall  objective  was  to  work  as  part  of  a  team  to  create  a  brand  new  chocolate  product,  which  they  would  design,  make,  advertise  and  eventually  pitch  to  a  group  of  dragons  including  our  very  own  Mr  Church  in  a  Dragons  Den  style  challenge.    

Each  group  was  given  a  list  of  roles  which  they  had  to  independently  assign  to  their  group  members.  These  included  Company  Director,  Product  Designer,  Factory  Manager,  Chief  Advertiser  and  Research  Manager.    Students  were  encouraged  to  choose  responsibilities  that  would  not  only  engage  them  but  enable  them  to  improve  their  TRICs  skills.    For  example,  those  students  less  confident  at  taking  the  lead  when  working  as  part  of  a  team  were  given  the  opportunity  to  lead  their  team  as  Company  Director.    

 

 

 

 

 

With  roles  and  responsibilities  allocated  it  was  time  to  get  to  work!  

Firstly,  students  had  to  decide  on  a  name  for  their  company.  ‘LIKKL  Chocolate  Company’  and  ‘Cocoa  Hama’  were  two  of  the  names  created  by  students  to  represent  the  names  of  their  group  members.  The  creativity  across  groups  was  excellent  and  they  went  on  to  design  company  logos,  slogans,  adverts  and  model  chocolate  factories.    

 

 

TEAMW

ORK    

CREATIVITY

   INDEPENDENCE      

 

 

 

 

 

The  iPads  proved  extremely  valuable  for  this  assessment  with  year  7.  They  allowed  the  students  to  carry  out  research  on  existing  chocolate  products  from  the  classroom.  They  managed  to  price  their  products  and  decide  on  the  best  advertising  strategies  through  internet  research.  The  iMovie  app  was  used  to  create  exciting  trailers  and  advertisements,  a  quick  and  easy  tool  that  allows  students  to  independently  record  and  create  short  films.    

                                                               

 

                                                     

                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  students  were  encouraged  by  teachers  to  reflect  at  regular  intervals.    We  held  company  board  meetings  where  Company  Directors  had  to  discuss  with  their  team  what  they  had  achieved  as  a  group.  This  enabled  students  to  reflect  on  the  work  and  progress  of  their  team.    We  used  the  WWW  and  EBI  model  and  they  were  given  time  to  use  reflections  to  make  any  necessary  changes.    

The  Dragon’s  Den  final  took  place  as  a  year  7  event  in  Evershed  Hall.  One  team  from  each  Competency  class  took  turns  to  pitch  their  new  product  to  the  dragons.  Completing  the  chocolate  challenge  with  a  year  event  had  a  significant  impact  on  the  students.  Not  only  could  they  visualise  what  they  had  achieved  but  it  gave  them  a  sense  of  belonging  to  a  school  community.  The  atmosphere  was  fantastic  and  for  many  of  the  students  it  was  the  first  time  they  had  experienced  presenting  to  their  year  group  and  their  confidence  soared  as  a  result.    

The  chocolate  challenge  epitomised  the  TRICs,  team  work,  reflection,  independence  and  creativity,  allowing  the  students  to  further  develop  into  outstanding  learners.  All  students  displayed  fantastic  effort  which  left  us  feeling  very  proud  of  what  they  had  achieved.    

 

 

HELP  

     

Throughout  the  assessment  the  students’  ability  to  be  independent  was  vital.  Each  team  was  only  allowed  to  ask  a  teacher  two  questions  a  lesson  and  we  issued  help  cards  to  assist  with  this.  The  students  had  to  try  not  to  use  their  help  cards  thus  encouraging  them  to  make  all  decisions  and  solve  any  problems  for  themselves.  It  was  fantastic  to  see  them  making  a  conscious  effort  not  to  ask  for  help  and  most  groups  did  not  use  a  single  help  card!