Year ten business students from John Paul II School in Princes Way have won a London-wide competition for Young Entrepreneurs.
 
The event, which is run by Young Enterprise, took place on March 16 at Deutsche Bank’s offices in the City.

The JP II team picked up both The Innovation Award and the coveted title of Best Overall Company.
 
Their winning business is called ‘The Readables’ and produced a unique product - the totem pole bookmark.  This is aimed at children aged 5 to 13 years and is a reward system to encourage children to read.  Every time a reader completes a book they are rewarded with a totem piece to add to their totem pole bookmark.
 
The product retails for £2.49 and has been sold to several schools in significant quantities. It has also proved popular with families and at the recent Southside Shopping Centre Trade Fair stock was severely depleted.
 
Ten per cent of the company’s profits are donated to Save the Saveable Schools – an education charity based in Sudan.
 
Two members of the Young Entrepreneurs judging panel were so impressed they purchased a totem pole bookmark on the night.
 
John Paul II Headteacher Rob Cooper says he is incredibly proud of the team’s success:
 
“The students demonstrated teamwork, drive and enthusiasm and thoroughly deserved this accolade.  All credit to the team who presented and all the students who contributed to this fantastic achievement.”
 
The students who presented to the judging panel were Faysal Mobahriz, Atlanta Chen, Jolisa Golding, Luisa Vargas and Hamdi Hassan.
 
For more information on the Young Entrepreneurs competition visit www.young-enterprise.org.uk

For more information about John Paul II School visit www.johnpaulii.wandsworth.sch.uk

March 20th, 2011