Mr Bright brings us news of the Young Enterprise Oldham Showcase event..

And winner is….UnITe! Wow! What a night!

On Tuesday night the IT Pathway enterprise ‘UnITe’ won the ‘Best Company Award’ at the Young Enterprise Oldham finals. The event celebrates the hard work of different schools across the borough of Oldham and awards the best enterprises of the year. The event was held at Oldham College’s Grange Theatre. The night was a huge success for New Bridge and in particular the DIGIT4LL Key Stage 5 students based at Medtia..

The night began by setting up the trading stand, where fellow pupils walked around and looked at each other’s products..

Then the first of the tests, the judges! 4 businessmen and women from the local area walked around the trade stands asking questions, scrutinising the products and quizzing the students about their enterprises. Mitchell and Lewis certainly have the gift of the gab though and they charmed the judges. Stage one – passed! Next, there was an interview. Luke and Mitchell went in alone and returned 10 minutes later looking rather dishevelled and feeling that it hadn’t gone well. They had nothing to worry about though, they manage their own finances for the enterprise and that’s what the judges were looking for. Finally, the presentation…this is a 4 minute presentation given to over 200 people including teachers, headteachers, business people, fellow pupils and their parents! You can see for yourselves just how well they did..

Last year we won the ‘Best Presentation Award’ which I didn’t think could be topped. How wrong I was! At the end of the night, there were 5 awards handed out. First was the ‘Best Presentation’…it wasn’t us (What? They smashed it, I thought). Next, ‘Best Product’, and again it wasn’t us (‘A fix!’ I could’ve yelled)!. By the time it came to the last award of the evening, the most prestigious award, I remember thinking ‘Never mind, the lads did themselves proud, maybe next year’ but then those words were spoken which I’m sure will live long in the memory of the students and parents… “And the winner is…UnITe!” There were cheers of joy and tears of joy. What an achievement!!! I am so, so proud of the four students who represented the enterprise on the night and also all the students involved who have worked incredibly hard. Here is the moment the award was announced..

I must give a special thanks to Mr Handrick and Mr Slater who work tirelessly, often out of hours too, to support the Young Enterprise project we have set up at Medtia. It truly is amazing. As well as the awards last night, we are in the middle of so many other filming projects (Oldham Coliseum Theatre Performance, the New Bridge show and also St Anne’s show)..

We were even filming the Young Enterprise event as part of a year long documentary they have commissioned us to do – again, another paid job which the students are earning £500 from..

The enterprise has grown beyond recognition and helping the students to run this business is a very special achievement for everyone involved..

I hope you have enjoyed watching the videos of the students giving their fantastic presentation and the moment they won their award. Well done, guys! Get some rest and be ready for the first week back…when we will be heading to Manchester for the regional finals!