posted by Lesley Watson, business Liaison Officer, Schools & Learning
Micro-Tyco Challenge February 2016
The deadline for registration to participate in the February 2016 Micro-Tyco challenge is 3pm on Friday 15th January.
You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/1ML2MCu.
As soon as you register you will gain access to the Micro-Tyco learning resources to help you plan for the challenge.
To help with our administration locally, please can we ask (in addition to registering officially with Wildhearts) to also express your intention to participate to Lesley Watson (WatsonL@angus.gov.uk) ensuring support can be offered in the right places.
For those that are unfamiliar with the challenge…
Background – Endorsed by Babson College, the world’s number one school for entrepreneurship, Micro-Tyco is an interdisciplinary enterprise challenge from the WildHearts Foundation for schools and companies. Taking place every November and February, Micro-Tyco provides young people with ‘Inspiration, Knowledge and Networks’ to help them learn and practice fundamental business concepts in a “micro” environment. Some of the UK’s largest companies take part in Micro-Tyco too, using it as tool for spotting and developing talent. Deloitte use Micro-Tyco as a talent identification strategy in universities and schools, with students who excel receiving work placements, while companies such as Wood Group, SSE and Jaguar Land Rover use Micro-Tyco to develop their new graduates and apprentices. By taking part in Micro-Tyco your pupils will not only gain an experience that completely differentiates their personal statement and CV, they will also get the chance to build links with potential employers.
The Challenge – Schools can enter as many teams of up to 5 participants as they like. On the first of the month, each team receives £1 seed capital from WildHearts and is challenged to grow it into as much money as possible in four weeks. During the challenge teams receive world class business training via video from the Micro-Tyco Mentors, including Sir Tom Hunter and Lord Digby Jones. They can also interact with the other teams from schools and businesses via the Micro-Tyco social network.
At the end of the four weeks all the money created by the pupils is invested by WildHearts in microfinance in the developing world, helping thousands of people to set up small businesses to work their way out poverty. Participants ‘become Entrepreneurs to fund Entrepreneurs’. After the challenge participants receive monthly case studies, photos and videos from the people they have helped.
The Benefits – Not only does Micro-Tyco help pupils to become more informed Global Citizens, it demonstrates how business can be a force for good in the world. By associating business excellence with economic justice, Micro-Tyco aims to inspire the Leaders Our World Deserves.
Micro-Tyco is free and provides each school with:
- An entrepreneurial environment that unleashes pupils’ hidden talents, whilst developing creative thinking, resourcefulness, teamwork, financial literacy, communication and leadership skills
- Interactive learning resources and teachers handbook for staff to bring Micro-Tyco to life. These can also extend Micro-Tyco into an 8-week programme of learning
- An effective programme that meets How Good is our School’s Quality Indicator 3.3 Creativity and EmployabilityMicro-Tyco can also help schools and local authorities meet the recommendations set out in Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce strategy by helping to:
- Develop and strengthen partnerships between schools and businesses
- Increase vocational qualifications: Micro-Tyco is now SQA accredited giving secondary school pupils the opportunity to attain 50% of the NPA units in Enterprise and Employability (level 4) in Personal Development: Self Awareness and Enterprise Activity
View the skills map here: http://www.wildheartsinaction.org/repository/uploads/pdfs/MicroTyco_SchoolSkillsMap.pdf
Further Info – Further information can be found at http://www.wildheartsinaction.org/microtyco/schools.html
is an award winning interdisciplinary enterprise challenge in which pupils learn entrepreneurial skills and fundamental business concepts in a ‘micro’ environment
Further information can be found at http://www.wildheartsinaction.org/microtyco.
Alternatively, please don’t hesitate to contact Lesley or the team directly at Wildhearts – info@micro-tyco.com.
