THE children of 5th Class in Spa National School have been working hard for the Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP), coming up with the idea of sketching their own set of unique postcards titled, ‘SPA’s Picturesque Postcards’.

And last week they received very special visitors in Colm Cooper and Kieran Donaghy to launch the project.

Teacher of the class, Niall Morgan, said: “We had a thoroughly enjoyable launch day last Thursday 10th March in the school hall, which was attended by special guests Colm Cooper (AIB) and Kieran Donaghy (PST-SPORT). We sold out of stock on the day and are busy manufacturing more product to satisfy orders in the school and local community. It is a delight to be involved in and has proved to be a resounding success.”

Each pack consists of five postcards involving local scenery and wildlife, 1916 commemoration and an Easter themed postcard.

The class was subdivided into five teams to see the project through to completion: Finance Team, Marketing Team, Production and Design Team, Sales Team and Story Telling Team.

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The project places a lot of emphasis on Team Work, Critical Thinking and Creativity and gives the children great confidence in terms of their Self Esteem and Social Skills.

The JEP is an entrepreneurial education programme specifically for Primary Schools. The programme allows children to conceive, develop and ‘bring to market’ their own business idea and the children gain a real insight into what it takes to create a successful business, whilst also learning about potential pitfalls and unforeseen difficulties that may arise. The programme links seamlessly with English, Mathematics, Visual Arts, ICT and Social/Personal and Health Education (SPHE) in the Primary Curriculum.