Young Enterprise Northern Ireland

Since joining Young Enterprise Northern Ireland in 2024, Edendork Primary School has embraced the opportunity to bring practical financial and enterprise education into the classroom, helping pupils develop skills and knowledge that will support them throughout their lives.

Edendork Primary School is a Catholic maintained rural school with 289 pupils. The school community includes 44 pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN), 8.7% newcomer pupils, and 16.3% of pupils are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM).

Through its partnership with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, the school has delivered four programmes, giving pupils across different year groups the opportunity to learn about money, communities, enterprise and the world of work in an engaging and age-appropriate way.

Bringing the Community into the Classroom

A particularly important aspect of the partnership has been the involvement of Coalisland Credit Union, demonstrating the value that local businesses and organisations can bring to pupils' learning.

Kerrie from Coalisland Credit Union facilitated the Our Community programme with P4 pupils, delivering sessions over a number of weeks. Through interactive activities, pupils explored the role of businesses within their local community, how decisions are made and why we pay taxes.

The programme concluded with pupils putting their learning into practice by having fun designing their own towns, thinking about the different businesses, services and facilities a successful community needs.

Having a volunteer from a local organisation involved in the programme also gave pupils an opportunity to connect what they were learning in the classroom with the community around them.

From Learning About Business to Running One

As pupils progress through the school, their enterprise learning develops further through programmes such as Business Beginnings.

Business Beginnings gives pupils the opportunity to experience what it takes to create and run their own business. They explore ideas, make decisions, work together as a team and develop an understanding of areas such as budgeting, pricing, marketing and managing money.

The programme helps transform financial education from something pupils learn about into something they can experience for themselves.

The school's partnership with Young Enterprise has allowed pupils to build their knowledge progressively, from understanding their local community and the role businesses play within it, to making their own financial and business decisions.

A Foundation for Lifelong Financial Wellbeing

Mrs McAlinden, Principal of Edendork Primary School, highlighted the impact that Young Enterprise programmes have had across the school:

“The Young Enterprise Business Programme is a wonderful opportunity presenting primary school age children with real life learning experiences relating to financial capability. Children from P2 to P7 gain practical skills, confidence, and a sense of responsibility around issues related to money.

“The programme is delivered in an engaging and age-appropriate way. By P7, children are making thoughtful choices, they are asking insightful questions, and they have been given the opportunity to apply their learning beyond the classroom as they engage with members from a local bank in ‘Business Beginnings’ and the ‘Fiver Challenge’.

“Would highly recommend as the foundation of lifelong learning contributing to financial wellbeing.”

The Power of Partnership

Edendork Primary School's journey demonstrates what can be achieved when schools, Young Enterprise and local organisations work together.

With numerous Young Enterprise programmes already delivered since the partnership began in 2024, pupils are being given opportunities to develop financial capability, confidence, decision-making and enterprise skills from an early age.

The support of volunteers such as Kerrie and Coalisland Credit Union adds another valuable dimension, bringing real-world experience directly into the classroom and helping children understand how the lessons they are learning relate to everyday life.

For Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, partnerships such as Edendork Primary School are about much more than delivering programmes. They are about connecting education with the local community and equipping young people with the skills, confidence and financial understanding they need for their future.