Long Tower Primary School - Turning Ideas into Real-World Learning
Long Tower Primary School is a Catholic maintained primary school in an urban area with approximately 260 pupils. The school serves a community experiencing deprivation, with 61.2% of pupils entitled to Free School Meals, 81 pupils (31.15%) identified as having Special Educational Needs, and 11.2% newcomer pupils.
Long Tower has partnered with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland since 2020, engaging pupils in approximately four different programmes, including Business Beginnings. Through this partnership, pupils are given opportunities to build confidence, develop financial capability and gain practical skills that connect classroom learning with the wider world.
Learning by Doing
Young Enterprise programmes encourage pupils to work together, solve problems, make decisions and take responsibility for their ideas. Along the way, they develop important skills including communication, teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, decision-making and financial awareness.
For Long Tower pupils, this learning has extended beyond the classroom and into the local community.
Business Beginnings: Luxe at the Tower
Through the Business Beginnings programme, P7 pupils experienced what it takes to create and run their own business. Working together, they developed their enterprise, Luxe at the Tower, created the promotional materials and sold their products to the public at Foyleside Shopping Centre.
This experience gave pupils the chance to put their learning into practice from developing an idea and promoting their business to working as a team, managing money and understanding the importance of customer service and sales.
The learning did not end once the sale was over. Pupils used the remaining funds from their Young Enterprise project to enjoy a visit to Ebrington Bakery, before spending time in Ebrington Square and Abercorn Park. As part of the day, pupils also wrote positive messages to share kindness within their community, bringing together enterprise, teamwork and community awareness.
Making an Impact
The partnership between Long Tower Primary School and Young Enterprise NI demonstrates the value of giving children opportunities to learn through real experiences. Pupils are not only introduced to money, business and enterprise, but are also encouraged to recognise their own strengths, contribute to a team and see what they are capable of achieving.
For a school serving a diverse community, these opportunities can play an important role in building confidence, raising aspirations and helping pupils develop skills for education, work and life.
Since 2020, Long Tower Primary School and Young Enterprise NI have continued to work together to make enterprise education practical, memorable and relevant helping pupils turn ideas into action and develop skills they can carry into their future.