Goytre Fawr pupils ‘take the biscuit’ at University of South Wales

University of South Wales (USW) hosted Goytre Fawr Primary School pupils at an event where they pitched business ideas to a panel of industry experts.

The Year 6 students had been tasked by their teacher, Matt Brown, to design a new brand of cookies. As a culmination of the ten-week project, teams presented their final work to Mike Gough, Goytre Fawr Head Teacher, Gemma James, Head of New Product Development, and Gordon Johnson, Chief Electrical Engineer, both from Llantarnam-based bakery, Burton’s Biscuits.

Home of Wagon Wheels, Maryland Cookies, and Jammie Dodgers, to name a few, Burton’s biscuits know what makes a successful brand of baked goods. The teams presented their design concepts, which included packaging and a scripted and filmed TV advert, to the panel and were given feedback. The panel then chose two brands as their joint favourites, ‘Cookie Crush’ and ‘Chocolate Dips’.

Matt Brown, Class Teacher, said: “We nicknamed this project ‘The Apprentice meets Willy Wonka’ and the class exceeded all expectations. In the run up to the presentation, they met challenges along the way, but they worked through them as a team, as they might do in real-life employment.

“I chose USW as the location because I wanted a space with gravitas that reflected the amount of work that they had put in. Also, this would be the first time that some students had been to a university, so hopefully this might inspire them to pursue higher education later down the line.

“Everyone we met at USW was so welcoming and lovely with the kids that I think it really put them at ease and made their pitches a lot easier.”

Lisa Taylor, USW Director of Education, said: “We have a long history of working with Goytre Fawr Primary School. Supporting schools to utilise our facilities is an important aspect of our partnership as is raising the aspirations of children and young people by making the university open and available to them.”