Open Evenings - Selling Business & Economics to the Parents & Students

It's that time of year again when the gathering hoards descend on the school to assess the options for Year 10 and beyond. We asked the 500+ Business & Economics teachers over on the tutor2u Linkedin Community hether anyone had tried something different at open evenings to freshen things up a bit? We got some great responses, some of which we've shared below.The tutor2u Business & Economics group on Linkedin is a great way to connect directly with colleagues from the UK and around the world. It's free to join - so come over and introduce yourself!

Kirsten Russell reported back:

I had a noticeboard with where my students had ended up called "Where they are now"...with the year they studied, a photo, what they did next and where they where currently working. I thought it might attract some interest but I was very surprised at the number of parents who spent ages reading through each of the student profiles. I also had background music with all the theme tunes to famous business programmes and I had a powerpoint with pictures of business trips, students working etc which I turned into a video playing on the SMART Board. My student helpers turned up suited up and we offered tea and coffee (one of my sixth former baked cakes!) to encourage them to linger! Finally we had a competition, I bought a Churchill speaking dog from the Churchill website, which said oh yes and there was a business logo competition for all students to enter. We did all the other stuff too, student work etc We had experienced a decline in numbers only 65 at GCSE and A level... in the last 2 years we have seen numbers increase to 152! The E-Bac hasn't managed to hit us yet! But throughout the year I keep the department profile high, competitions, newspaper articles, interesting trips, interesting lessons etc

Bob Hindle wrote:

At an Open Evening this week every subject had created an interactive task for students. One involved a Business noticeboard - a selection of business logos were laid out on the table, each featuring a colour pic and some space below for students to write (about 1/3 page of A4 in size). In 50 words, they had to pick a firm and explain why that company was 'worthy' of going onto the noticeboard, add their name and school attended. A bit of early ownership of classroom space. Some volunteers also had their contributions filmed, with a montage sent to their school.

I also used Kirsten's theme above- a piece of blue A4 paper, portrait style and laminated adapted along the lines of the 'Famous Person lived here' signs on buildings. It noted the student's name, school attended, result and destination. Great in my book for raising aspirations. My classroom wall always has a 'Roll of Honour' featuring the name, school attended and destination of any student who gained an A since I started there (I pinched the idea from the Honours Board at Lords Cricket Ground...)

Claire Rowley suggested:

This year we did some Gourmet Crisp taste testing, using the scenario of the students setting up a small catering business supplying local companies for ad-hoc meetings. The students entered the results using Google Forms to create an online spreadsheet. Parents and prospective pupils lingered with us and asked lots of questions, and we were also then able to ensure that they viewed our ICT facilities too. Just downstairs from us, we have the Hospitality and Catering dept, so they either had just come from there or were on the way! (However, salt and vinegar crisps may be a bit strong!!)

Scott Milne described his approach:

Put together a display with 6 currency notes from around the world. Kids had to guess which was the most/least valuable. Had some sweeties as prizes/rewards for having a go. Accessible for all ages, and some of the parents got very involved!

John Wells reflected on a recent change in approach to open evenings:

Having done presentations in the past I have now taken to having a more informal discussion and have a series of quiz activities etc, logo quiz is always popular with parents, they always think they know them......, and which business produces which product e.g. bottles and washing powders and 'Uncle Bens rice' always get a surprised look .....I get the kids to prepare these in the week before which they like and is often good creative learning!

I have taste test challenges (Crisps / chocolate / fizzy drinks), Guess the entrepreneur with the product and many other interactive activities. It just provides an opportunity to start a discussion.

As does Heidi Watkins

Coke blind taste testing to look at influence of branding.