PUPILS at Roysia Middle School, in Royston, raised almost £200 after organising their own school fayre. Like a scene from Sir Alan Sugar s The Apprentice, pupils were set the challenging task to form their own small businesses to raise money for a school

PUPILS at Roysia Middle School, in Royston, raised almost £200 after organising their own school fayre.

Like a scene from Sir Alan Sugar's The Apprentice, pupils were set the challenging task to form their own small businesses to raise money for a school trip.

Each business had to offer a product or service. They included sweet and drink stalls, a beauty table and a popular soak-the-teacher stand.

Pupils also had to create the brand or company name and design business cards and flyers.

Each group included a manager, marketing specialist, researcher and design artist, positions that were determined by mock interviews carried out by pupils.

The project followed a successful careers education day last term, where students learned important knowledge and skills necessary for the working environment.

Joe Davenport, head of Year 7, who oversaw the event, said: "After the careers day we wanted to put what they had learned into practice The children showed great imagination in setting up and running the stalls. They covered everything from research to advertising and even took care of the business side.

"They took the whole project seriously. Who knows? We may see a few of them working for Sir Alan Sugar?" he said.

Mr Davenport, who was one of the teachers in the firing line, said: "At the end of the day, they had sold all the food and drink, and all that was left was three wet teachers."

"It was a good way of getting the children to raise money for their own day out. It gave them an incentive to work even harder.