Four students from Yavneh College are well on their way to being technology entrepreneurs after developing a winning app to improve education during a 14-hour hackathon in Finchley.

Jack Perchick, Iftach Sella, Ben Stankler, Izzy Sinclair formed a four-teen team called Better Learning and pitched their personalised education app to a range of judges including directors at Google and high-tech investors, who were left impressed.

In total 50 children of different faiths attended the first-of-its-kind event from schools including Hasmonean, Etz Chaim and St Albans School, with nine teams comprising up to six children of different ages.

The hackathon – which was media sponsored by Jewish News – saw teams develop a Virtual Reality (VR) app, interactive online textbooks and computer games designed to motivate students to learn, all of which left organisers from Acorn Aspirations and Jewish Interactive in awe.

On Tuesday 21st November year 10 GCSE artists went on a trip to Tate Modern.

The purpose of the trip was to introduce students to a wide variety of art and inspire their own art practice.  The trip was a real success as students’ feedback was exceptionally positive, especially about their realization of the enormous variety of art and a much greater understanding of the academic importance of the context of each piece of art.  This was evident in the enthusiasm in which they completed the ‘treasure hunt’ task Ms Jacobs set them – finding different artworks in the many galleries across the site – and the studies they did of their chosen artists’ work.  All students benefited greatly from the visit, especially our AG&T and SEN students.

Since the previous update of our progress in the Young Enterprise competition we have been exceptionally busy and diligent- buying, promoting, and in particular, selling. Our team of keen entrepreneurs have dedicated themselves to this worthwhile extra-curricular activity and have consistently directed three meetings per week in order to succeed in this venture.

After a period of decision making- and many, many different company names- the verdict was made to register as ‘Stand It’ and to sell pocket-sized mobile technology stands. From this point, our logo was then designed on Adobe Photoshop to achieve a high standard, professional finish; this design has since been entered into a national contest in which our logo (as pictured below) will compete against every registered team.

Furthermore, we have obtained a sustainable amount of start-up capital by the means of selling shares to friends, family, and staff of Yavneh College- we used to this to acquire our initial batch of three-hundred units, varying in colour.

After liaising with the Senior Leadership Team, our company gained the opportunity to have a stand in the foyer of the school during a lunchtime, giving the team valuable experience in selling our products to a segment of our target market: youths. In the week prior to the opening of trade, we created promotional posters which outlined the details of the stand as well as our pricing strategy- they were then distributed throughout the school, focusing on the areas which are visited frequently.

On the 1^st December, we held the stall during lunchtime, boasting the versatility of our product via the means of pitching and complementing this with attention-grabbing music. For our first day of sales, the team exceeded all expectations, and sold in excess of one hundred and twenty give units, covering all of our registration fees and the costs involved in procuring the stock.

In the forthcoming weeks, we are selling our product at multiple fairs, including the Sinai Jewish Primary School Chanukah Fair and Tesco Extra (Watford) Young Enterprise Fair, on Sunday the 17^th of December; expect to see a supplementary update outlining our future accomplishments presently.

I would like to thank all those who have already contributed to our venture through purchasing the product or investing in shares. Moreover, the hard work of Mrs. Davis and Mr. Pieters must be recognised for their persistent support to myself and the team.

If you wish to purchase any stands- or for any further information- please contact us via e-mail: stand.it@mail.com. Alternatively, our business activities can be followed through Instagram- @Stand_It_YE and Facebook.com/Stand.It.YE

David Summers

Managing Director of Stand It.