NFTE
Congratulations to the 7 mini company groups who took part in the Regional final of the NFTE Business plan competition in the Innovation Centre in Sligo IT on 12th of April. The school was represented by Buzzy Books, Rachel’s Heavenly Homemades, Hanging High, The CleanB, New Dimension, Language Learning and Slide It Up. Rachel McPartlin was chosen to represent the Sligo Leitrim regional at the National Finals in Dublin on May the  ​

Slide It Up Win Special Merit Award in the 16th Annual Student Enterprise Awards
Slide It Up representing Co. Leitrim and St Clare’s Comprehensive School, Manorhamilton win special merit award in the Junior Category of the Student Enterprise Programme. The St Clare’s Comprehensive School, Manorhamilton, 1st year pupils Clive Moffitt (Blacklion), Caoimhin McManus and Matthew Gilmartin (Glencar) developed a tube squeezer as part of a Student Enterprise Competition. The name of their mini company is Slide It Up and they competed in the junior section of the competition against other 1st years from across Ireland.  The young tycoons say that their “Slide It Up is an innovative product aimed at helping people conserve products and save money. It is multifunctional and practical and easy to use with most tubes. It’s an ideal accessory for everyone and useful for squeezing the last drop out of toothpaste, creams cosmetics, ointments, lotions, gels, adhesives, hair tints, paints etc out of their tubes. Our product is available in 4 different colours and allows all of our customers to say goodbye to waste. Our product is also aimed to help the 915,000 Irish people living with arthritis to get the last amount from your tubes by people performing the simple task of sliding our product over their tubes”. Slide It Up tube squeezers are stocked in Gilberts Pharmacy in Manorhamilton, Belcoo Pharmacy in Fermanagh and Embodyment Beauty salon in Carrick on Shannon.
 
The programme, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the LEOs, had a total of 230 teenage entrepreneurs, aged between 13 and 18, from 77 different enterprises, competing at today’s National Final, with every local authority area represented.
This year’s Student Enterprise Programme attracted 23,600 student participants from 480 secondary schools around the country. Starting every September, the enterprise education initiative helps students gain the skills and practical knowledge of running a real-life business.
Congratulating this year’s winners and their schools, Minister Breen said: “Whether it’s generating business ideas, developing markets or selling to customers, students taking part in the Student Enterprise Programme throughout Ireland have consistently shown a passion and flair for business and enterprise. Entrepreneurship is the backbone of the Irish economy and initiatives such as the Student Enterprise Programme are key to developing Ireland’s future enterprising culture. I’d like to congratulate this year’s winning students and schools. I hope their success will inspire more schools to sign-up for the next programme in September through their Local Enterprise Office.”

Sheelagh Daly, Chair of the Network of Local Enterprise Offices said: “We have seen over 150,000 students learn how to successfully run a business in the 16 years of the Student Enterprise Programme, thanks to a long-term partnership between local schools and Local Enterprise Offices. The Programme is by far the largest enterprise initiative for schools in the country, and year after year we see brilliant ideas and businesses that not only succeed at school level but that also succeed at national level. Judging by this year’s finalists and winners, the future is bright for Ireland’s entrepreneurs.”
The students have received support from their parents, school and teachers, including business teacher Ms Gallagher and from the Local Enterprise Office in Co Leitrim. Leitrim has had an outstanding record of success at national level with one or more of our county projects achieving awards on an almost annual basis. St Clare’s Comprehensive School has won the top award in 2013 with Squeazy winning the senior title; the school has been awarded 5 awards at national level in the last 6 years.
 
 

Best wishes to Matthew Gilmartin, Caoimhin McManus and Clive Moffitt who represent Leitim in the Junior Category of the Student Enterprise Award in Croke Park on May the 2nd and to Javotte Hanlon who flies the Leitrim flag in the Senior Category. The junior entrant is called Slide It Up and the Senior Entrant is called Buzzy Books. The Student Enterprise Programme (SEP) is the biggest enterprise competition for students in Ireland. It helps students to grasp real life skills associated with running a real enterprise including working as part of a team, managing production and finances, organising a sales and marketing campaign and liaising directly with customers, judges and the media. Of the 22,000 students from 620 secondary schools that took part this year, teens from 76 student enterprises have won a place at this year’s National Final in Croke Park on Wednesday May the 2nd and students from every county across Ireland will be demonstrating their businesses and inventions for the judging panels on the day. Best wishes girls to the students and their teacher Ms Gallagher.

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​Mini Company students showcase at the National Craft Fair in the RDS
Students are busy working ont heir mini companies behind the scenes. Producing products, carrying out market research and marketing their products. On Wednesday the 6th of December TY students will be fortunate to showcase and sell their products at the National Craft fair in the RDS. This is a fantastic opportunity as it gives the young people involved in the mini company programme an opportunity to practice the skills they have acquired during the programme and to gain confidence in themselves and their business. The mini company programme is run each year in the school by Ms Gallagher. Thank you to Foroige NFTE for providing the stand. The school will also hold its annual Christmas Fair on Thursday the 14th of December. 

​North West Hospice
On Thursday the 14th of September the staff in St Clare’s organised a coffee in aid of North West Hospice. Now in its 25th year it is Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning with all funds raised locally stay locally, so all proceeds from coffee mornings held in Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal will go directly to North West Hospice. Thanks to Bewleys, the national sponsor of Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning, all coffee is provided free to organisers. The staffroom looked like something out of the Bakeoff with Ms Brennan’s macaroons, Ms Ni Donnacha’s brown bread and Mrs Beirnes’ lemon drizzle cakes. The students also held a non uniform day for the North West Hospice on Tuesday the 19th of September.
 
Bows and Bands Bowtique members Orla McManus, Ciara Kilkenny and Eimear Gallagher made a presentation of €235 from their mini company profits to the North West Hospice. THe girls mentored by Ms Gallagher won the Intermediate section of the Leitrim Student Enterprise Awards and represented Leitrim in Croke Park last May. 

​All Ireland Final in Croke Park
Best wishes to Ciara Kilkenny, Orla McManus and Eimear Gallagher who will represent Leitrim in the Intermediate Category of the Student Enterprise Awards on Wednesday the 3rd with their company “Bows and Bands Bowtique”.  The Student Enterprise Programme (SEP) is the biggest enterprise competition for students in Ireland. It helps students to grasp real life skills associated with running a real enterprise including working as part of a team, managing production and finances, organising a sales and marketing campaign and liaising directly with customers, judges and the media. Of the 22,000 students from 620 secondary schools that took part this year, teens from 76 student enterprises have won a place at this year’s National Final in Croke Park on Wednesday May the 3rd and students from every county across Ireland will be demonstrating their businesses and inventions for the judging panels on the day. Best wishes girls to the girls and their teacher Ms Gallagher. 

 
On Tuesday the 6th of March students from second level schools from across Leitrim competed against each other in the Bush Hotel for the County Final of the Student Enterprise Awards. St Clare’s had five teams contesting the Junior and Intermediate prestigious awards.


At Junior Level we had ‘Kul Jewelz’ Eimear Feeney and Erica Greene, ‘Creative Coding’ Conor Torsney, Liam Torsney and Hugo Finan and ‘High Heel Guardian’ Laoise Doherty and Chloe Dolan. At Intermediate level we were represented by ‘Bows n Bands’ Ciara Kilkenny, Orla McManus and Eimear Gallagher and ‘Phone Bling’ Aimee Burns and Joanne Gilgunn.
This year the school had great success with Phone Bling placed 2nd in their category and Bows n Bands won the Intermediate Category going forward to represent Leitrim in the National Final, in Croke Park on Wednesday May the 3rd.   
T
he Student Enterprise Programme was introduced in the 2002/03 academic year. Now more than 15,000 student businesses are set up annually in schools all around Ireland. St Clare’s has been represented by 6 companies at various levels over the last 5years at the National Final, taking home 4 awards. In St Clare’s we believe in the importance of educating students at an early age to gain practical experience of how business works.

​hrough the Student Enterprise Awards the students experience, at first hand, the reality of a commercial environment and develop the skills and knowledge of running a business. Ms Gallagher coordinates the Enterprise Programme in the school each year. Thank you to Brian Dolan Enterprise Consultant and to Nicola McManus and Joe Lowe at the Local Enterprise Office for their continued support. 

​Enterprise Week
1st and 2nd year mini companies promoted their businesses in AIB Manorhamilton on Tuesday the 1st and Wednesday the 2nd of March as part of Enterprise week. Thank you to the staff at AIB for facilitating them and to all who purchased their products.