YEAR six pupils at St Mary’s Primary School in Bentworth have taken part in a Christmas Apprentice process.

The youngsters, who will move on to secondary school in September, worked in two teams to accomplish seasonal tasks. The Sparkling Sparklers made candles while the 366 Days of Fun made calendars.

They were followed throughout the process by two school governors, Ken Blanc and Debbie Spencer-Jones, and headteacher Jo Ayres.

Their challenge was to make as much profit on one stall at the Christmas fayre as possible, costing, producing and marketing the product themselves.

Each team had a project manager, price controller, advertiser, quality controller and designer.

They had to complete market research and were penalised for over-spending or using wider school resources.

It was tense in the boardroom for the final deliberations but, according to Mrs Ayres, “the children loved the whole scenario”, with the 366 Days of Fun eventually taking the trophy as the winners.

Overall, the children raised more than £150 for the school ipad fund.

Mrs Ayres said of the project: “As headteacher, I am very proud of my pupils. They have demonstrated that they can apply all the skills we teach them in a challenging and ‘real-life’ situation.

“The pressure was on to perform as a team, to lead your area of expertise and to make the best impact on customers to secure a sale. Our teams did that with calm, supportive and organised strategies and, of course, with lots of laughter and smiles.

“Thanks must go to my fabulous team of teachers and governors who made this an amazing experience."