New KidZania Challenge puts enterprise top of the agenda for Global Entrepreneurship Week

The Ryman National Enterprise Challenge is the UK’s largest enterprise and employability competition for children aged 11-15. The secondary school initiative launched at KidZania, Westfield on Monday 13th November, championed by ambassador Theo Paphitis and new partner KidZania, who are launching the KidZania Challenge for children aimed at key stage 3.

The Ryman National Enterprise Challenge has specifically chosen Global Entrepreneur Week to celebrate its sixth year of developing enterprise skills amongst young people.

New partner KidZania is delighted to be working with The Ryman National Enterprise Challenge team this year on the key Stage 3 Challenge, which will this year be known as The KidZania Challenge.

The Ryman National Enterprise Challenge is a full day enterprise programme for secondary schools in the UK. Open to children 11-15 years old, the challenge is split into two categories KS3 and KS4. This year KidZania will launch the KidZania Challenge across schools, with the challenge open to pupils aged  11-15 years for KS3. Working in teams of six the students work on real life business challenges, This helps to develop the enterprise and employability skills of all the young people who take part including teamwork, communication, leadership, creativity and presentation. This year, KidZania and Ryman have set the challenges for the Key Stage 3 and 4 challenges respectively.

The KidZania Challenge tasks key stage 3 pupils to develop a new real life activity to launch in KidZania that would appeal specifically to their age group. Within this challenge pupils will need to use all these skills to develop a fun and memorable activity that is still relevant to the curriculum. They will need to define the job role, design and present how the activity will look and how it will be operationally delivered.  They will be asked to suggest the brand that they would like to approach to partner with, and the learning outcomes. The activity and brand partner cannot mirror a similar brand / activity that already exists within the City – so encourages creativity from pupils to develop something new and innovative.

Throughout this challenge, the pupils participating will will not only begin to understand how learning is tangible and how it’s outcomes have a purpose and a reality, but will also begin to understand how this can be communicated to others in a fun and interactive way.

Victoria Gregory Sales and Marketing Director at KidZania says; "We are excited to work with the National Enterprise team to see how pupils harness their skills. This challenge will be a test creatively and requires teamwork, communication, leadership and presentation skills. It aims to develop valuable business skills for the future. The only limit is imagination and we cannot wait to see what the children come up with!!”

The winning team from each school represent their school at the National Finals judged by Theo Paphitis, Kidzania and other high profile judges. This year the National finals will be on July 4th. 

The Ryman National Enterprise Challenge was first introduced in 2012 by cousins Ben and Michael Dyer when they were still students at University.

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Notes to Editor

- The Ryman National Enterprise Challenge is a trading name of The Inspirational Learning Group 

- There are two categories for the challenge key stage 3 and key stage 4

- This year’s challenges are being set by KidZania and Ryman 

- Each year the finals take place during the first week of July 

*Research comes from Ipsos MORI Young People Omnibus 2017. A sample size of 2,612 young people was carried out through a self-completion questionnaire across over 100 schools between February and May 2017. 

KidZania London offers 4-14 year olds more than 60 real life activities. Spanning across 75,000 square feet, KidZania is an amazing indoor city built just for kids! 

Blending learning with reality and entertainment, each career at KidZania is developed to teach kids essential life skills including financial literacy, team work and independence.

Designed to empower and entertain kids, KidZania gives children the chance to challenge themselves and explore the world of opportunities. If your child has ever dreamt of becoming a pilot, a firefighter or the next award-winning singer, watch the excitement on their faces as they try out real life activities! The concept effectively gives them their first taste of independence and gets kids thinking about what they might want to be in the future.