PRIMARY school pupils are getting lessons for an enterprising life from a financial institution belonging to one of the UK’s best known entrepreneurs.

Four schools in Darlington are taking part in Virgin Money’s Make £5 Grow project.

Under the project, headed by the Newcastle-based bank and delivered by the Newcastle Education Business Partnership (EBP), with support from Foundation for Jobs, each pupil in a class is loaned £5.

The pupils then have to develop and make products they can sell, with any profits retained by the school after the loan is repaid to the bank, headed by Sir Richard Branson.

The aim is to get children thinking about enterprise and business skills at a young age so they form part of their development moving forward.

On Friday, two of the Darlington schools involved spent a half-day session making bags from raw materials, as a practice for the real challenge which will begin in the next two weeks and run until December.

Lisa Caley, year six teacher at Corporation Road Primary School, in Darlington, said: “I think it is a great opportunity which allows the children to demonstrate the skills they have.

“It builds the children’s confidence by demonstrating what they are capable of achieving, while linking to the critical skills projects we run in school. It is about developing the whole child and raising their aspirations.”

Fiona Lindsay, deputy headteacher at St Teresa’s RC Primary School, said: “They have worked together so well as a team and had to show selfrestraint by giving each other tasks they perhaps wanted to do themselves.

“It was lovely to see the ideas they came up with and the inspiring speeches they gave, standing up confidently in front of everyone.

“It shows projects like this have a real value in school, teaching the children what the real world is about.”

The other two schools involved will start work on their projects in the next few weeks.

Paul Lloyd, marketing director for Virgin Money, said “We’re delighted to bring Virgin Money’s Make £5 Grow challenge to local schools in Darlington.

“As well as being really good fun, it offers the children a great learning experience in terms of developing a small business, based on an initial loan of only £5, and then running that business to make their money grow.

“The schools benefit from all profits generated and, who knows, we might just unearth one of the great entrepreneurs of the future.”

Tracy Allison, general manager of Newcastle EBP, said: “We work to raise standards in schools and the achievement of pupils by adding a work-related dimension to the curriculum.

“We have been involved in the Make £5 Grow project since the start and have seen first hand the benefits that it brings to the children who have participated.

“We are delighted to be able to support the development of employability and enterprise skills in children in Darlington schools.

“Being able to provide a real-life context for learning engages children and makes the experience more exciting and valuable, often staying with them for years to come.”

One of the key aims of Foundation for Jobs, a joint initiative to combat youth unemployment involving The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and The Darlington Partnership, is to build links between schools and business.

Children who have links with industry while at school are up to five times less likely to be unemployed at 25.