The M&G Skills for Life Enterprise Challenge workshop gives students the opportunity to act as large-scale event organisers in charge of arranging a pop concert for 10,000 young people. Using maths 'by stealth', students analyse the information available to help them make informed decisions about which artists they can afford to hire for the concert and how to arrange the respective stage layouts. As well as the concert, students are also asked to consider the event’s catering and much more!
The workshop links mathematics to real life in a natural way and presents students with an opportunity to develop their mathematical skills and knowledge in addition to developing their softer skills such as communication, resilience, and teamwork. The following curriculum linked areas are covered (amongst others): profit and loss, budgets and wages, 2D and 3D shapes, averages, data, and more.
The key essential skills developed are Creativity and Problem Solving. The programme enables young people to be more aware and reflect on these skills by applying them across a series of maths-based tasks.