Dunbar Grammar Tame Dragons!

Dunbar Grammar school’s very own Dragon’s Den competition which was held recently at Dunbar Grammar school was a roaring success said Head teacher Paul Raffaelli. The competition which was sponsored by the BeGreen project was run along the lines of the famous Dragon’s Den BBC T.V. series where “would- be entrepreneurs” pitch their business ideas to a team of successful entrepreneurs to secure funding to deliver their projects. Five house teams at the grammar school pitched their projects which were aimed at helping reduce Dunbar District’s carbon footprint. The project ideas included: a mobile eco trailer to inform householders about renewable technology; installing two small scale wind turbines at the school to generate the school’s own renewable electricity; a school allotment to help promote healthy eating and sustainable food sources; a community/ school farm which would  be run by local volunteers and pupils thereby promoting community engagement as well as reducing  food miles by  producing locally grown food  and an information starter pack to inform and encourage householders to save energy and compost at home.

The five Dragons representing Community Windpower Ltd (BeGreen’s funders), British Energy, Lafarge, Sustaining Dunbar and Dunbar Grammar School were blown away by the quality of the presentations. Nigel Blair manager of Lafarge said “The students have shown great enthusiasm for the competition and the standard of the pitches to the Dragon’s was excellent. It was very difficult to make a decision and all of the students should be very proud of the work that they have completed”.

Project funding totalling £12,500 was split between three projects. £5,000 went to the Lauderdale team which will enable them to deliver their starter packs through the grammar and primary schools and £7,500 will be shared by the Cromwell and Castle teams who share similar project ideas. Both teams will  work together to develop their community farm / allotment project at the school .Winterfield and Victoria teams each won fifty house points for best presentation and best researched projects respectively. A further £2,500 will be used as prize monies for the winning teams.

“Philip Revell of Sustaining Dunbar was similarly impressed with the students’ enthusiasm, the quality of the pitches and their ability to think on their feet to answer questions and stated that “Sustaining Dunbar will look forward to assisting the winning teams to work up their project plans and make them a reality”.

Head teacher of Dunbar Grammar School Paul Raffaelli announced “I was immensely proud of my pupils and felt that I could ask the teams anything about their projects as did the other Dragons.  This made the experience very real for me and the young people.  This was a very good example of the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ in action”.

Ray Ball, Finance Director of Community Windpower Ltd echoed Mr Raffaelli’s comments. “I was extremely impressed by the pupils.  They were all very confident in their respective projects and the quality of the presentations and detail provided made the Dragon’s job of choosing the best scheme extremely difficult.  There are some budding entrepreneurs within Dunbar Grammar School. It was a pleasure to be involved.  Good luck to the teams with their project delivery .It would be good to come back in the future to see how the projects worked”.

Paul Winkle, Station Director at Torness Power Station said: “The competition was a fantastic opportunity to teach young children how different forms of energy are sourced and generated, and it encourages them to look at the environment in which they live, in a different way.   The children were extremely enthusiastic and I hope they can encourage the community reduce its carbon footprint. I am delighted to have been part of the competition.”