Our Summer SkillBase Programme combined our Tech Lab and Enterprise Academy cohorts to work on the same project in different phases.
Our Enterprise Academy online community met from 5pm – 5.45pm twice a week for 8-weeks from 23 May – 20 July 2023 to develop a grant management app.
Then, from 3 – 7 July 2023, Business and ICT students from select schools and colleges in Aylesbury supported our Enterprise Academy cohort by participating in a Tech Lab at Bucks New University. Those students worked in teams to further the app development and created marketing concepts for how to promote the final app, before we presented the project via Microsoft Teams on 20 July 2023 to our sponsors Aylesbury Town Council and The Clare Foundation.
Project Aims
To build an app to manage the grant process for the Aylesbury Town Council and The Clare Foundation, in association with the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.
Project completion: 20 July 2023
The EA Project Brief
The app must be designed to help Aylesbury Town Council solve a problem they have that will be briefed to you on 23 May 2023.
Using Microsoft 365 tools, students will apply their new technical, teamwork and presenting skills to work on the project and take direction from the client to ensure the final app can be used in the real-world.
Participants will learn to:
Use Microsoft Forms to collect all data and store it in the Dataverse Apps.
Integrate the app with Microsoft Teams for alerts and messages and with Outlook for emails.
Integrate with Microsoft Planner for task tracking, job assignment, and alerts.
Create a PowerBi Dashboard to display key metrics.
Incorporate advanced technologies such as ChatGPT, AI, and Virtual Agents.
The Tech Lab Project Brief
Using Microsoft 365 tools, students will apply their new technical, teamwork and presenting skills to work on the project and take direction from subject experts to come up with a marketing concept for promoting the app using design and videography as part of their marketing tools.
Participants will learn to:
Work in small teams to fulfil the brief in the allotted time
Build on the PowerApp that EA students have been developing.
Design a video and marketing concept to promote the app
Present your project in a community exhibition and to a panel of judges
If you are aged between 14 and 24 and have an interest in Business and Technology, you’ve come to the right place!
All young people, but especially students from the Aylesbury schools/colleges participating in the July 2023 Tech Lab, are encouraged to take part in our Enterprise Academy.
This project is designed for new and existing Enterprise Academy (EA) students.
For newcomers who haven’t used the Power Platform or developed an app before, our EA will introduce you to the key things you need to know when designing an app and how to use the different Microsoft tools to do it.
For existing EA students, the project will continue to help you develop on previous skills learned and introduce more advanced features of app development built on the Power Platform, including new technology like ChatGPT, AI, and Virtual Agents.
As a student-led, online programme, students are supported by each other and through weekly after-school sessions with educators and business mentors every Tuesday and Thursday from 5pm – 5.45pm
Students will be given a Microsoft TEAMS login to collaborate on the project and manage their own self-guided learning to participate in the online EA community.
By the end of the project, students will have new technical, business, and personal skills to be proud of (including improved teamwork, presenting, and self-confidence), and will receive a digital certificate to reward their participation.
Project participants will be supported by Cloudy Foundation mentors, CloudyIT engineers, Aylesbury Town Council and Clare Foundation staff, Microsoft techies, and QA careers advisors, among other business and education industry experts.
You're Invited to Our Community Expo
The 15 student teams will be competing for best grant management app and marketing campaign for Aylesbury Town Council and the Clare Foundation, so will be pitching for your vote from their Expo stands.
Join us to meet the students and mingle with project and community stakeholders for an introduction to the designers, makers, influencers and disruptors representing the future of creative tech ed!
EA registration
After the enrolment process with parents and students, our project team is selected. The team will comprise of new and returning students from the Enterprise Academy, who commit to meet online every Tuesday and Thursday from 5pm - 5.45pm to work on this project over the following 8 weeks.
EA Development of the App
The students are supported by industry partners to build an app for Aylesbury Town Council that meets their brief. Each week, students will check-in on Microsoft TEAMS to develop their technical and employability skills with the team, participate in group quizzes, and have exclusive employer encounters to hear from special guests.
Tech Lab with Schools
From 3 - 7 July, students from selected Aylesbury schools and colleges will compete in small teams in our Tech Lab at Bucks New University. The teams will work on the two app concepts and develop a marketing campaign to promote it, before doing a final pitch for the winning concept to be chosen by the local community and a panel of judges.
EA Presentations
Students showcase their work on the app project in various check-in TEAMS meetings with the project sponsors and respond to feedback to make adjustments. The app is refined with the help of Tech Lab students, and the teams work together to prepare a final presentation to the app sponsors and community stakeholders.
App Launch
The final app is handed over to the council as part of a launch event involving members of the Enterprise Academy team presenting what everyone has done. Record of Achievement endorsements are given to participating students to support their future employment opportunities, along with contacts to support future apprenticeship aspirations.
Participants' Record of Achievement
We've captured the key accomplishments of all participating students on the project so that they can use this Record of Achievement to showcase the skills and knowledge they've learnt with potential employers and/or on further education admissions.