Montfort Junior School
Entrepreneurship has never smelled so Good!
The Heat is On!

From 29-31 March 2004, Montfort Junior primary 4 students baked their hearts out at Prima’s Baking Industry and Training Centre. The boys extended their classroom training to include experiencing the intricacies of the production details of the baking business themselves. Earlier in the classrooms they had learned how to set up their own bakery, formulate market strategies and calculate their profit and loss statements.

Flour Power!

“We wanted to make the entrepreneurship workshop meaningful for the children and did not want to stop at theory and mock settings within the classroom,” said Kathleen Yao, co-founder and trainer of The Little Entrepreneur (TLE) “Thankfully, Prima - Spring Singapore Baking Industry and Training Centre (BITC) agreed to sponsor the programme so that the entire primary 4 level could benefit from the activity.”

Principal Judina Cheong is also grateful for the arrangement. “Since the school is a non-profit entity, we are always seeking out close partnerships with industry players for the benefit of the students. And of course, the benefits reaped will eventually redound to society. BITC has been very generous in giving our boys this opportunity.” The teachers are equally delighted as the activity will also bring many scientific and entrepreneurial concepts to life. “While baking they will learn about different forms of measurement, temperature, transfer of energy and more importantly, they will gain a deeper understanding of creativity, exploration and experimentation as well as teamwork.”

Meanwhile, the boys are donning their chef uniforms and rubbing their flour powdered hands in delight as they learn to make pizza, muffin, cookies and apple crumbles in an industrial production setting. More importantly, they get to test their own concoctions. Yao (TLE) adds with a smile, “This is the real test of the marketability of their recipes. Its one thing to make up something on paper that sounds good and another to actually make it work in real life. The good thing is, the boys can just eat up any ‘failures’ and move on!”