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Jo Evans

Emerald Frog has a “quacking” time with The Skills Service

Updated: Oct 18, 2023

I’ve had a great morning today down at the brand new LECA (Littleport and East Cambs Academy) secondary school working with The Skills Service on “The Ducks Enterprise Challenge”. This exercise was delivered to 83 Year 7 students as an activity to encourage enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Students took part in a manufacturing simulation to develop the following vital workplace skills:


• Team building skills • Problem solving skills • Communication skills • Leadership skills • Financial awareness • Raise awareness of employability skills • Raise awareness of personal skills • Presentation skills

Pupils were arranged into ten teams of eight. Each group is a company which makes ducks from paper and is in direct competition with the other companies.  Each company appoints an accountant, a buyer and a sales executive and establishes a production line for making the ducks.  They must source and buy materials, produce the product, sell the product and financially manage the company. The activity is ‘played’ over 5 virtual working days.

Buying supplies


Various problems/challenges are introduced at various stages of the activity to improve the pupils interpersonal, decision making and problem solving skills. Fines could be issued for poor working practice such as untidy working, or pushing in line and bonuses could be awarded for good working practice such as good manners or hard work.


My role in all this was to work in the Duck Truck Company as Buyer negotiating with the students trying to sell me their finished ducks. And the market I was buying for changed daily: logoed ducks, families of ducks, celebrity ducks, or halloween ducks.  The better their sales pitch and marketing, the higher quality their duck and the more it hit the brief, the more money they made. And I take some impressing.

J. Evans, Duck Truck Company Buyer.


Trading begins. Best sales pitches please and I’ll make you an offer. Maybe.


At the end of the activity the company with the most “money” wins the game. The winning team was “Rubber Ducks” with £780 profit. Well done Rubber Ducks and thank you to The Skills Service and LECA for a great morning!

The winning team “The Rubber Ducks”


(This was my favourite duck: Iron Man Duck. I bought him for a virtual £50!)

Check it out! Iron Man Duck. This was manufactured on “Celebrity Duck Day”


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