Year 7 students at Abbot Beynes school participated in a two-week chocolate challenge to assess their skills in teamwork, reflection, independence, and creativity (TRICs). Students formed chocolate companies, designing products and marketing campaigns. They worked independently within roles like Company Director. Using iPads, students researched existing products and created advertisements. They pitched their products to judges, gaining confidence. The challenge allowed students to develop their TRICs skills through practical application.

1. K
W
OR INDEPENDENCE
ATIV
ITY
AM
CRE
T
E
Competency
Curriculum
Chocolate
Challenge!
Our
Year
7
students
have
been
putting
all
of
their
TRICs
knowledge
into
action
by
becoming
Abbot
Beynes
very
own
Willy
Wonkas!
They
have
been
creating
and
managing
their
own
chocolate
companies.
The
overall
aim
of
the
task
was
to
assess
how
well
the
students
could
utilise
their
skills
with
the
TRICs
as
part
of
a
two
week
assessment.
Students
were
divided
into
mixed
groups
based
on
their
TRICs
ability.
Their
overall
objective
was
to
work
as
part
of
a
team
to
create
a
brand
new
chocolate
product,
which
they
would
design,
make,
advertise
and
eventually
pitch
to
a
group
of
dragons
including
our
very
own
Mr
Church
in
a
Dragons
Den
style
challenge.
Each
group
was
given
a
list
of
roles
which
they
had
to
independently
assign
to
their
group
members.
These
included
Company
Director,
Product
Designer,
Factory
Manager,
Chief
Advertiser
and
Research
Manager.
Students
were
encouraged
to
choose
responsibilities
that
would
not
only
engage
them
but
enable
them
to
improve
their
TRICs
skills.
For
example,
those
students
less
confident
at
taking
the
lead
when
working
as
part
of
a
team
were
given
the
opportunity
to
lead
their
team
as
Company
Director.
With
roles
and
responsibilities
allocated
it
was
time
to
get
to
work!
Firstly,
students
had
to
decide
on
a
name
for
their
company.
‘LIKKL
Chocolate
Company’
and
‘Cocoa
Hama’
were
two
of
the
names
created
by
students
to
represent
the
names
of
their
group
members.
The
creativity
across
groups
was
excellent
and
they
went
on
to
design
company
logos,
slogans,
adverts
and
model
chocolate
factories.

2. The
iPads
proved
extremely
valuable
for
this
assessment
with
year
7.
They
allowed
the
students
to
carry
out
research
on
existing
chocolate
products
from
the
classroom.
They
managed
to
price
their
products
and
decide
on
the
best
advertising
strategies
through
internet
research.
The
iMovie
app
was
used
to
create
exciting
trailers
and
advertisements,
a
quick
and
easy
tool
that
allows
students
to
independently
record
and
create
short
films.
P
Throughout
the
assessment
the
students’
ability
to
be
independent
EL
was
vital.
Each
team
was
only
allowed
to
ask
a
teacher
two
questions
H
a
lesson
and
we
issued
help
cards
to
assist
with
this.
The
students
had
to
try
not
to
use
their
help
cards
thus
encouraging
them
to
make
all
decisions
and
solve
any
problems
for
themselves.
It
was
fantastic
to
see
them
making
a
conscious
effort
not
to
ask
for
help
and
most
groups
did
not
use
a
single
help
card!
The
students
were
encouraged
by
teachers
to
reflect
at
regular
intervals.
We
held
company
board
meetings
where
Company
Directors
had
to
discuss
with
their
team
what
they
had
achieved
as
a
group.
This
enabled
students
to
reflect
on
the
work
and
progress
of
their
team.
We
used
the
WWW
and
EBI
model
and
they
were
given
time
to
use
reflections
to
make
any
necessary
changes.
The
Dragon’s
Den
final
took
place
as
a
year
7
event
in
Evershed
Hall.
One
team
from
each
Competency
class
took
turns
to
pitch
their
new
product
to
the
dragons.
Completing
the
chocolate
challenge
with
a
year
event
had
a
significant
impact
on
the
students.
Not
only
could
they
visualise
what
they
had
achieved
but
it
gave
them
a
sense
of
belonging
to
a
school
community.
The
atmosphere
was
fantastic
and
for
many
of
the
students
it
was
the
first
time
they
had
experienced
presenting
to
their
year
group
and
their
confidence
soared
as
a
result.
The
chocolate
challenge
epitomised
the
TRICs,
team
work,
reflection,
independence
and
creativity,
allowing
the
students
to
further
develop
into
outstanding
learners.
All
students
displayed
fantastic
effort
which
left
us
feeling
very
proud
of
what
they
had
achieved.