“Tasty Toasties. Try the best toasties you’ve ever tasted.”
This was the sales pitch from one of the 28 stalls at Greytown Primary School’s market day run by Year 7 and 8 students selling a range of products including ice cream, cupcakes, popcorn, fudge, candles, bracelets, candyfloss, wheat bags, lip balm and bubble tea.
The event this month not only ensured visitors were well fed, watered and entertained, but the ‘tax’ levied on the students’ profits raised $1100 for the school’s Trip Trust Fund, providing financial assistance to parents and caregivers for school trips and excursions.
The annual event teaches students about profit and loss, payslips, tax and expenses, as well as how to develop, pitch, market and sell a product.
“It’s all very business-minded and part of the financial literacy and entrepreneurial inquiry unit,” teacher Jody Hart said.
“The students had to pitch their idea and do a mini shark tank for [their teachers] and then we built them up with workshops, like maths workshops, the financial literacy stuff and looking at the different tax brackets and things like that.”
Paying tax on profits was one element this year that “ramped it up a little bit” for students, Hart said.
Tax brackets mirrored New Zealand tax brackets, “so zero to $14,000, we made it zero to $14 is [taxed] at 10.5 per cent, and then 17.5 per cent, 30 per cent and 33 per cent”.
Some students took a little convincing of the merits of paying tax, Hart said.
“It was a hard thing for some of the kids to understand, but they all got their head around it.”
Knowing it was going to help students participate in school camp this year was a helpful incentive and taught them about equity and equality.
The students thought it “was awesome to be able to help out people”, she said, “and I think getting the understanding that actually not everybody can afford to do [camp], but it should be something everybody should be able to, you know, to actually go and do these things.”
Teacher Rachel Burt “loved the atmosphere” on the day.
“It’s great to see the results of the kids’ hard work,” she said.
Students running What the Fudge cooked 110 bags of fudge in parent Aimee Payne’s kitchen. Sweet Treats made over 50 cake-pops and cupcakes over two days, and Georgie Didsbury, Skylar Spencer and Zara Grant of Aroma Scents made nearly 40 candles.
“I have learned you want to be a good salesperson,” Georgie said, while Zara “learned about teamwork and helping each other”.
