GRADE six students from Mansfield Primary School hosted a series of pop-up markets last week with the Social Enterprise program a much-loved part of the annual curriculum.
Working in groups of six, students turned their ideas into real-life trading enterprises with products sold to the school community, each grade given the opportunity to attend the market.
Funds raised were then donated to local charities, students responsible for determining which causes they wanted to support.
Student Tasmin Van Der Hoeven said the most difficult part was deciding what to make.
''I liked how we worked as a team and how we were able to all try our hardest to make new products," she said.
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"We learnt to work well as a team, even though it wasn't easy at the start."
Student Will Friend really enjoyed working as a team and the process of choosing what to sell and make.
"My group learnt how to sew using the sewing machine - it was really fun," he said.
This year there were 12 groups who worked to create handmade goods for the school market days, with chosen charities like the SES, CFA, Rosehaven, Rural Australians for Refugees, Leila Rose Foundation, Jamieson Wildlife, Mansfield Christian Fellowship, Southern Cross Kids Camp and Mansfield Food Pantry all beneficiaries of the fundraising.
Schools all over Victoria participate in the program and this year, for the first time, a pop-up at the Queen Victoria Markets was opened to showcase a few chosen groups' products from across the state.
Two groups from Mansfield Primary School were chosen for their products to be represented in Melbourne, one group making macrame and crochet keyrings and bookmarks, whilst the other group creating handmade playdough.
''I really liked the hands-on making part of the program," said student Edie Gardiner.
"It's really cool that our products got chosen to go to Melbourne, we felt really proud of our work."
The program is proudly delivered by the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship (ACRE) and is part of the global Social Enterprise Academy Network.
