Pupils face Dragons’ Den-style contest in bid to win £8K for school

Teams of up to four pupils have the chance to win up to £8,000 for a special project in their Jewish schools this year – but must face a Dragons’ Den-style panel to win it.

The initiative from Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS), a division of the Jewish Leadership Council, is called PaJeS Pitch, because the primary and secondary school children will need to pitch their project to scoop the “substantial” prize money.

It is open to teams from Jewish primary and secondary schools across the country, and the six most promising teams to submit an entry – three teams from primary schools and three teams from secondary schools – will be selected as finalists.

These finalists will then present their ideas at the Jewish Schools Awards on 11 February 2020, with two teams announced as winners on the night. The winning secondary school team will take home £8,000, while the winning primary school team will take home £5,000.

The initiative is being supported by the Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG) and organisers said the winners’ funding should “make their dream project a reality”.

The PaJeS team has already visited several Jewish schools, including Sacks Morasha Primary School, Moriah Jewish Day School and Akiva Primary School, to explain the process. Akiva later decided to hold an inter-school competition to decide the best school entry. Application must be in by Monday 9 December 2019.