The Maritime Enterprise Game

Sea Vision is championing Halton Education Business Partnership's vision of supplying a free copy of the Maritime Enterprise Game to every secondary school in England.

What is The Maritime Enterprise Game?

The 'Maritime Enterprise' Game has been developed by Halton Education Business Partnership (Halton EBP) working in collaboration with the Sea Vision NW Careers Group.

It is a board game that helps to demonstrate key business concepts, linked to the national curriculum, in a maritime context.

How does it work?

The Maritime Enterprise Game revolves around the delivery of containers to customers via ships, ports and then onward transportation by truck. As in real life, while entrepreneurial skills are vital to success, there is also an element of chance: the roll of the dice and the 'ShipShape' cards can take their toll on otherwise astute proto-shipping magnates.

Students play the game in groups of five, with four taking responsibility for running competing maritime operations and the other playing the role of banker. Typically, the game takes between one and two hours to play, with the winner being the company having the highest value at the end.

Learning about 'Work-Related Learning' is a statutory requirement for all 14-16 year olds. Students playing the 'Maritime Enterprise Game' are able to do just that, by learning about business operations and demonstrating enterprising skills and qualities. They also gain a greater understanding of a range of economic ideas such as profit, risk and investment, all in the context of a game board that features key organisations that make up the maritime sector and therefore provides a real industry context.

The 'Maritime Enterprise Game' works because it provides a realistic learning experience and yet manages to make such complexities easier to understand.

Furthermore, it offers 28 organisations with connections to the maritime world - whose logos will appear on the board - an opportunity to sponsor a game which will be distributed to all secondary schools in England.

Opportunities for sponsorship

The board game has caught the imagination of students and teachers alike - 3,000 games were produced in the first production run and all of them have now sold out. The venture is being run through Halton Borough Council's Education Business Partnership and project managed by Halton EBP manager Andy Page.

Andy Page says:

"Between 2010 and 2012, we would like to see every school in the country receiving a free Maritime Enterprise Game, where the game board features one top company in each business sector, collectively representing a microcosm of the UK economy".

How can your organisation get involved?

The Maritime Enterprise Game offers 28 maritime organisations a unique opportunity to be part of an exciting project which will reach most pupils in secondary schools in England. Each of the sponsoring organisations' logos will appear on the boards distributed to schools.

Mark Brownrigg, Chairman of Sea Vision UK says:

"I think this is a very exciting opportunity for all involved; the game directly links to and underpins Sea Vision's fundamental objectives of promoting education about the maritime sector among young people - both in a general and specific sense."

More information about the original Enterprise Game can be found by clicking here and the by clicking 'different versions' and 'the maritime version'.

Production Details

Halton Education Business Partnership hopes to schedule the next production run of the Maritime Enterprise Game for early 2010.

The games will be distributed to secondary schools across England through the Institute for Education Business Excellence (IEBE). More fundamentally, the games will be distributed by member EBPs with hands-on training, to ensure full take-up in all secondary schools.

Become a national sponsor

For sponsorship of £10,000 p.a. for three years (ie. a total of £30,000), your organisation could be a featured national sponsor:-

This would enable the distribution of the Maritime Game to 4,900 secondary schools across England.
It would also provide each EBP with 20 Maritime Enterprise Games which could be used to promote the game and for 'big event' use over the following five years.

Mark Brownrigg, Chairman of Sea Vision UK says:

"In my judgement, this is a dynamic and effective board game which teaches the players the enterprise curriculum just by playing!

"It is very versatile and has been played successfully by a range of youngsters from early teenagers through to MBA students. The education component addresses work-related learning and enterprise in a way that is directly linked to the school curriculum.

"I would urge all Sea Vision partners to consider sponsoring the game as an interesting concept worthy of support. Its distribution offers a valuable opportunity to develop an understanding of key business skills in young people while raising awareness of the value and importance of the UK's maritime sector."

Vision	Education purpose	Key points	Business benefits for companies featured on Game board
A free "Maritime Enterprise Game" to all 4,900 secondary schools in England	Helping 14-19 year olds to understand both the crucial importance of the maritime & logistics sectors and key aspects of business finance such as assets, profit, cash flow and the balance sheet	1. Build on a proven classroom success (3,000 Games already sold out in phase 1) 2. 'Free' Games to schools via phased local launches (incl. training for attending teachers) during 2010-12. 3. Businesses featured on Game board will exclusively* represent their sector, forming a unique microcosm of maritime UK plc. 4. Endorsed by National EBP Network, Financial Sector Skills Council, the Road Haulage Association and the British Chamber of Shipping 5. The Enterprise Games are owned by 12 Halton schools and run as a social enterprise for no private gain ~ all costings are totally transparent td>	1. Enhanced profile and reputation among more than two million young players (and their families) from 22,000 schools, who will understand the importance of 'being enterprising' and how the maritime and logistics sectors actually work. 2. Earns 'prestige by association', highlighting the individual sponsor's leading position as the exclusive representative of their sector * 3. Contributes most relevantly to Government's "Economic Wellbeing" and "Enterprise" agenda in schools, at a time when more important than ever that young people grasp the essentials of business and labour markets. 4. Enables future workforce to grasp the key role of profits and the meaning of a simple balance sheet 5. Fulfils corporate social responsibility both cost-effectively and ethically ...and in a FUN way! 6. Offers PR opportunities for staff to engage with schools as Enterprise ambassadors ...and develop own key skills at the same time 7. Ongoing "good news" stories as this unique partnership between Halton's 12 schools, Halton Borough Council and a cross-section of UK businesses impacts across the country from 2010-12.

*The Enterprise Game will feature 28 maritime businesses (with their logo), as "customers" of the 4 ports / factories run by players of the Game. The "customers" are exclusively represented by one business sponsor.

Go to www.theenterprisegame.com to explore current versions of the Game.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Andy Page, from the Halton Borough Council Education Business Partnership, is keen to speak to anyone interested in supporting the production and distribution of the game across secondary schools throughout the UK.

He would be happy to explain in more detail how this will work and how this could benefit your organisation, contact Andy on 0151 471 7615 or 0151 471 7614 and Andy.page@halton.gov.uk.

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Over 90% of all of the world's trade is carried by ships. From computers to clothes, food to oil, shipping is vital to the global economy. Shipping is the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation and the industry offers a wealth of careers both at sea and ashore.