PUPILS at a Bandon school have won the Marketing Gurus title in the All-Ireland Junior Entrepreneur Awards (JEP) for their hand-crocheted crafts.

Sixth class at Scoil Náisiúnta Dhroichead na Banndan, stitched together a winning formula with their range - Cozy Crochet Creations – earning the Marketing Gurus Award for their JEP business.

After pitching several ideas in a classroom ‘Dragons’ Den’, crochet came out on top, and the class set to work creating a colourful range of handcrafted items for sale.

The pupils carried out market research with younger classes, bringing sample products and asking children what they would be willing to pay.

Zoe McCormack. (Photo: Jerry Kennelly)

The feedback helped them set prices that customers loved. While some pupils crocheted turtles, mushrooms, bunnies and jellyfish, others focused on finance, posters, brochures and presentations.

They also organised a raffle with a specially made hamper and created eye-catching promotional materials that helped sell everything they produced. The class generated a profit of €745, helping to reduce the cost of their end-of-year trip to Ballyhass Lakes.

One of the pupils, Abi, said: ‘I’m proud of all the effort, and grateful for all the help along the way, especially from our teacher Ms Madden. I would do it all again and have learnt a lot if I ever want to start a business of my own, like my dad. I have learnt a lot about teamwork, effort and of course crochet.’

There was another Cork winner at the Junior Enterprise Awards as Cork ETNS claimed the Genius Product Award for Bean There Done That, an eco-friendly handmade soap that gives used coffee grounds a second life.

The pupils created three scented varieties – lavender, violet and orange – with the recycled coffee acting as a natural exfoliant. The class divided into teams covering production, communications, finance, sales, and marketing and technology, with every pupil playing a role in bringing the business to life.

Sixth class in Scoil Náisiúnta Dhroichead na Banndan, celebrate winning the Marketing Gurus award. Pictured on left is teacher Aiideen Madden and right SNA Nuala O’Driscoll.

More than 130,000 children have completed the JEP since its foundation in 2010, with almost 10,000 completing it in the 2025-2026 academic year.

The free programme is a real-life, immersive entrepreneurship skills programme for fifth and sixth class primary school children, nurturing confidence, resilience, creativity, problem-solving skills, and teamwork and engaging pupils of all abilities.

The businesses created by the participating pupils have achieved sales of over €3.2 million. The profits generated belong to the participating class, who frequently opt to donate a proportion to charity.