For my CAS project I successfully ran a club led by me and my friend named “Venture Den” . The club taught kids about pitching , marketing and business fundamentals, with the aim to help kis develop confidence in presenting business ideas . This Club helped me to develop leadership , collaboration , and teaching . I managed this club with my friend and we conducting this club once a week in our busy academic schedule to teach kids from 7-12 about the knowledge we have regarding this topic. Managing this club required balance , determination , strategic planning, adaptability and much more . This club had nearly 15 young learners from grades 7 to 12 who joined in our journey making it successful. We continued this club for an entire term until we completed the agenda and this run was incredible . This club helped me grow in numerous ways , from learning how to teach and mentor students to learning to manage a class and taking initiatives.
LO 1 : Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
Opening this club provided me with the ability to identify my strengths and see where I had weaknesses. One of my strongest skills was communicating and engaging a group, which proved useful in terms of making the sessions informative and interactive. Furthermore, I could organize lessons plans, meetings, and provide every session with an objective due to my organizational ability. But I also found areas where I had to develop. At first, I had a hard time delegating responsibilities, tending to do everything myself. But Eventually, I learned to trust others and work together, and this greatly enhanced the efficiency of the club. Another area where I struggled was keeping students motivated, particularly when the subject matter got complicated. This challenged me to be more innovative in the way I taught, using examples from real life, role-playing activities, and pitch competitions.
LO 2 : Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
Having run Venture Den Club was challenging in many ways, most of which made me step out of my comfort zone. Perhaps the biggest challenge was making pitching accessible to students with no experience. Some of them were intimidated by public speaking, while others were challenged by conveying their ideas in an organized way. To overcome this, I had to create new teaching methods, such as dissecting concepts into easy steps, involving group activities, and offering constructive criticism.Another difficulty was consistent attendance and participation. Some of the students came out of curiosity but lost interest later on. To combat this, I tried various formats like team pitch wars and games like shark tank to keep the sessions engaging and interactive. Through these challenges, I learned how to be flexible, patient, and creative in solving problems—abilities that will serve me well in both academia and the working world.
LO 3 : Initiate and Plan a CAS experience
Since I started this club as extracurriculars it was my responsibility that the club runs smoothly . I had to plan everything from scratch to run this club successfully which included me doing things such as planning curriculum , scheduling sessions, conducting classes , delivering content , ensuring engagement of the students, managing venue , taking attendance and much more . Although I was prepared before every sessions there were time when things didn’t go as planned , such as less attendance which caused me to modify the syllabus or not managing to find the venue and much more this required me to make changes at the last moment. Since I was running this club I had to make sure to improvise on each session based on student feedback , and over the course of these few months I developed on the same and tried to make each session efficient and enjoyable with thorough planning .
LO 4 : Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience
Venture Den Club management for a number of months demanded commitment, patience, and perseverance. There were moments when engagement was low, sessions did not go as intended, or academic pressures from outside forced it to be difficult to maintain. The club was scheduled early morning before regular school time which made it difficult for me and students to come here but my determination to run this club brought me to every session.There were times when I doubted that the club was having an impact, but witnessing students grow confident in their ability to pitch and implement what they learned on other aspects of life was profoundly gratifying. I came to understand that actual leadership is not necessarily about the momentary accomplishment but about working steadily and persevering through difficulty.
LO 5 : Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively
Although I initiated the club, I soon came to understand that teamwork was essential to its success. I collaborated with students who were skilled in business, entrepreneurship, and public speaking to make the sessions as good as possible. Also working with my peer helped me run this club successfully as he supported me when I had hard times conducting sessions and managing them. collaborating with him was really crucial for this clubs success. Besides, I promoted peer learning, where the students could rehearse their pitches as a group and provide feedback to one another.Teamwork was also involved in pitching competitions, where individuals were required to work together to come up with and pitch business concepts. Through these experiences, I gained the understanding that effective leadership isn’t about working alone—it’s about uniting people, creating a nurturing space, and harnessing everyone’s strengths.
LO 7 : Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Running this club also involved instruction in responsible communication. I had to make students realize that a successful pitch isn’t only about convincing but about honesty, transparency, and integrity in business. We used actual examples where deceptive pitches resulted in unsuccessful investments or unethical business decisions, highlighting the need for integrity in entrepreneurship. Also, as a student leader, I was responsible for making sure that the club was an inclusive and respectful environment. Inviting all students to join in and giving constructive, supportive criticism was necessary in keeping the learning environment positive.
Conclusion
Starting and running Venture Den Club was the most influential of my CAS experiences. It made me develop as a leader, a teacher, and a problem-solver while enabling me to disseminate information and provide a platform for learning opportunities for students to practicekey skills.This experience reaffirmed that learning is not just textbooks—actual learning arises from initiative-taking, overcoming difficulties, and contributing to the community. Venture Den Club not only assisted others in improving their pitching but also helped develop me into a better, more confident, responsible, and forward-looking person.
