BSCS Students Captivated by Entrepreneur
The students of Bradley Stoke Community School were captivated by entrepreneur, Willie Harcourt-Coozes as he told the story of his life and his journey from dreams to business success. Year 12 Student, Courtney Preston, has sent us the following account to share with all our readers:
Willie spoke of his childhood spent on a farm on a small island off the South West coast ofIrelandand the hardships and joy they experienced living self -sufficiently. Willie was educated in England and Ireland, however after the death of his father and a nasty mugging at age 18 he found himself feeling “confused about the meaning of life”.
For several years after this he experimented with different jobs, but Willie failed to find his niche and so set off to travel acrossSouth America. This visit was the beginning of a love affair withVenezuelaand cacao which would eventually lead to his success.
Willie evoked the beauty of the cacao farm that would begin his chocolate manufacturing career, describing the farm as “like magic” and “one of the most amazing places in the world”.
To Willie’s delight, the owner of the farm invited him to stay for a while. It was then that Willie first began experimenting with cacao perfecting the art of making hot chocolate. He described that, although a small moment, it was in fact “a life changing moment”.
After the collapse of the Venezuelan economy Willie returned toEngland. He emphasised to students throughout setbacks you need to have the passion and resilience to hold on to your dreams.
Willie publicised his journey to be the first chocolatier in Britainto make chocolate from the bean on Channel 4 Willie’s wonky chocolate factory and Chocolate Revolution: Raising the Bar. The publicity combined with a massive amount of hardwork resulted in the Willie’s cacao taking off.
Everything from recruitment to managing VAT was sorted by Willie himself. The risks were massive on his behalf but this wasn’t going to stand in the way of his desires. He borrowed £10,000 from his mother and large amounts of money from the bank to send the business in the right direction and gain the publicity that his new business needed.
From there onwards Willie’s cacao market became increasingly big. He was soon travelling around the world distributing his products and doing talks. One of the students asked Willie about his international experiences in business, to which he spoke about the difficulties he experienced but highlighted the importance of looking for every opportunity and accepting that you won’t be successful every time. Amazed by the determination and resilience demonstrated by Willie, nearly every student found themselves thinking about what they could achieve.
When asked about his next steps, he revealed that the next big move would be a working chocolate factory open for visitors so that he could provide a unique, educational experience that will hopefully inspire people to understand more about real chocolate.
One A-Level business student, particularly inspired by Willie’s story, asked what advice he would give to somebody who wishes to one day be as successful, and received the answer “the best advice I could give is to dream big and then follow your dreams”.
After lots of intrigued students eagerly asking their questions, Willie ended by telling us that you need to “let your passion drive you” and gave each student delicious cacao products to try themselves.
There is more information about the products, the recipes and Willie himself on http://williescacao.com if you find yourself intrigued, inspired or just wish to see the products.
We are pleased to be invited along to Bradley Stoke Community School on Friday 13th July to take part in an award ceremony in recognition of their Courtyard Classroom project. 
“The Courtyard Classroom offers so many opportunities to link science with wildlife” said Peter Stafford the school’s Science Technician. “Nothing we teach about ecology and science could possibly be as riveting as watching the transformation that this courtyard garden will make to our immediate environment. Our pupils will witness the colonisation by plants, trees, birds and insects and their observations will be used by the science department to link straight back into their curriculum. We are delighted with the support that Wessex Water has given us through this Award.
John Lewis Cribb’s Causeway Partners have voted for Meadowbrook Primary School to receive a mini- orchard donated by the company. The orchard of English apple varieties was planted by children on the morning of 21st March. The project was co-ordinated by the Forest of Avon Trust, the local tree charity, which will be on hand to help plant the trees and provide guidance about how to look after them. 
Local schools are inviting members of the community to go along along and enjoy some festive spirit at their annual Christmas social events.
With over 1,000 signatures already backing the local petition for a range of additional safety measures on Bradley Stoke Way in Bradley Stoke, volunteers were out in force at the Willow Brook Centre this morning to gain even more support.
In response to the horrific RTA on 30th September, which left a Year 9 Student from BSCS in a critical condition and a motorcyclist in hospital with a broken arm and broken leg, local parents have formed a pressure group.
A Bristol-based hockey club is awaiting confirmation of its new Guinness World Record™ for the longest hockey match in history. 
Golfer Ben Davis, a pupil at Bradley Stoke Community School, walked away with three of the four winners’ trophies from yesterday’s Gloucestershire Junior Championships at Lilley Brook Golf Club.
14 year old Connor Loughlin from Bradley Stoke Community School has won the competition to design a leaflet to promote the Forest of Avon Trust’s Text a Tree competition.
Local teenagers performed incredibly well at the Avon Schools Annual Golf Championships, held at Bath Golf Club on Monday 4th April. 
Students at Bradley Stoke Community School have been invited to design an eye catching leaflet that will be widely used to promote a competition run by The Forest of Avon Trust.
Dozens of talented teenagers are due to take part in the 2011 Avon Schools Golf Championships at the beginning of April.
In honour of the Global Centenary of International Women’s Day (1911-2011) Southern Brooks organised a colourful fun-filled event on Tuesday night at Bradley Stoke Community School. A wine and canapé reception included viewing the nominations for the three categories of Outstanding Women’s Awards, as well as submissions to the Visual Arts Gallery. There were other local information stalls to browse while music was played by the school’s Samba band.
Do look out for the opportunity to vote for the special women in your life in next year’s awards.