Year 9 MEGA Day at Runshaw College – Inspiring the Next Generation of Digital Innovators

On Wednesday, 21 January, our Year 9 students took part in an exciting MEGA Day at Runshaw College, a unique experience designed to open their eyes to future career opportunities in the fast‑growing digital and technology sectors. The event was delivered by the award‑winning IN4 Group, and was fully funded — giving all students the chance to take part in this inspiring, future‑focused day. 

The day aimed to develop students’ digital skills, raise aspirations, and demonstrate the scale of opportunities emerging across technology and innovation. With the North West alone predicted to see over 30,000 cyber‑related jobs by 2035, the MEGA Day offered an early insight into an industry full of high‑skilled and well‑paid roles. 

• Becoming AI Entrepreneurs for the Day - Year 9 pupils stepped into the role of AI Entrepreneurs, working in teams to design and pitch an AI‑powered solution to a real‑world challenge. The experience mirrored industry practice and encouraged creativity, problem‑solving, teamwork, and confidence.
• Big Ideas for Real World Problems - Students explored the UN Global Goals and selected an issue they cared deeply about. Using this as inspiration, they developed an early concept for a product or app powered by artificial intelligence. 
• Rapid Prototyping with AI -  Pupils learned how designers quickly bring ideas to life using digital tools. They experimented with AI‑powered prototyping apps, creating early versions of their designs and learning how to iterate at speed. 
• Pitch, Polish, and Present - The final session was a high‑energy challenge. Teams refined their ideas and delivered a pitch in a Dragon’s Den‑style presentation, showcasing their communication skills, creativity, and teamwork. 

Ajuna said, “We learnt about how different companies use Ai. We all designed different Ai for different problems that would help people globally.  We also made a presentation about how our Ai works and how it would benefit the future and today.”

Max added, “We did three sessions creating Ai prototypes.  In the first, we talked about how Ai is used in the real world such as GPS and Netflix recommendations and other things like TikTok feeds.  In the second, we came up with ideas for Ai prototypes that could have positive impacts on social and environmental problems in the world. In the third and final session, we presented the ideas for our prototypes to the rest of the class and the judge board where everyone was ranked from 1-10. Overall, everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed it as well. 

We are delighted to share that Priory’s ‘Team Price Route Pro’ and  ‘RunWild’ teams and achieved an impressive second and third place in the final pitch challenge. Their innovative ideas, clear communication, and confident teamwork stood out to the judges and demonstrated the incredible talent and potential within our Year 9 cohort.

Head of Technology, Mrs Qadri concluded “This fantastic result reflects the effort, creativity, and enthusiasm students brought to the challenge - and we couldn’t be prouder of their achievements.”

Slideshow, please scroll>>