Day full of aspirations for primary youngsters

NURSE Lisa Donnelly, from Central Manchester University Hospitals, with (from left) Aneeka Hussain, Muneeba Ahmed, Tamjud Uddin, Iqra Ahmad, Isa Ahmed and Aysha Shafiq

ASK a child what they want to be when they grow up and they might say a footballer, doctor or firefighter.

But Year 5 pupils at Werneth Primary School found out about some of the other careers they could have - and the qualifications and skills needed for them - at an aspirations day.

Professionals such as a radio DJ, dental nurse and trainee barrister, along with representatives from careers like banking, engineering, retail and teaching, set up stalls in the school hall. Groups of pupils then had 10 minutes to visit each and learn as much as possible before moving to the next one.

Parents were also invited to attend the end of the session to see what the children had been doing and find out more about the lifelong learning classes and qualifications available to them.

Assistant principal Katie Malley said: "We invited in lots of different professionals who spoke to the children about why they do their job, what their job gives to the community or the business sector, how they got into their job and what qualifications they needed. When I was at school they did not do any career development work until I was in Year 10 or 11.

"We are trying to raise pupils' aspiration for the future and get them thinking about what they are particularly interested in before they go to high school and before they choose their subject options. We are also showing them that education is important and that they should be applying themselves."