Primary school children inspired to 'follow their dreams', thanks to careers event

Fatfield Academy showed it's never too early for children to start thinking about their future jobs after the school hosted its own careers fair week.

As part of the event, the school welcomed locally base companies including Nissan, Rolls Royce, Equans and Advantex. Also visiting the school to speak with the children were public sector workers including nurses, police officers, firefighters, midwives and paramedics.

Each of the representatives also held workshops for the children to learn more about their organisations and jobs.

The workshops included learning about first aid, building their own constructions and event a bit if beauty therapy.

The visitors certainly seemed to spark the interest of the children taking part.

Year 6 pupil Skye Terry said: "I learned that there are so many different roles when you're a midwife. It's not just about delivering babies, you look afters mams too and you can specialise as well.

Classmate Louisa Nunn added: "I was happy to learn that engineering is a job for women as well as men but only 15% of the workforce are women.

"It would be nice if it was 50% men and 50% women in the future."

Year 4 pupil Esther Grimes said: "I was fascinated to find out about the different things that go into being a motor engineer.

"I like the fact that you need to travel the world and you're not stuck in an office all day." 

The children were also visited by people working in more unusual careers including an archaeologist.

Year 4 pupil Alfie Edwards said: "It was really interesting to see that the archaeologist started by having an interest in old things. I like old things and I like finding things when I'm out.

"It must be a really good feeling to discover something that has been hidden for years." 

Head teacher Nicky Dowdle hopes the event will have inspired the children to follow their dreams.

She said: “By focusing on individual interests and encouraging ambition, we hope that our careers week can play a crucial role in shaping our pupils’ future choices and empowering them to follow their dreams.

“It was important for us to bring in local businesses as well as members of our wider school community so that our children are aware of the opportunities in their local area.”