Parents step in toadvise pupils attheir career day

Copnor Primary School, in Portsmouth, held a career day this week to give its pupils an insight into the working world.

Parents with a range of jobs went into the school to give talks and answer questions.

Youngsters from Year 1 to Year 6 got to pick four workshops they wanted to attend and nearly all of them had changed their mind on what they want to do when they leave school.

They heard from police officers, Royal Navy officers, journalists, vets, nurses and even a deep sea diver.

Pupil Izabelle Collings, aged eight, said: ‘It was a really exciting day.

‘I enjoyed finding out about being a journalist.’

Eight-year-old Joe Turner added: ‘I did different things that I wouldn’t have thought about doing.

‘I found the drone operator really cool.’

Josh O’Reilly liked the interactive activities he got to take part in at the workshops.

The 10-year-old said: ‘It was good that we had a go at things.

‘We were also told the steps that they had to follow to get to where they are.’

This is the first time Copnor Primary School, off Copnor Road, has held a career day and deputy headteacher Sara Petipher said they were pleased with how successful it had been.

‘We want to thank all the parents and friends of staff members who gave up their time for the day,’ she said.

‘Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible and such a fantastic day.

‘Some of our young people really struggle to think about what they might do in the future because they might not know about the different jobs available to them.

‘They only know what’s part of their own lives and experiences.

‘We wanted to get a wide range of people from different careers so they can experience as much as possible.’

Around 40 speakers were available to the 600 children who took part.

Sara said by the end of the day, most of the pupils said they wanted to do different jobs when they were older.

She added: ‘We wanted to show them what different jobs they can do and it has been a really successful event.’