Aspirations Week | Newlands Junior School

This year our Aspirations Week took place during the week commencing Monday 22nd October to Thursday 25th October. We had lots of visitors into school, who inspired all of the children to think about what jobs they might like to do when they are older and how they can be whoever or whatever they aspire to be with a little bit of determination and drive to succeed.

The week was an amazing experience for everyone involved. All of the visitors commented on how enthusiastic and excited the children were to learn about the different professions who took time out of their busy days to explain a little bit about their jobs. As a school, we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you!

Andy Oxnard - Fire Service Education Team

The week started with an assembly on fire safety, in particular focusing on Bonfire Night. Andy then did various workshops throughout the week in every year group about the role of a fire fighter.

Fire Service

One of the highlights of the week was when we had a visit from both Blue Watch and Red Watch fire crews based in Mansfield. During both visits, the firefighters showed the children around the fire engine and the best part of all was when every child had the opportunity to squirt water out of the fire hose!

Tom Ford - PCSO

Tom and his colleague came along and told the children what it is like to be a PCSO. They brought in a variety of clothing for the children to try on and they even got to use the walkie talkies!

Louisa Johnson - Occupational Therapist

Louisa is one of our parents who very kindly gave up her day off to come and inspire our children. She explained what her job entails and described how she helps people recover following operations and helps them get around their homes by adapting everyday items they use (like a toilet seat!). She described how rewarding it is to help others.

Louise Morgan - Nurse

Louise is also a parent of one of our pupils and she spent the day with us, helping the children understand what it is like to be a nurse. She explained all the different roles there are in a hospital and how nurses usually choose to specialise in a certain aspect of care. The children were really interested to learn what qualifications they would need to become a nurse and how they would train.

Hopkins Solicitors

Hopkins Solicitors kindly sent us 4 different members of staff to talk to the children about different careers in law. We had a 2 solicitors, a trainee solicitor and a paralegal. The children really enjoyed hearing about the gruesome claims that they sometimes have to deal with!

Rebecca Pugh - Veterinary Nurse from Vets4Pets

Rebecca works for Vets4Pets in Mansfield and couldn't wait to come and talk to the children about what it is like to be a veterinary nurse. Lots of our children wanted to do a job that would enable them to work with animals, so they were very interested in what Rebecca had to say.

Adam Somes - Footballer

Adam is an ex-professional footballer (and a former pupil) who now runs his own football school for children. He was very honest about his time in school and the fact that he didn't think school mattered that much as he was growing up because all he wanted to do was play football. However, as he explained to the children, even if they are good at a sport, any team they go on to play for will want to see that they have the discipline to ensure they do well in school as this transfers to all other aspects of life. Adam is currently running an after school football club for us.

Ben Bradley - MP

Ben is our local MP and does a lot of campaigning for our local area. He is very interested in how he can help change the lives of young people for the better and was only too happy to come along and share with the children what it is like to be a member of parliament. He also spent time with our School Council, discussing with them the important role they have in school to ensure that we are a democratic society.

Teresa Hylton - Civil Engineer

Teresa is one of our parents who kindly offered to come into school and talk to the children about her job. She is the Regional Director (East Midlands) for Waterman Aspen Ltd and is also a STEM Ambassador. After her visit, the majority of our children had decided that they would like to become an engineer!