ST JAMES’ Lower Darwen Church of England Primary School gave their children the opportunity to explore what awaits for them after they leave school.

An Industry Week was organised for Key Stage Two classes (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) as part of the wider opportunities week provided to students at the school.

Pupils spent the week exploring ideas about their futures and meeting people from a wide range of career and industry backgrounds, such as music, art, sport and journalism.

Year 4 class teacher Melissa Tindall said: “Industry Week was a chance for children to raise their aspirations, meet people who achieved things through different career paths and to realise that anything is possible through hard work and self-belief.”

The week started with a visit from the new Blackburn with Darwen Mayor Pat McFall.

The children prepared a question-and-answer session to find out more about the mayor and what her role entails.

Pupils in Year 3 visited the Civic Arts Centre and Theatre for the day to find out about all the jobs that can be done there.

They experienced the media side of the theatre, and discovered what is involved with the advertising.

They took part in vocal warm-ups and each group produced and performed a short play on the stage.

Landscape architect Rachael Gildert also visited the school and answered questions about her career, then did some landscaping sketches with Year 5 children.

The class worked on designs to improve the outdoor area, and these plans will be used in the near future to develop outdoor learning.

Other visitors included a Premier League media manager, a musician, a midwife, an author and a journalist, who taught the children how to write in shorthand.

At the end of the week the whole school came dressed in what they wanted to be when they are older as part of BIG ME day.

Each class then presented their experiences of the week in an assembly.
Some classes produced a video of them going through a time machine to the future and shared aspiration quotes.

All of the children created a new Mr Men or Little Miss character to show what their new career choices were.