Two Worcestershire pupils win NHS primary school competition

Two ten-year-olds from Worcestershire have won a prestigious annual competition which promotes career opportunities in the NHS.

Alice Watkins and Charlotte Conway, from Clifton-upon-Teme Primary School near Worcester, have won the first prize in the ‘Step into the NHS’ primary school competition for 2023.

There were more than 700 entries in the competition which highlights the range of career opportunities across the NHS.

The pair created a stop-motion video with Lego figures to tell the story of Eliza the paramedic and how she interacts with other NHS staff including porters, chefs and more.

The two girls and their classmates were visited by Josh Cotterill from West Midlands Ambulance Service, who showed them around an ambulance and explained the busy role of a paramedic for real. They also won Amazon gift vouchers.

Dr Navina Evans, chief workforce, training and education officer at NHS England, said: “I think Alice and Charlotte’s video is just brilliant, and the voiceovers are fantastic!  It’s fun as well as engaging, and really demonstrates that there’s a role in the NHS for all.

“Huge congratulations to the girls, and a big thank you to everyone who took part.”

Class teacher Claire Hughes said: “Here at Clifton, we want all of our children to have experiences that inspire and shape futures and this the third time we’ve been involved in the Step into the NHS competition.

“We feel it’s important for our children to explore a range of careers, challenge stereotypes and understand that whatever their skills and talents, there is a career for you. The children thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the project and we are all so proud of our national winners!”

Charlotte said: “Our inspiration came from the lessons that we did in school all about the NHS. We loved learning all about the different jobs and when we researched the paramedic role, we were fascinated to find out what their typical day was like.

“We also spoke to people in school and one member of staff had a friend who was a paramedic so we were able to ask some extra questions that helped us with our competition entry.”

Alice added: “We loved the NHS project as it opened our eyes to how important the NHS is to all of our lives and just how many people they help every day. It made us realise that any skill can be useful for a career in the NHS.

“We felt using animation would help people to understand the work of a paramedic much better and would maybe inspire people to become paramedics or work for the NHS in the future. We’re very proud  to be national winners and hope that people enjoy watching our video.”

The winning entry can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajtWc0Zo3N0