I recently visited Park’s Primary School, to see the work they do as part of their ‘Aspirations Week’.

The teachers had put on a brilliant range of activities, for children of all ages. For example, there was a ‘Vets clinic’ for the youngest pupils, using toy animals. The older pupils had “What’s my job?” sessions, where people with lots of different careers came into the school to talk about their work, and visited Loughborough University to see what higher education is like and take part in things like experiments in science labs.

Opening children’s eyes and minds to the different types of opportunities that are possible if they work hard at school is really important to boosting aspiration and achievement. The teachers work hard to boost aspiration throughout the school year, but this focused week long programme of activities was really impressive. I’m determined to back their efforts, including by encouraging more businesses and organisations to take part.